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84th R.S. Bill Statistics and FAQs

House and Senate Bills
Filed 6,276
Sent to the Governor 1,323
Signed by the Governor 355
Vetoed by the Governor 4
Filed without the Governor's signature 20
House and Senate Joint Resolutions
Filed 200
Filed with the Secretary of State 7
House and Senate Concurrent Resolutions
Filed 174
Filed with the Secretary of State 15
Sent to the Governor 85
Signed by the Governor 33
Vetoed by the Governor 1

 

What happens now?

The 84th Regular Session ended June 1, 2015. Bills that passed both the House and the Senate were sent to the Governor for him to sign, veto, or allow to become law 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 3, 2015 election.

 

How much time does the Governor have to act on a bill?

If a bill is sent to the Governor during the legislative session, the Governor has 10 days (not counting Sundays) to sign the bill or return the bill to the Legislature with objection. If after 10 days the bill is not returned to the Legislature by the Governor with objections or he has not yet signed it, the bill becomes law as if the Governor had signed it.

 

If the Legislature has adjourned sine die, or if the bill is presented to the Governor less than 10 days (not counting Sundays) prior to final adjournment, the Governor has 20 days (counting Sundays) after the final day of the session to sign or veto the bill. If neither action is taken, the bill becomes law without the Governor's signature (Texas Const. art. IV, § 14).

 

Sunday, June 21, is the 20th day following final adjournment of the 84th Regular Session. It is the last day the Governor can sign or veto  bills passed during the 84th Regular Session. To view veto proclamations issued by Governor Abbott for the 84th Regular Session, please visit the library's Vetoed Bills page.

 

Bill 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 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.

Conference Committee Reports and Bill Statistics

The 84th Regular Session ends Monday, June 1. As the end of session nears, House and Senate members are meeting in conference committees to resolve differences between their versions of bills. For information on the conference committee process, please see How a Bill Becomes Law and Guide to Texas Legislative Information.

 

To see a list of bills still in conference committee, please click here. The members of a bill's conference committee are listed in Texas Legislature Online, and can be viewed by searching on the bill. For instructions on searching in TLO, please see the TLO Help section.

 

The below chart provides a snapshot of bill statistics as of 11:30 am today.

 

 

 

Bill Statistics, 133rd Legislative Day

Bill statistics comparing the 133rd legislative day of the 84th and the 83rd Regular Sessions are below. For information about what happens to a bill after it passes, please see our Legislative FAQ page. We've also calculated bill statistics for earlier points in the 84th Regular Session.

 

 

 

 

Bill Statistics & Upcoming Deadlines

As the 84th Legislature draws to a close, a series of end-of-session deadlines begins to take effect. Below is a list of deadlines that occur next week:

  • Monday, May 25: Deadline for house to distribute last House Local and Consent Calendar with senate bills.
  • Tuesday, May 26: Last day for house to consider senate bills and joint resolutions, other than local and consent, on second reading on House Daily or Supplemental Calendar.
  • Wednesday, May 27: Last day for house to consider local and consent senate bills on second and third reading and all senate bills or joint resolutions on third reading on House Supplemental Calendar. Last day for senate to consider all bills and joint resolutions on second or third reading.
  • Thursday, May 28: Midnight deadline for house to distribute senate amendments.
  • Friday, May 29: Last day for house to act on senate amendments. Midnight deadline for senate to print and distribute senate copies of conference committee reports on tax, general appropriations, and reapportionment bills. Last day for senate committees to report all bills and joint resolutions.
  • Saturday, May 30: Midnight deadline for house to distribute house copies of all conference committee reports. Midnight deadline for senate to print and distribute senate copies of all conference committee reports on bills other than those on tax, general appropriations, and reapportionment and all house amendments to senate bills and joint resolutions that did not go to a conference committee.
  • Sunday, May 31: Last day for house to adopt conference committee reports or discharge house conferees and concur in Senate Amendments. Last day for senate to adopt conference committee reports or concur in house amendments.
  • Monday, June 1: Last day of 84th Regular Session; corrections only in house and senate.

House and Senate calendars are available on the Texas Legislature Online, and Senate agendas are available in hard copy from the library (Rm. 2N.3). 

 

Bill statistics for the period of Nov. 10, 2014 - May 19, 2015 are below. For information about what happens to a bill after it passes, please see our Legislative FAQ page.

