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Conference Committee Reports and Bill Statistics

May 24

posted by TexasLRL in Legislation, Conference Committees, Bill statistics, Legislative process, 86th Session

The 86th Regular Session ends Monday, May 27. As the end of session nears, many House and Senate members have been appointed to conference committees to resolve differences between their versions of bills. For information on the conference committee process, please see The Legislative Process in Texas.

To see a list of bills for which a conference committee was requested, please click here. Upon receiving completed conference committee reports, the LRL scans and posts them in our conference committee reports database. These reports, as well as a list of the members of a bill's conference committee, also are listed in the Texas Legislature Online record for each bill. 

 

The chart below provides a snapshot of bill statistics as of 10:10 a.m. today.

 

 

This entry was posted on May 24, 2019 at 12:45 PM and has received 2726 views. Print this entry.

Conference Committee Reports and Bill Statistics

May 26

posted by TexasLRL in Legislation, Conference Committees, Bill statistics, Legislative process

The 85th Regular Session ends Monday, May 29. As the end of session nears, many House and Senate members have been appointed to conference committees to resolve differences between their versions of bills. For information on the conference committee process, please see The Legislative Process in Texas and Texas Legislative Information and Resources.

 

To see a list of bills for which a conference committee was requested, please click here. Upon receiving completed conference committee reports, the LRL scans and posts them in our conference committee reports database. These reports, as well as a list of the members of a bill's conference committee, also are listed in the Texas Legislature Online record for each bill. 

 

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

This entry was posted on May 26, 2017 at 3:30 PM and has received 1955 views. Print this entry.

Conference Committee FAQs

May 16

posted by Admin in Conference Committees

As the end of session draws near, the below information on conference committees may be helpful.

What is a conference committee?
From the Guide to Texas Legislative Information: "When a bill that has been amended by the opposite chamber is returned to the originating chamber, the originating chamber must concur with all of the amendments made by the opposite chamber before the bill can be enrolled.  If the originating chamber does not concur with some or all of the opposite chamber's amendments, it may request the appointment of a conference committee to resolve the differences between the House and Senate versions of a bill."

How do I know if a bill goes to conference committee?
The bill history indicates if a bill goes to conference committee. In the list of actions, look for "House appoints conferees" or "Senate appoints conferees." These actions indicate that the chamber has agreed to go to conference committee and has appointed members to the committee.  Bill histories can be viewed in the Texas Legislature Online.  

How can I see who was appointed to a particular conference committee?
Conference appointees are entered into the Texas Legislature Online system as they are appointed and will be listed on the bill details page just above the actions on the history tab--see HB 1 (82nd R.S.) as an example.

How can I view conference committee reports?
After the committee has reached an agreement, a report is submitted to both chambers for approval or disapproval. The report must be approved by at least three conferees from each chamber and must contain the text of the bill as approved by the conference committee, a side-by-side analysis comparing the text of the compromise bill to both the House and the Senate versions, and the signatures of those members of the conference committee who approved the report.

The Legislative Library scans and links conference committee reports as soon as they are made available.  Once linked, they can be found on the library website at: http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/legis/conferencecommitteereports.cfm

In addition, conference committee reports are added to the Texas Legislature Online.

What if the conference committee wants to add language to the bill that is not included in either the House or Senate versions?
To add language to the bill that is not included in either the House or Senate versions, the conference committee obtains approval to suspend the language limitation found in the House and Senate rules by passing simple resolutions delineating the information they would like to include. In the bill history of the bill that went to conference committee, look for the actions "House adopts resolution to go outside bounds" and/or "Senate adopts resolution to go outside bounds." See HB 1796 (81st R.S.) as an example.  HR 2975 (81st R.S.) and SR 1099 (81st R.S.) were passed to add additional language to the conference committee report.

This entry was posted on May 16, 2011 at 8:25 AM and has received 9846 views. Print this entry.