87th Legislature, 3rd Called Session Statistics

The 87th Legislature, 3rd Called Session, adjourned Sine Die on October 19, 2021. The last day for the Governor to sign or veto bills is Monday, November 8.

The following bill statistics were calculated on October 21, 2021, at 8:15 a.m.

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The Texas Constitution is changed through amendments, which are proposed by the Texas Legislature and accepted or rejected by the voters. A constitutional amendment is initially considered by the legislature in the form of a joint resolution.

On November 2, 2021, Texas voters will have a chance to consider eight constitutional amendments proposed during the 87th Legislature, Regular Session. This year's proposed amendments cover a wide range of topics, including taxation, candidates for judicial office, and more.

For background and analysis of the proposed amendments that will appear on the election ballot, see the House Research Organization's Constitutional Amendments Proposed for November 2021 Ballot, and the Texas Legislative Council's Analyses of Proposed Constitutional Amendments.

Since the current Texas Constitution was adopted in 1876, voters have approved 507 amendments. For information on how to search for proposed and adopted amendments from other sessions, see our Constitutional Amendments webpage.

Amendments Proposed for the November 2, 2021, ballot by the 87th Legislature

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87th Legislature, 2nd Called Session Statistics

The following bill statistics were calculated on September 23, 2021.

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87th Legislature, 2nd Called Session Statistics

The following bill statistics were calculated on August 31, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. The numbers will continue to change as the special session progresses.

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Looking for signed copies of bills? Here are some tips.
 

• Signed Copies of Bills
  • 87th Legislative Session
  • 83rd — 86th Legislative Sessions
  • 78th — 86th Legislative Sessions
  • Prior to the 78th Legislative Session

Signed Copies of Bills

The signing deadline for the 87th Regular Session was Sunday, June 20.

Instructions on how to locate signed copies of bills and concurrent resolutions are available on the Legislative Reference Library (LRL) website. Click on the Signed copies of bills link located in the drop-down menu of the Legislation tab on our homepage.




87th Legislative Session

Bills and concurrent resolutions from the 87th Legislative Session that the governor signed were sent to the Secretary of State's office. These bills are available on the Bills and Resolutions page of the Secretary of State's website. Click on legislative bills on the drop-down menu under the Forms & Other Services tab.

 

On the Bills and Resolution page, use the drop-down menu to select one of the following types of bills: House Bills, House Concurrent Resolutions, House Joint Resolutions, Senate Bills, Senate Concurrent Resolutions, or Senate Joint Resolutions.

 

Using the Bill Lookup option on the Texas Legislature Online (TLO), you can find out whether a bill was signed by the governor or filed without the governor's signature by checking the Actions table. If a bill passed but was filed without the governor's signature, you will see the action, "Filed without the governor's signature." Bills filed without the governor's signature are also sent to the Secretary of State with the signatures of Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate.


On TLO, you can also view lists of bills based on a specific action by the governor.

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

 

2. The "General Reports" section has three lists of bills by the governor's action.

 

83rd — 86th Legislative Sessions

Signed copies of bills and concurrent resolutions enacted during the 83rd through the 86th Legislative Sessions (2013—2019) are available through the Legislative Archive System on the library's website.

For example, to obtain a signed copy of HB 36, 86th R.S. (2019), look for the "Signed legislation" link on the History page of the bill file.




78th — 86th Legislative Sessions

The University of North Texas Libraries provides access to images of signed copies of bills from the 78th throught the 86th Regular Sessions (2003—2019) in their Texas Laws and Resolutions Archive in The Portal to Texas History.


Prior to the 78th Legislative Session

Copies of signed bills older than the 78th Regular Session (2003) are available through the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC). Digitized copies of signed bills from the 1st through the 18th Legislative Sessions (1846—1883) are available in TSLAC's Texas Digital Archive. Please call (512) 463-5480 for more information about accessing copies of signed bills.

 

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87th Legislature, 1st Called Session Statistics

The following bill statistics were calculated on August 9, 2021.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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