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Bill Statistics, Two Weeks After Sine Die, June 10

Jun 10

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

June 16 is the last day the Governor can sign, veto, or allow to become law without his signature bills presented to him less than 10 days (not counting Sundays) prior to final adjournment of the 86th Regular Session.

 

The following bill statistics were calculated on June 10 at 1:45 p.m. To see how these statistics have changed and other post-session information, see previous blog posts on the legislative process.

 

 

86th Legislature Statistics

House and Senate Bills
Filed 7,324
Sent to the Governor 1,429
Signed by the Governor 484
Vetoed by the Governor 7
Filed without the Governor's signature 45
House and Senate Joint Resolutions
Filed 217
Filed with the Secretary of State 10
House and Senate Concurrent Resolutions
Filed 254
Filed with the Secretary of State 29
Sent to the Governor 96
Signed by the Governor 79
Vetoed by the Governor 0

 

This entry was posted on June 10, 2019 at 2:15 PM and has received 2193 views. Print this entry.

Finding Signed Copies of Bills and Session Law Chapter Numbers

Jun 3

posted by TexasLRL in Legislation, Legislative process

Looking for signed copies of bills, or trying to determine in what session law chapter a bill can be found? Here are some tips.

 

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 will be made available online on the Bills and Resolutions page. The signing deadline for the 86th Legislature is Sunday, June 16.

 

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."

 

Signed copies from the 78th - 85th Legislatures are available online at the University of North Texas Laws and Resolutions Archive. Copies of signed bills older than the 78th Regular Session are available through the Texas State Archives. Please call (512) 463-5480.

 

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.

 

For questions about bill/chapter numbers for bills from the 86th R.S., please contact the Secretary of State's office at (512) 463-5561.

 

Session law chapter citations for previous sessions are available online through the Legislative Archive System. To view the complete bill/session law chapter cross reference table for a session, select the legislature in the "search by session law chapter" option and leave the chapter box blank. The LRL will be working to add these records for the 86th regular session.

 

This entry was posted on June 3, 2019 at 10:00 AM and has received 1994 views. Print this entry.

What's Next? Post-Session FAQ and Bill Statistics

May 28

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

House and Senate Bills
Filed 7,324
Sent to the Governor 1,053
Signed by the Governor 222
Vetoed by the Governor 6
Filed without the Governor's signature 21
House and Senate Joint Resolutions
Filed 217
Filed with the Secretary of State 6
House and Senate Concurrent Resolutions
Filed 254
Filed with the Secretary of State 15
Sent to the Governor 86
Signed by the Governor 71
Vetoed by the Governor 0

*Statistics as of May 28 at 8:30 a.m. See our bill statistics page to compare these numbers with historical statistics.

 

What happens now?

The 86th Regular Session ended May 27, 2019. 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 5, 2019 election.

 

If the Legislature passes a bill, does it become a law right away?

No. Under Article 4, Section 14 of the Texas Constitution, bills passed by the Legislature must be submitted to the Governor for approval. The Governor can sign a bill, veto it, line-item veto an appropriation, or allow a bill to become law without his signature.

 

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 16, is the 20th day following final adjournment of the 86th Regular Session. It is the last day the Governor can sign or veto bills passed during the 86th Regular Session. The LRL's vetoes database will be updated for the 85th Regular Session as we receive those documents.

 

What happens to bills that did not pass?

Bills that did not make it completely through the legislative process die with the end of the session and are not automatically reintroduced during the next session.

 

This entry was posted on May 28, 2019 at 9:00 AM and has received 2291 views. Print this entry.

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 2918 views. Print this entry.

Bill Statistics, 133rd Day

May 21

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

Bill statistics comparing the 133rd day of the 86th and the 85th Regular Sessions are below. For information about what happens to a bill after it passes, please see our Legislative FAQ page. To learn more about the legislative process and see bill statistics for earlier points in the 86th Regular Session, check out some of our recent blog posts. 

 

 

This entry was posted on May 21, 2019 at 2:10 PM and has received 1322 views. Print this entry.

