Friday, March 12th marked the 60-day bill filing deadline for the 87th Regular Session. When the deadline had passed, a total of 6,919 bills and joint resolutions had been filed. How does this compare to previous sessions?

This entry was posted on March 15, 2021 at 4:45 PM and has received 3042 views. Print this entry.

In this occasional post, we feature topics receiving widespread media coverage, tips for finding bills filed during the 87th legislative session, and related resources.

The COVID-19 pandemic has inspired legislation addressing how the state may respond to future pandemics, and, more broadly, to future disasters.

Legislation directly related to COVID-19 can be found under the subject COVID-19 via the Texas Legislature Online website.

Bill Search
Select Bill Search under the Search tab. Click on Select subject criteria to display a list of subjects that can be used in your search.

Scroll down the list and highlight COVID-19, then click the top arrow button to move the subject into the Selected: column. Use the arrow buttons to select and de-select subjects. Click OK. The Bill Search screen will reappear. Click Search in the top left corner to display a list of bills that include the selected subject.

To narrow a subject search, choose additional subjects …

and select the And radio button before clicking on Search.

Narrowing a subject search usually results in fewer bills that are more specific to the issues of interest.

While some legislation has been filed specifially in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, additional legislation has also been filed to address how Texas responds to disasters in general, including disaster that occur when the Legislature is not in session. Use the broader subject term Disaster Preparedness & Relief to locate legislation related to disaster response and mitigation.

Tile image, "Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2," by NIAID is licensed under CC BY 2.0 / Cropped and resized from original.

This entry was posted on March 3, 2021 at 3:30 PM and has received 2236 views. Print this entry.

Today's Committee Meetings on the LRL website is a calendar of legislative committee hearings with links to agendas. Below are resources related to upcoming hearings.

February 25
House Committees on Energy Resources and State Affairs (Joint Hearing)
The Committees on State Affairs and Energy Resources will hold a joint public hearing to consider the factors that led to statewide electrical blackouts during the recent unprecedented weather event; the response by industry, suppliers, and grid operators; and changes necessary to avoid future power interruptions.

The committee will hear invited testimony only on:
- Statewide electrical blackouts-contributing factors and response

Senate Committee on Business & Commerce
Purpose: The purpose of this hearing is to examine extreme weather condition preparedness and circumstances that led to the power outages as directed by Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). The committee will also review generator preparedness and performance, utility outage practices, natural gas supply, and the reliability of renewable generation, as well as overall ERCOT system resilience.

March 4
Senate Committee on Jurisprudence   CANCELED
Purpose: The purpose of this hearing is to examine the legal responsibilities that the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) owe to the people of Texas. The committee will review the legal framework for governance and oversight of these two entities, their relationship to one another under the law, potential legal liabilities, and the legal limits on increases to consumer electricity rates during an emergency.

The committee will also examine price gouging under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act and receive an update from the judiciary on how the judicial system is managing its operations during the ongoing statewide emergency.

Reports:

