The Legislative Reference Library (LRL) staff reviews the text of all bills that become law to determine their effective dates and enters the information into Texas Legislature Online (TLO) and on the library's website.

Effective Dates on the LRL's Website

The library compiles a detailed list of bills and their effective dates following each regular and called session. The Effective Dates for Bills list for the 87th Legislature, Regular Session, is now available on the LRL's website.

 

Effective Dates on TLO

To find the effective date of a bill, look up the bill in TLO and see the "Last Action" field in the history window.

For example, the "Last Action" field for SB 2, 87th Legislature, Regular Session, indicates that the bill is effective immediately and includes the effective date.

 

Sometimes a bill becomes effective on a specific date other than the beginning of the fiscal year (i.e., September 1) or the beginning of the calendar year (i.e., January 1). In these cases, the effective date is not stated in the "Last Action" field, but instead is indicated further down the page in the Actions table.

For example, the effective date for SB 197, 87th Legislature, Regular Session, is provided in the "Comment" column of the last action in the Actions table.

 

In some cases, sections of a bill may have different effective dates. These other effective dates are provided in the "Remarks" field.

For example, the "Last Action" field for HB 766, 87th Legislature, Regular Session, refers to the comments in the "Remarks" field because Section 2 of the bill has a different effective date from the rest of the bill.

 

You can also view lists of bills by effective date on TLO.

1. On TLO's homepage, click on the "Reports" link under Additional Searches.

 

2. The "General Reports" section has links to four lists of bills by effective date.

 

For House and Senate bills from the 87th Regular Session (2021), the two largest groupings are:

• Bills Effective Immediately: 329
• Bills Effective on September 1st: 666

 

For more information about bill effective dates, see the Section 3.14 of the Texas Legislative Council Drafting Manual.

This entry was posted on August 2, 2021 at 12:20 PM and has received 1245 views. Print this entry.

87th Legislature, 1st Called Session Statistics

The following bill statistics were calculated on July 20 at 8:40 a.m. The numbers will continue to change as the special session progresses.

This entry was posted on July 20, 2021 at 10:15 AM and has received 979 views. Print this entry.

87th Legislature, 1st Called Session Statistics

The following bill statistics were calculated on July 13 at 10:45 a.m. The numbers will continue to change as the special session progresses.

This entry was posted on July 13, 2021 at 12:00 PM and has received 802 views. Print this entry.

The 1st Called Session of the 87th Legislature begins tomorrow at 10 a.m.

For information about called sessions, commonly referred to as special sessions, check out the "Special Sessions of the Texas Legislature" page on the Legislative Reference Library (LRL) website. Here, you can find past special session dates with gubernatorial proclamations, statutory authority, frequently asked questions, Texas Attorney General Opinions, and other resources. If you are accessing this page from within the Capitol Complex, you can also view articles related to special sessions from our clips database.

 

Special Sessions and Years includes links to official proclamations and session topics assigned by the governor for the current special session and historical special sessions back to the 9th Legislature. We have added information about the 87th Legislature, 1st Called Session, including Governor Abbott's proclamation and topics.

This entry was posted on July 7, 2021 at 4:20 PM and has received 823 views. Print this entry.

Interested in how the final bill statistics from the 87th Legislature's regular session compares to statistics from past sessions? See the charts below to compare and contrast.

To find past bill statistics and other session information, see our previous blog posts on the legislative process.

This entry was posted on June 30, 2021 at 9:15 AM and has received 951 views. Print this entry.

Sunday, June 20 was the last day the governor could sign or veto an enrolled bill from the 87th Regular Session. If neither action was taken, the bill became law without his signature.

To see how these statistics have changed since Sine Die, please view our blog posts from June 2, June 8, and June 15.

87th Legislature Statistics

The following bill statistics were calculated on June 21 at 8 a.m.

You can also view lists of bills by the governor's action on Texas Legislature Online (TLO).

1. On TLO's homepage, click on the "Reports" link under Additional Searches.

 

2. Then click on the "General Reports" tab to see the lists of bills by the governor's action.

This entry was posted on June 21, 2021 at 3:15 PM and has received 1500 views. Print this entry.

June 20 is the last day the governor can sign or veto an enrolled bill. If neither action is taken, the bill becomes law without his signature.

To see how these bill statistics have changed and other post-session information, see our previous blog posts on the legislative process.

87th Legislature Statistics

The following bill statistics were calculated on June 15 at 9:10 a.m.

