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Week in Review, June 27th

Jun 27

posted by TexasLRL in Week in review

In this weekly post, we feature online articles and policy reports published recently, and other helpful research tools.
  • Explore the U.S. Hispanic population by origin. (Pew Research Hispanic Center, June 19, 2013)
  • See how states are handling student debt and the rising costs of tuition at colleges and universities. (Stateline, June 21, 2013)
  • Examine postsecondary education attainment rates. (Lumina Foundation, June 2013)
  • Read recommendations on emergency preparedness for elementary and secondary schools. (U.S. Department of Education, June 2013)
  • Consider the economic impact of a carbon tax. (Congressional Budget Office, May 22, 2013)

This entry was posted on June 27, 2013 at 3:15 PM and has received 830 views. Print this entry.

Update on SB 5 TLO actions

Jun 26

posted by TexasLRL in Legislative process

Actions taken by either house on a bill are entered and updated in the Texas Legislature Online system (TLO) manually by Legislative Reference Library (LRL) staff, and for that reason there is a delay between the time the action takes place and the time the action is entered into TLO.  TLO is not the official record of those actions, and LRL enters actions on TLO as a public service independently of the officers of the house or senate.  
 
The LRL strives to ensure the information in TLO is timely and accurate, and as part of our normal business process, the LRL ultimately verifies actions posted in TLO against the official journals of the senate and house.  TLO actions should be considered preliminary until verified against official senate and house records. When the senate took its final actions on SB 5, the LRL floor staff was unable to hear the motions made or the result of votes taken.  After midnight the LRL floor staff confirmed that a vote was taken on the motion to concur in house amendments and that the motion prevailed. The system used to enter actions for TLO defaults to the current date, so when the concurrence action was initially entered, the system automatically entered 06/26/13.
 
In reviewing the actions initially entered by LRL staff, and based on our best understanding at that time that a vote was taken on the motion to concur, we modified the date of the action to 06/25/13.  During or after the senate's deliberations on SB5, LRL did not enter or alter any information on TLO at the direction of any senate officer or member.
 
After confirming the date of the final vote on SB5 to have been 06/25/2013, the LRL has now corrected the entry on TLO to reflect the official record.  
 

This entry was posted on June 26, 2013 at 5:12 PM and has received 8304 views. Print this entry.

83rd Regular Session Wrap-Up

Jun 26

posted by TexasLRL in Legislation, Bill statistics, 83rd Session, Legislative process

House and Senate Bills
Filed 5,868
Sent to the Governor 1,437
Signed by the Governor 1,395
Signed by the Governor/line item veto 2
Vetoed by the Governor 26
Filed without the Governor's signature 14
Sent to the Comptroller 5
Joint Resolutions
Filed 193
Filed with the Secretary of State 10
Concurrent Resolutions
Filed 256
Sent to the Governor 176
Signed by the Governor 176

Bill statistics:
Midnight, June 16 was the last day the governor could sign, veto, or allow to become law without his signature bills passed during the 83rd Regular Session. When the deadline had passed, the governor had vetoed 26 bills (not including the line-item vetoes on SB 1, the General Appropriations Act, and HB 1025, a supplemental appropriations bill), signed 1,573 bills and concurrent resolutions and filed 14 bills without his signature. Joint resolutions that passed both chambers of the Legislature were filed with the Secretary of State, and will be on the ballot for the November 5, 2013, general election.

Vetoed bills:
Texas Constitution, Article IV, Section 14 states that if the governor vetoes a bill after the session has adjourned, he or she is required to give notice in the form of a proclamation. The library has compiled veto proclamations issued by Governor Perry for the 83rd Regular Session and made them available here.

Effective dates:
The library reviews the text of all bills that become law to determine their effective dates, and enters the information into the Texas Legislature Online. To find the effective date of a bill, check the "Last action" field on the bill's main page. In some cases, different sections of a bill may have different effective dates, in which case additional remarks will be given to provide the information.

In addition to updating the Texas Legislature Online with effective date information, the library compiles a list of bills and their effective dates following each regular and called session. The list is made available on the library's website once it is complete.

Signed copies of bills:
Bills that the Governor signed or allowed to become law without his signature are sent to the Secretary of State’s office, where they are made available online on the Bills and Resolutions page.