Bill Statistics & Upcoming Deadlines, May 13

May 13

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

As the 86th 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 20: Deadline for house to distribute last House Local & Consent Calendar with senate bills.
  • Tuesday, May 21: Last day for house to consider second reading senate bills and senate joint resolutions on the House Daily or Supplemental Calendar.
  • Wednesday, May 22: Last day for house to consider local and consent senate bills on second and third reading, and all third reading senate bills and senate joint resolutions on the House Supplemental Calendar. Last day for senate to consider all bills and joint resolutions on second or third reading.
  • Thursday, May 23: Midnight deadline for house to distribute senate amendments.
  • Friday, May 24: 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.
  • Saturday, May 25: 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 tax, general appropriations, and reapportionment bills, and all house amendments to senate bills and joint resolutions that did not go to conference committee.
  • Sunday, May 26: Last day for house to adopt conference committee reports or discharge house conferees and concur in senate amendments. Last day for senate to concure in house amendments or adopt conference committee reports.
  • Monday, May 27: Last day of the 85th Regular Session (sine die); only corrections may be considered 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. 12, 2018 - May 10, 2019 are below.

  House Bills (HB) & Joint Resolutions (HJR) Senate Bills (SB) & Joint Resolutions (SJR)
Filed  4,912 2,629
Reported out of committee 2,291 906
Passed by chamber of origin 1,449 777
Referred to committee in opposite chamber 1,179 736
Reported out of committee in opposite chamber 313 419
Passed opposite chamber 142 93
Signed by the Governor 8 21

 

 

 

 

This entry was posted on May 13, 2019 at 12:15 PM and has received 1266 views. Print this entry.

Bill Statistics & Upcoming Deadlines, May 6

May 6

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

As the 86th 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:

  • Wednesday, May 15: 9 a.m. Deadline for house to distribute its last House Local & Consent Calendar with local house bills.
  • Friday, May 17: 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 18: Last day for house committees to report senate bills and senate joint resolutions.
  • Sunday, May 19: 10 p.m. Deadline for house to distribute its 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. 12, 2018 - May 3, 2019 are below.

  House Bills (HB) & Joint Resolutions (HJR) Senate Bills (SB) & Joint Resolutions (SJR)
Filed  4,911 2,629
Reported out of committee 2,278 866
Passed by chamber of origin 1,111 720
Referred to committee in opposite chamber 708 592
Reported out of committee in opposite chamber 115 270
Passed opposite chamber 41 63
Signed by the Governor 3 5

 

 

This entry was posted on May 6, 2019 at 1:00 PM and has received 1651 views. Print this entry.

Bill Statistics & Upcoming Deadlines, April 29

Apr 29

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

As the 86th 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 6: Last day for house committees to report house bills and house joint resolutions.
  • Tuesday, May 7: Deadline for house to distribute last House Daily Calendar with house bills and house joint resolutions.
  • Wednesday, May 8: Deadline for house to distribute last House Local and Consent Calendar with consent house bills.
  • Thursday, May 9: Last day for house to consider house bills and house joint resolutions on second reading on House Daily or Supplemental Calendar.
  • Friday, May 10: Last day for house to consider consent house bills on second and third reading and all third reading house bills or house 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. 12, 2018 - April 26, 2019 are below.

  House Bills (HB) & Joint Resolutions (HJR) Senate Bills (SB) & Joint Resolutions (SJR)
Filed  4,908 2,625
Reported out of committee 2,155 800
Passed by chamber of origin 696 580
Referred to committee in opposite chamber 403 440
Reported out of committee in opposite chamber 28 152
Passed opposite chamber 6 27
Signed by the Governor 0 0

 

 

This entry was posted on April 29, 2019 at 4:40 PM and has received 1140 views. Print this entry.

Bill Filing Deadline Statistics, 86th Legislature

Mar 11

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

Friday marked the bill filing deadline for the 86th Regular Session. When the deadline had passed, a total of 7,281 bills and joint resolutions had been filed. How does this compare to previous sessions?

 

This entry was posted on March 11, 2019 at 1:00 PM and has received 2324 views. Print this entry.

Bill Statistics at the 45th Day of Session, 86th Legislature

Feb 22

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

Thursday, February 21 marked the 45th day of the 86th Regular Session. That means we're 3/4 of the way to the 60-day bill filing deadline, which is Friday, March 8, 2019. For those who are curious, here is a look at bill statistics in comparison to a similar period last session.

 

Bills and Joint Resolutions
85th Regular Session

 

(Nov. 14, 2016-Feb. 23, 2017)
86th Regular Session

 

(Nov. 12, 2018-Feb. 21, 2019)
House filed 2,396 2,277
Senate filed 1,094 973
Total filed 3,490 3,250
House referred to committee 1,024 818
Senate referred to committee 814 612
Total referred to committee 1,838 1,430
House scheduled for hearing 3 15
Senate scheduled for hearing 32 5
Total scheduled for hearing 35 20
House reported out of committee 2 0
Senate reported out of committee 23 4
Total reported out of committee 25 4

 

This entry was posted on February 22, 2019 at 10:10 AM and has received 2296 views. Print this entry.

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