 

  House Bills (HB) & Joint Resolutions (HJR) Senate Bills (SB) & Joint Resolutions (SJR)
Filed  4,340 2,136
Reported out of committee 1,953 857
Passed by chamber of origin 1,162 717
Referred to committee in opposite chamber 1,107 709
Reported out of committee in opposite chamber 369 478
Passed opposite chamber 121 201
Sent to the Governor (bills only) 84 96
Signed by the Governor (bills only) 3 42

 

Bill Statistics & Upcoming Deadlines

As the 84th Legislature draws to a close, a series of end-of-session deadlines begins to take effect. Below is a list of deadlines that occur next week:

 

  • Wednesday, May 20: Deadline for house to distribute last House Local and Consent Calendar with local house bills.
  • Friday, May 22: Last day for house to consider local house bills on second and third reading. First day senate can consider bills and resolutions the first day they are posted on the Senate Intent Calendar.
  • Saturday, May 23: Last day for house committees to report senate bills and senate joint resolutions.
  • Sunday, May 24: Deadline for house to distribute last House Daily Calendar with senate bills and senate joint resolutions.

House and Senate calendars are available on the Texas Legislature Online, and Senate agendas are available in hard copy from the library (Rm. 2N.3). 

 

Bill statistics for the period of Nov. 10, 2014 - May 14, 2015 (as of 2:45pm) are below.

 

  House Bills (HB) & Joint Resolutions (HJR) Senate Bills (SB) & Joint Resolutions (SJR)
Filed  4,340 2,136
Reported out of committee 1,953 845
Passed by chamber of origin 1,032 702
Referred to committee in opposite chamber 824 643
Reported out of committee in opposite chamber 246 309
Passed opposite chamber 55 113
Sent to the Governor 35 94
Signed by the Governor 1 6

 

Bill Statistics & Upcoming Deadlines

As the 84th Legislature draws to a close, a series of end-of-session deadlines begin to take effect. Below is a list of deadlines that occur next week:

  • Monday, May 11: Last day for house committees to report house bills and house joint resolutions.
  • Tuesday, May 12: Deadline for house to distribute last House Daily Calendar with house bills and joint resolutions.
  • Wednesday, May 13: Deadline for house to distribute last House Local and Consent Calendar with consent house bills.
  • Thursday, May 14: Last day for house to consider house bills and joint resolutions on second reading on House Daily or Supplemental Calendar.
  • Friday, May 15: Last day for house to consider consent house bills on second and third reading and all third reading house bills or joint resolutions on House Supplemental Calendar.

House and Senate calendars are available on the Texas Legislature Online, and Senate agendas are available in hard copy from the library (Rm. 2N.3). 

 

Bill statistics for the period of Nov. 10, 2014 - May 6, 2015 are below.

 

  House Bills (HB) & Joint Resolutions (HJR) Senate Bills (SB) & Joint Resolutions (SJR)
Filed  4,339 2,135
Reported out of committee 1,818 809
Passed by chamber of origin 686 599
Referred to committee in opposite chamber 502 564
Reported out of committee in opposite chamber 52 140
Passed opposite chamber 6 54
Sent to the Governor 2 29
Signed by the Governor 0 4

 

Bill Statistics, April 30th

As we enter the last month of the 84th Regular Session, we'll be frequently updating our blog with bill statistics. Below are statistics as of today at 2:50 p.m.

Two bills have passed both chambers and have been signed by the Governor. They are:

SB 219: Relating to the provision of health and human services in this state, including the powers and duties of the Health and Human Services Commission and other state agencies, and the licensing of certain health professionals; clarifying certain statutory provisions; authorizing the imposition of fees.

SB 293: Relating to a clarification of the law governing eligibility of certain events for funding under the Major Events trust fund.


 

  House Bills (HB) & Joint Resolutions (HJR) Senate Bills (SB) & Joint Resolutions (SJR)
Filed  4,336 2,130
Reported out of committee 1,546 748
Passed by chamber of origin 470 530
Referred to committee in opposite chamber 107 147
Reported out of committee in opposite chamber 11 50
Passed opposite chamber 1 27
Signed by the Governor 0 2

 

Bill Filing Deadline Statistics

Friday marked the bill filing deadline for the 84th Regular Session. When the deadline had passed, a total of 6,305 bills and joint resolutions had been filed. How does this compare to previous sessions?

 

Bill Statistics at the 45th Day of Session

Yesterday marked the 45th day of the 84th Regular Session. That means we're 3/4 of the way to the 60-day bill filing deadline, which is Friday, March 13, 2015. For those who are curious, here is a look at bill statistics in comparison to a similar period last session.

 

Bills and Joint Resolutions
83rd Regular Session

(Nov. 12, 2012-Feb. 21, 2013)
84th Regular Session

(Nov. 10, 2014-Feb. 26, 2015)
House filed 1,733 2,057
Senate filed 743 834
Total filed 2,476 2,891
House referred to committee 1,188 837
Senate referred to committee 588 721
Total referred to committee 1,776 1,558
House scheduled for hearing 30 25
Senate scheduled for hearing 82 24
Total scheduled for hearing 112 49
House reported out of committee 1 2
Senate reported out of committee 33 5
Total reported out of committee 34 7

 

83rd Regular Session Wrap-Up

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.

 

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