You can determine whether a bill sent to the Governor was signed or filed without signature by checking the bill in the Texas Legislature Online. If the bill passed but was filed without signature, you will see the action "Filed without the Governor's signature."

Session law chapter numbers:
The Secretary of State’s Bills and Resolutions page also lists the session law chapter number that is assigned to each bill that has become law. The session laws contain the text of all bills passed into law during a particular legislative session. Chapter numbers are used primarily for citing a bill in a legislative history annotation.

 

This entry was posted on June 26, 2013 at 8:03 AM and has received 1964 views. Print this entry.

Impeachment Resources

Jun 21

posted by TexasLRL in Impeachment

Technically, 'impeachment' is the process of accusation, analogous to a criminal indictment, and must be followed by trial and conviction for removal. The entire procedure is customarily called impeachment. Texas Constitution Art. XV, Sec. 1 vests the power of impeachment in the Texas House of Representatives. Impeachment of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Commissioner of the General Land Office, Comptroller and the Judges of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and District Court shall be tried by the Senate (Texas Constitution Art. XV, Sec. 2).
  • For a discussion of the process for removal of state officers by the Texas Legislature, please see the following 1987 memo by the Texas Legislative Council. The statutes referenced throughout the memo are now located in Government Code Ch. 665.
  • The Library's database of legislative reports contains several reports related to impeachment. These detail previous investigations on charges of impeachment as well as procedural matters.
  • Additional materials on the rules and procedures relating to impeachment are listed on the Library's Parliamentary Resources page.
  • For analysis and legal background of Texas Constitution Article XV, Impeachment, please see The Constitution of the State of Texas: an annotated and comparative analysis, (George D. Braden et al.) starting on p. 707.

This entry was posted on June 21, 2013 at 4:00 PM and has received 5567 views. Print this entry.

Week in Review, June 20th

Jun 20

posted by TexasLRL in Week in review

In this weekly post, we feature online articles and policy reports published recently, and other helpful research tools.
  • Explore how natural gas and renewable energy resources can complement each other and help to sustain Texas' power grid. (The Brattle Group, June 11, 2013)
  • Examine how the sequester is affecting federal agencies. (The Washington Post, accessed June 2013)
  • Find farmers markets in your area. (U.S. Department of Agriculture, accessed June 2013)
  • Read about how governments, including the State of Texas, use data visualization. (IBM Center for the Business of Government, 2013)

This entry was posted on June 20, 2013 at 3:15 PM and has received 706 views. Print this entry.

Week in Review, June 13th

Jun 13

posted by TexasLRL in Week in review

In this weekly post, we feature online articles and policy reports published recently, and other helpful research tools.
  • Consider jobs in science, technology, engineering, and math that may not require a four-year college degree. (Brookings, June 10, 2013)
  • See the latest figures on the Medicaid expansion. (Stateline, June 12, 2013)
  • Track economic growth in 2012. (U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, June 6, 2013)
  • Gauge public opinion on the National Security Agency's telephone records tracking program. (Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, June 10, 2013)
  • Examine nationwide infrastructure needs for providing safe drinking water. (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, June 10, 2013)

This entry was posted on June 13, 2013 at 3:15 PM and has received 730 views. Print this entry.

Bills Signed, Vetoed, Or Filed Without Signature, June 10

Jun 10

posted by TexasLRL in Legislation, Bill statistics, 83rd Session, Legislative process

Below are bill statistics as of 10:00 a.m. on June 10. Sunday, June 16 is the deadline for the Governor to sign or veto bills. For additional information on what happens to legislation filed during the 83rd Regular Session, please see our FAQ page.

 

This entry was posted on June 10, 2013 at 3:57 PM and has received 1544 views. Print this entry.

Week in Review, June 6th

Jun 6

posted by TexasLRL in Week in review

In this weekly post, we feature online articles and policy reports published recently, and other helpful research tools.
  • Explore civic and political engagement in Texas. (National Conference on Citizenship / Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life, June 2013)
  • Examine the important developments and trends in U.S. education in 2013. (National Center for Education Statistics, May 2013)
  • Find out where Texas ranks among state rankings for senior health. (United Health Foundation, May 2013)
  • See how gun homicide rates have dropped since their peak in the 1990s. (Pew Research, May 7, 2013)
 

This entry was posted on June 6, 2013 at 3:15 PM and has received 806 views. Print this entry.