• "AG Paxton Sues Griddy, LLC Energy Company: Customers Hit with Exorbitant Energy Bills" (Press Release), Office of the Attorney General, March 1, 2021
• Energy Emergencies | The State Legislative Role in Planning and Response (PDF version), National Conference of State Legislatures, January 22, 2021
• Reliability Guideline: Generating Unit Winter Weather Readiness – Current Industry Practices – Version 3, North American Energy Reliability Council, Reliability and Security Technical Committee, approved December 15, 2020
• Report on Existing and Potential Electric System Constraints and Needs, Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), December 2019
• Modernizing the Electric Grid: State Role and Policy Options, National Conference of State Legislatures, November 2019
• The South Central United States Cold Weather Bulk Electric System Event of January 17, 2018, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and North American Electric Reliability Corporation, July 2019
• Scope of Competition in Electric Markets of Texas: Report to the 86th Legislature (Previous Scope of Competition Reports, 1997-2017), Public Utility Commission of Texas, January 2019
• 2018 Long-Term System Assessment for the ERCOT Region, Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), December 2018
• Dynamic Stability Assessment of High Penetration of Renewable Generation in the ERCOT Grid, Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), April 19, 2018
• Report on Extreme Weather Preparedness Best Practices (Mandated by SB 1133, 82nd Legislature, R.S.), Quanta Technology, LLC for Public Utility Commission of Texas, September 27, 2012
• Investigation of the ERCOT Energy Emergency Alert Level 3 on February 2, 2011, Potomac Economics, Ltd. for Public Utility Commission of Texas, April 21, 2011
• Report on Outages and Curtailments During the Southwest Cold Weather Event of February 1-5, 2011: Causes and Recommendations, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and North American Electric Reliability Corporation, August 2011
• The Story of ERCOT: The Grid Operator, Power Market & Prices Under Texas Deregulation (Includes a history of ERCOT), Texas Coalition for Affordable Power, February 2011
• Public Utility Commission of Texas (Sunset Review Documents for 2012-2013 Review Cycle, 83rd Legislative Session), Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, September 2009–July 2013
• Electric Reliability Council of Texas (Sunset Review Documents for 2010-2011 Review Cycle, 82nd Legislative Session – Includes History and Major Events within ERCOT's Self Evaluation Report, September 2009), Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, September 2009–July 2011
• Electric Utility Response to the Winter Freeze of December 21 to December 23, 1989: An Evaluation of the Actions Taken by Texas Utilities to Correct Technical Plant Equipment Problems, Public Utility Commission of Texas, Electric Division, November 1990
• Texas Business and Commerce Code Chapter 17, Deceptive Trade Practices
• The Joe K. Longley-Philip K. Maxwell Deceptive Trade Practices Act Collection: Legislative Archive 1973-2001 and the Mark L. Kincaid Papers, 1995-2015, Legislative Reference Library

Articles:

• "Extreme Winter Weather is Disrupting Energy Supply and Demand, Particularly in Texas," Today in Energy, United States Energy Information Administration, February 19, 2021
• "Texas' Electricity Resources: Where Power Comes From — And How It Gets To You," Fiscal Notes, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, August 2020

Legislative Reports
Search interim committee studies on various topics. Search by charge keyword or by the following subjects:

• Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT)
• Electricity transmission and distribution
• Electricity supplies
• Natural gas
• Public Utility Commission of Texas
• Railroad Commission of Texas

Legislative Archive System
Search past legislation across sessions by subject from 1939-2019 in the Advanced Search:

• General Subject Index:
  • Business & Commerce--Trade Practices
  • Disaster Preparedness & Relief
  • Energy--Alternative Fuels
  • Energy--Conservation
  • Energy--Fuel Storage
  • Energy--General
  • Oil & Gas
  • Utilities--Electric
  • Utilities--Natural Gas
• Governmental Agencies:
  • ELECTRIC RELIABILITY COUNCIL OF TEXAS  (for bills from the 76th Legislature)
  • ELECTRIC RELIABILITY COUNCIL OF TEXAS (ERCOT)  (for bills from the 79th-86th Legislatures)
  • PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION
  • RAILROAD COMMISSION

The tile image, "electricity pylon" by fsse8info, is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. / Resized from original.

This entry was posted on February 23, 2021 at 1:00 PM and has received 2810 views. Print this entry.

Below you'll find a preview of the 87th Texas Legislature. New and returning members will be sworn in on January 12, 2021, the opening day of the regular session.

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

Members not returning to the 87th Texas Legislature

Texas House of Representatives

HOUSE DISTRICT	NOT RETURNING		REPLACEMENT
100		Lorraine Birabil (D) Eric Johnson (D) in 86th R.S.		Jasmine Crockett (D)
76		César Blanco (D) Elected to Senate District 29		Claudia Ordaz Perez (D)
138		Dwayne Bohac (R)		Lacey Hull (R)
25		Dennis Bonnen (R)		Cody Vasut (R)
132		Gina Calanni (D)		Mike Schofield (R)
134		Sarah Davis (R)		Ann Johnson (D)
148		Anna Eastman (D) Jessica Farrar (D) in the 86th R.S.		Penny Morales Shaw (D)
2		Dan Flynn (R)		Bryan Slaton (R)
119		Roland Gutierrez (D) Elected to Senate District 19		Liz Campos (D)
60		Mike Lang (R)		Glenn Rogers (R)
26		Rick Miller (R)		Jacey Jetton (R)
74		Poncho Nevárez (D)		Eddie Morales (D)
59		J.D. Sheffield (R)		Shelby Slawson (R)
68		Drew Springer (R) Elected to Senate District 30		Special election to be held January 23, 2021 (Governor's Proclamation)
92		Jonathan Stickland (R)		Jeff Cason (R)
10		John Wray (R)		Jake Ellzey (R)
96		Bill Zedler (R)		David Cook (R)
28		John Zerwas (R)		Gary Gates (R)