This entry was posted on June 15, 2021 at 3:15 PM and has received 1159 views. Print this entry.

June 20 is the last day the governor can sign or veto an enrolled bill. If neither action is taken, the bill becomes law without his signature.

To see how these bill statistics have changed and other post-session information, see our previous blog posts on the legislative process.

87th Legislature Statistics

The following bill statistics were calculated on June 8 at 12:20 p.m.

This entry was posted on June 8, 2021 at 3:15 PM and has received 988 views. Print this entry.

Bill Statistics:

*Statistics as of June 2, 2021, at 1 p.m. See our bill statistics page to compare these numbers with historical statistics.

Post-Session FAQ:

What happens now?

The 87th Regular Session ended May 31, 2021. Bills that pass both the House and the Senate are sent to the governor to sign, veto, or allow to become law without his signature.

When 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?

The deadline for the governor to act on a bill is contingent upon the point in time in which the bill is presented to the governor.


If a bill is sent to the governor during the legislative session, the governor has 10 days (excluding 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 (excluding Sundays) prior to final adjournment, the governor has 20 days (including 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 20, is the 20th day following the final adjournment of the 87th Regular Session. It is the last day the governor can sign or veto bills passed during the 87th Regular Session. The LRL's vetoes database will be updated for the 87th Regular Session as we receive those documents.

If the governor approves a bill, when will it take effect?

The text of a bill may include effective date provisions requiring the bill to take effect immediately, to take effect on a specified day, or there may be no mention of an effective date. Different sections of a bill may have different effective dates.


According to Article III, Section 39 of the Texas Constitution, a bill cannot become effective until at least 90 days after the session ends unless the bill passes both chambers with a favorable vote by two-thirds of the members.


Monday, August 30, 2021 is the 91st day following final adjournment; bills that do not specify an effective date and those that did not have the two-thirds vote necessary to take effect earlier will take effect on Monday, August 30, 2021.


If a bill received the votes necessary to become effective immediately, it will take effect on the date of the last action necessary for it to become law. This could be when the governor signs it, when the governor files it with the Secretary of State without approving or vetoing it, or when the time for the governor to act expires, if the bill has not been approved or vetoed during that time.

What happens to bills that do not pass?

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

What about other types of legislation?

Joint resolutions that pass both chambers of the Legislature are filed with the Secretary of State, and will be on the ballot as a proposed constitutional amendment for the November 2, 2021 election.


Concurrent resolutions generally require action by the governor. Concurrent resolutions used for administrative matters in the House and Senate do not require approval from the governor.


Simple resolutions are passed by only one chamber of the Legislature, and do not require the governor's approval.

Where can I find more information about special sessions?

You can start with the LRL's FAQ about special sessions. The LRL website's section devoted to special sessions also includes historical information, links to statutory authority pertaining to special sessions, and more.

Sources:

• The Legislative Process in Texas, Texas Legislative Council, February 2021
• Dates of Interest | 87th Legislature, Texas Legislative Council

This entry was posted on June 2, 2021 at 4:15 PM and has received 1243 views. Print this entry.

The 87th Regular Session ends Monday, May 31. As the end of session nears, many House and Senate members are appointed to conference committees to resolve differences between the versions of a bill passed by their respective chambers. The publication The Legislative Process in Texas provides more information about conference committees.

To see a list of bills for which a conference committee was requested, please click here.

Upon receiving completed conference committee reports, the LRL enters them in the conference committee reports database.

 

You can also find these reports, as well as a list of the members appointed to a bill's conference committee, in the Texas Legislature Online record for each bill.

For example, when looking at the record with the "History" tab for HB 1, 86th R.S., the House and Senate conferees are listed above the Actions table.

 

The conference committee report for HB 1 is located on the record with the "Text" tab.

 

The charts below provide a snapshot of bill statistics for the period of November 9, 2020 — May 28, 2021, as of 8:00 a.m. today.

	House Bills (HBs) & House Joint Resolutions (HJRs)	Senate Bills (SBs) & Senate Joint Resolutions (SJRs)
Filed	4,834	2,314
Reported out of committee	1,926	746
Passed by chamber of origin	1,261	672
Referred to committee in opposite chamber	1,157	671
Reported out of committee in opposite chamber	780	576
Passed opposite chamber	608	503
Signed by the Governor	64	78
Filed without the Governor's signature	4	3
Vetoed by the Governor	0	1

This entry was posted on May 28, 2021 at 3:45 PM and has received 1495 views. Print this entry.