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Research Minute: Finding Sunset Bills

Every legislative session, about 20-30 agencies go through the Sunset process—the regular assessment of the continuing need for a state agency or program to exist. The Sunset Advisory Commission submitted its Report to the 85th Legislature on Friday, Feb. 10. Per Sunset procedures, an agency, program, policy, or law will be abolished on its "sunset" date unless the legislature passes a bill to continue it. Such bills often enact revised policies as recommended in the review process.
 

Wondering how you can find these bills? The Sunset Commission recently added a page dedicated to the 85th Legislature where you can see which agencies were reviewed and what bills have been filed. They also are tweeting Sunset bills as they are filed.

 

In addition, you can find Sunset bills on Texas Legislature Online. Select "Search" from the top navigation, and pull down to "Bill Search." From that screen, go to the Subjects section and click on "Select subject criteria." This will pull up the box as seen below. (If your pop-up blocker is enabled, you may have to tell it to allow this exception.) Do a search for "sunset," then select "Sunset--Commission Bills (I0772). Click on the right arrow to move it to your "Selected" subjects, then click OK to return to the main Bill Search screen.

 
From here, you can click on "Search" in the top right corner, and you will get your results. You can refine your results to particular subjects of interest, look back at past years' sunset bills, and more.

 

Texas Legislative Guides: 85th Regular Session

This post includes a list of guides published by Texas legislative agencies to assist you in following the legislative process. These guides will help you track and read a bill, understand the terminology used in the Texas Legislature, learn about issues facing the Legislature, and much more.

 

Texas Legislative Information and Resources, prepared by the Research Division of the Texas Legislative Council for the 85th Legislature (2017).
Identifies resources for locating information that is available about current and past legislation.

Research Spotlight: Legislative Lexicon, prepared by the Texas Senate Research Center (2017).
Provides definitions of words, terms, and phrases used in the Legislature.

Reading Statutes and Bills, prepared by the Research Division of the Texas Legislative Council (2017).
Presents a basic overview of Texas statutes and bills, as well as tips for reading and understanding them.

Topics for the 85th Legislature, by House Research Organization (2016).
Highlights many of the issues the 85th Legislature may consider during its 2017 regular session.

Texas Legislative Glossary, prepared by the Texas Legislative Council for the 85th Legislature.
Defines terms related to the legislative process in Texas.

 

Issues Facing the 85th Texas Legislature, prepared by the Texas Senate Research Center (2017).
Outlines broad categories and topics of interest for the 85th Legislature.

 

 

 

 

Bills in the News: Transportation Network Companies

In this occasional post, we feature topics receiving widespread media coverage, tips for finding bills filed during the 85th legislative session, and related resources.

 

Bill search

 

Try using the subject VEHICLES FOR HIRE (S0795) to find bills related to transportation network companies.

 

 

Resources

News

 

End-of-Session Deadline Calendar, 85th R.S.

The end-of-session deadlines calendar for the 85th Regular Session is now available. The calendar is a practical summary of deadlines for action under House and Senate rules, and is not intended as an interpretation.  End-of-session deadline calendars and dates of interest for previous sessions are available on the library website: Session deadline calendars

 

Preview of the 85th Texas Legislature

Below you'll find a preview of the 85th Texas Legislature. New and returning members will be sworn in on January 10, 2017, the opening day of the regular session.

 

Membership statistics for previous sessions are available on the library's Member statistics page.

 

Summary of the 85th Legislature

 

Party House Senate Overall
Democrat 55 11 66
Republican 95 20 115
Total 150 31 181

 

Gender House Senate Overall
Women 29 8 37
Men 121 23 144
Total 150 31 181

 

Members not returning to the 85th Texas Legislature

Not Returning Replacement
Sen. Rodney Ellis (D) Borris Miles (D)
Sen. Kevin Eltife (R) Bryan Hughes (R)
Sen. Troy Fraser (R) Dawn Buckingham (R)
Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock (R) Scott Cosper (R)
Rep. Myra Crownover (R) Lynn Stucky (R)
Rep. Marsha Farney (R) Terry Wilson (R)
Rep. Allen Fletcher (R) Tom Oliverson (R)
Rep. Rick Galindo (R) Philip Cortez (D)
Rep. Patricia Harless (R) Kevin Roberts (R)
Rep. Bryan Hughes (R) Cole Hefner (R)
Rep. Jim Keffer (R) Mike Lang (R)
Rep. Susan King (R) Stan Lambert (R)
Rep. John Lujan (R) Tomas Uresti (D)
Rep. Marisa Márquez (D) Evelina Ortega (D)
Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D) Diana Arevalo (D)
Rep. Borris Miles (D) Shawn Thierry (D)
Rep. Doug Miller (R) Kyle Biedermann (R)
Rep. Elliott Naishtat (D) Gina Hinojosa (D)
Rep. John Otto (R) Ernest Bailes (R)
Rep. Gilbert Peña (R) Mary Ann Perez (D)
Rep. Debbie Riddle (R) Valoree Swanson (R)
Rep. Kenneth Sheets (R) Victoria Neave (D)
Rep. David Simpson (R) Jay Dean (R)
Rep. Wayne Smith (R) Briscoe Cain (R)
Rep. Stuart Spitzer (R) Lance Gooden (R)
Rep. Laura Thompson (I) Barbara Gervin-Hawkins (D)
Rep. Scott Turner (R) Justin Holland (R)
Rep. Sylvester Turner (D) Jarvis Johnson (D)
Rep. Molly White (R) Hugh Shine (R)

 

 

Dates of Interest for the 85th Regular Session

What are the key deadlines for the 85th Regular Session? Official deadlines will be set when the House and Senate adopt their rules, but until then, the Texas Legislative Council Drafting Manual provides a perpetual calendar (shown below) that can be useful. According to the Manual:

 

Bill pre-filing begins:  Nov 14, 2016

 

1st day of session:  Jan 10, 2017

 

60-day bill filing deadline:  Mar 10, 2017

 

Adjournment sine die:  May 29, 2017

 

Post-session 20-day deadline for governor to sign or veto:  June 18, 2017

 

Effective date (91st day after adjournment):  Aug 28, 2017

 

 

  Table can be viewed on pg. 135 of the Texas Legislative Council Drafting Manual

Members Not Returning, 85th Legislature

Below is a list of members (as of January 27, 2016) not returning to the 85th Texas Legislature.

  • A complete list of candidates in the Texas House 2016 Primary can be seen here.
  • A list of candidates in the Texas Senate 2016 Primary can be seen here.

Information about candidates by county is available on the Texas Secretary of State's website, filings by county page.

 

 

Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock Retiring
Rep. Myra Crownover Retiring
Sen. Kevin Eltife Retiring
Rep. Joe Farias Resigned effective 8/10/15
Rep. Allen Fletcher Retiring
Sen. Troy Fraser Retiring
Rep. Patricia Harless Retiring
Rep. Bryan Hughes Seeking another office
Rep. Jim Keffer Retiring
Rep. Susan King Seeking another office
Rep. Marisa Márquez Retiring
Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer Seeking another office
Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon Resigned effective 1/31/16
Rep. Elliott Naishtat Retiring
Rep. John Otto Retiring
Rep. David Simpson Seeking another office
Rep. Scott Turner Retiring
Rep. Sylvester Turner Resigned effective 1/1/16; sworn in as Mayor of Houston on 1/2/16 

 

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