Texas Senate

SENATE DISTRICT	NOT RETURNING		REPLACEMENT
30		Pat Fallon (R)		Drew Springer (R)
19		Pete Flores (R)		Roland Gutierrez (D)
29		José Rodriguez (R)		César Blanco (D)
14		Kirk Watson (D)		Sarah Eckhardt (D)

Photos of new members will be added once they're available.

This entry was posted on January 11, 2021 at 9:30 AM and has received 2864 views. Print this entry.

In Texas, the Rules of the House of Representatives of the State of Texas (Rule 8, Section 7) and the Senate Rules (Rule 7.04(a)) allow legislators to prefile bills "beginning the first Monday after the general election preceding the next regular legislative session."

Prefiling for the 87th Texas Legislature began on Monday, November 9, the first Monday after the general election on Tuesday, November 3. On November 9, a total of 541 bills and joint resolutions were filed in the House and Senate.

The following are the number of bills and joint resolutions prefiled during the first week of the 87th Regular Session:

How do these numbers compare to previous sessions? The following are the number of bills and joint resolutions filed during the first week of the last four regular sessions:

For a general overview of bill prefiling, see our previous blog post, Bill Prefiling FAQs.

This entry was posted on November 17, 2020 at 1:45 PM and has received 4500 views. Print this entry.

This entry was posted on October 2, 2020 at 10:15 AM and has received 20050 views. Print this entry.

	Lorraine Birabil	Defeated in Democratic primary election, 7/14/2020
	César Blanco	Running for Texas Senate District 29
	Dwayne Bohac	Retiring
	Dennis Bonnen	Retiring
	Anna Eastman	Defeated in Democratic primary election, 7/14/2020
	Pat Fallon	Resigning effective 1/4/2021
	Jessica Farrar	Resigned effective 9/30/2019
	Dan Flynn	Defeated in Republican primary election, 7/14/2020
	Roland Gutierrez	Running for Texas Senate District 19
	Eric Johnson	Elected Mayor of Dallas, sworn in 6/17/2019
	Mike Lang	Running for Hood County Commissioner
	Rick Miller	Retiring
	Poncho Nevárez	Retiring
	J.D. Sheffield	Defeated in Republican primary election, 7/14/2020
	Jonathan Stickland	Retiring
	John Wray	Retiring
	Bill Zedler	Retiring
	John Zerwas	Resigned 9/30/19 to take new position as Executive Vice Chancellor of Health Affairs, The University of Texas System
	José Rodríguez	Retiring
	Kirk Watson	Resigned 4/30/2020 to take new position as Founding Dean of the University of Houston's Hobby School of Public Affairs

This entry was posted on August 4, 2020 at 10:00 AM and has received 1985 views. Print this entry.

	Rep. César Blanco	Running for Texas Senate
	Rep. Dwayne Bohac	Retiring
	Rep. Dennis Bonnen	Retiring
	Rep. Jessica Farrar	Resigned effective 9/30/2019
	Rep. Eric Johnson	Elected Mayor of Dallas, sworn in 6/17/2019
	Rep. Mike Lang	Running for Hood County Commissioner
	Rep. Rick Miller	Retiring
	Rep. Poncho Nevárez	Retiring
	Rep. Jonathan Stickland	Retiring
	Rep. John Wray	Retiring
	Rep. Bill Zedler	Retiring
	Rep. John Zerwas	Retiring to take new position as Executive Vice Chancellor of Health Affairs, The University of Texas System; resignation effective 9/30/19
	Sen. José Rodríguez	Retiring

This entry was posted on January 13, 2020 at 9:30 AM and has received 2186 views. Print this entry.