Bill statistics comparing the 133rd day of the 87th and the 86th 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 from earlier points in the 87th Regular Session, check out some of our previous blog posts.

 

Bill statistics for the period of November 9, 2020 — May 24, 2021, are below:

	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	777	576
Passed opposite chamber	392	331
Signed by the Governor	52	72
Filed without the Governor's signature	3	3
Vetoed by the Governor	0	1

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As the 87th 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 24: Deadline for the last House Local & Consent Calendar with Senate bills (SBs) to be distributed.
• Tuesday, May 25: Last day for the House to consider second reading Senate bills and Senate joint resolutions (SJRs) on the House Daily or Supplemental Calendar.
• Wednesday, May 26: Last day for the 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 Supplemental Calendar.
  Last day for the Senate to consider all bills and joint resolutions on second or third reading.
• Thursday, May 27: Deadline for Senate amendments to be distributed in the House.
• Friday, May 28: Deadline for House copies of conference committee report (CCR) on the general appropriations bill to be distributed.
  Last day for the House to act on Senate amendments.
  Deadline for Senate copies of conference committee reports on tax, general appropriations, and reapportionment bills to be printed and distributed.
• Saturday, May 29: Deadline for House copies of conference committee reports on bills other than the general appropriations bill to be distributed.
  Deadline for Senate copies of all conference committee reports on bills other than tax, general appropriations, and reapportionment bills to be printed and distributed.
• Sunday, May 30: Last day for the House to adopt conference committee reports or discharge House conferees and concur in Senate amendments.
  Last day for the Senate to concur in House amendments or adopt conference committee reports.
• Monday, May 31: Last day of the 87th Regular Session (Sine die); only corrections may be considered in the House and the Senate.

House and Senate calendars are available on the Texas Legislature Online.

Bill statistics for the period of November 9, 2020 — May 14, 2021, are below.

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As the 87th 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 19: Deadline for the House to distribute its last House Local and Consent Calendar with local House bills (HBs).
• Friday, May 21: Last day for the House to consider local House bills on second and third reading.
  First day the Senate can consider bills and resolutions the first day they are posted on the Senate Notice of Intent Calendar.
• Saturday, May 22: Last day for House committees to report Senate bills (SBs) and Senate joint resolutions (SJRs).
• Sunday, May 23: Deadline for the 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.

Bill statistics for the period of November 9, 2020 — May 7, 2021, are below.

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As the 87th 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 10: Last day for House committees to report House bills (HBs) and House joint resolutions (HJRs).
• Tuesday, May 11: Deadline for the House to distribute the last House Daily Calendar with House bills and House joint resolutions.
• Wednesday, May 12: Deadline for the House to distribute the last House Local and Consent Calendar with consent House bills.
• Thursday, May 13: Last day for the House to consider House bills and House joint resolutions on second reading on the House Daily or Supplemental Calendar.
• Friday, May 14: Last day for the House to consider consent House bills on second and third reading and all third reading House bills or House joint resolutions on the House Supplemental Calendar.

House and Senate calendars are available on the Texas Legislature Online.

Bill statistics for the period of November 9, 2020 — April 30, 2021, are below.

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This post includes a list of guides published by Texas legislative agencies to assist you in following the legislative process. These guides will help you track and read a bill, understand the terminology used in the Texas Legislature, learn about issues facing the Legislature, and much more.

The Legislative Process in Texas, prepared by the Texas Legislative Council (2021).
Summarizes how legislation moves from introduced bill to signed law.

Reading Statutes and Bills, prepared by the Texas Legislative Council.
Presents a basic overview of Texas statutes and bills, as well as tips for reading and understanding them. (Now an online source; previously was available as a PDF.)

Texas Legislative Glossary, prepared by the Texas Legislative Council.
Defines terms related to the legislative process in Texas. (Now an online source; previously was available as a PDF.)

Research Spotlight: Legislative Lexicon, prepared by the Senate Research Center (2021).
Provides definitions of words, terms, and phrases used in the Legislature.

Writing the State Budget: 87th Legislature, prepared by the House Research Organization (2021).
Outlines the budget writing process in Texas and defines key terms.

Budget 101: A Guide to the Budget Process in Texas, prepared by the Senate Research Center (2021).
Explains how the budget is developed in Texas; designed for new staff or those unfamiliar with the budget process.

Topics for the 87th Legislature, prepared by the House Research Organization (2021).
Highlights many of the issues the 87th Legislature may consider during its 2021 regular session.

Guide to 2021 Redistricting, prepared by the Texas Legislative Council (2020).
Provides an introduction to issues and constraints affecting statewide redistricting following the 2020 decennial census.

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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?

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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.

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The Texas Constitution and the Rules of the House and Senate set the procedure that a bill must follow in order to be passed into law. Here are the basic steps in the legislative process:

• Bill filing/introduction
• First reading and referral to committee
• Committee consideration
• Floor consideration on second and third reading
• Engrossment
• Consideration in opposite chamber
• Concurrence in opposite chamber's amendments, or conference committee report
• Sent to Governor
• Governor signs bill or takes no action
• Bill becomes law on effective date

Bills that do not pass or are vetoed by the Governor must be reintroduced the next session; the bill number does not carry over.

 

Several key publications describing the Texas legislative process are available on the Legislative Reference Library website under General Information | Texas legislative agencies & process, including:

 

Bill process flowcharts for the House and Senate. Online versions are available through the Texas Legislative Council.

 

 

 

 

 

The Legislative Process in Texas, by the Texas Legislative Council (November 2018), details each step in the legislative process, from how a bill originates to the filing and publication of laws.

Citizen Handbook: How the Texas Legislature Works, published by the Secretary of the Senate (February 2019), includes a short history of the Texas Capitol, an overview of the Texas Senate and Texas House of Representatives, legislative advocacy tips, and basic steps in the legislative process.

The Legislative Lexicon, by the Senate Research Center (January 2019), explains the vocabulary of the legislature from A-Z, such as the difference between an engrossed and enrolled bill.

How a Bill Becomes Law: 86th Legislature, by the House Research Organization (February 28, 2019), provides an overview of the legislative process with a focus on House rules.

 

 

 

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• Governor Ann Richards testified on March 3, 1991, before the House Insurance Committee in favor of an insurance bill (HB 2, 72R) that later passed. During a special session, she testified on July 16, 1991, before the Senate State Affairs Committee for a government reorganization bill (SB 7, 72nd 1st C.S.) that did not pass. Typescripts of her prepared testimonials are available for both bills—with a caveat noted on her testimony for SB 7 that "Governor Richards frequently deviates from prepared remarks."
• Governor George W. Bush testified on the need for tort reform at the 74th Legislature's Senate Committee on Economic Development meeting on February 2, 1995. (Search within the document to find his name on witness lists for bills SB 25, SB 28, and SB 32, all of which passed.) We do not have his testimony transcripts.
• Governor Rick Perry also "frequently departs from prepared remarks," according to the May 20, 2004, testimony published for his remarks to the House Select Committee on Public School Finance for the 78th Legislature.

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