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your partner in legislative research
Legislative Reference Library of Texas
your partner in legislative research

Bill Statistics at the 45th Day of Session

Feb 27

posted by TexasLRL in Legislation, 85th Session, Bill statistics, Legislative process

Thursday, February 23 marked the 45th day of the 85th Regular Session. That means we're 3/4 of the way to the 60-day bill filing deadline, which is Friday, March 10, 2017. For those who are curious, here is a look at bill statistics in comparison to a similar period last session.

 

Bills and Joint Resolutions
84th Regular Session

(Nov. 10, 2014-Feb. 26, 2015)
85th Regular Session

(Nov. 14, 2016-Feb. 23, 2017)
House filed 2,057 2,396
Senate filed 834 1,094
Total filed 2,891 3,490
House referred to committee 837 1,024
Senate referred to committee 721 814
Total referred to committee 1,558 1,838
House scheduled for hearing 25 3
Senate scheduled for hearing 24 32
Total scheduled for hearing 49 35
House reported out of committee 2 2
Senate reported out of committee 5 23
Total reported out of committee 7 25

 

This entry was posted on February 27, 2017 at 9:00 AM and has received 1438 views. Print this entry.

Texas Legislative Guides: 85th Regular Session

Feb 16

posted by TexasLRL in 85th Session, Legislative process

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.

 

Texas Legislative Information and Resources, prepared by the Research Division of the Texas Legislative Council for the 85th Legislature (2017).
Identifies resources for locating information that is available about current and past legislation.

Research Spotlight: Legislative Lexicon, prepared by the Texas Senate Research Center (2017).
Provides definitions of words, terms, and phrases used in the Legislature.

Reading Statutes and Bills, prepared by the Research Division of the Texas Legislative Council (2017).
Presents a basic overview of Texas statutes and bills, as well as tips for reading and understanding them.

Topics for the 85th Legislature, by House Research Organization (2016).
Highlights many of the issues the 85th Legislature may consider during its 2017 regular session.

Texas Legislative Glossary, prepared by the Texas Legislative Council for the 85th Legislature.
Defines terms related to the legislative process in Texas.

 

Issues Facing the 85th Texas Legislature, prepared by the Texas Senate Research Center (2017).
Outlines broad categories and topics of interest for the 85th Legislature.

 

 

 

 

This entry was posted on February 16, 2017 at 11:15 AM and has received 2027 views. Print this entry.

End-of-Session Deadline Calendar, 85th R.S.

Jan 20

posted by TexasLRL in 85th Session, Legislative process

The end-of-session deadlines calendar for the 85th Regular Session is now available. The calendar is a practical summary of deadlines for action under House and Senate rules, and is not intended as an interpretation.  End-of-session deadline calendars and dates of interest for previous sessions are available on the library website: Session deadline calendars

 

This entry was posted on January 20, 2017 at 12:25 PM and has received 2535 views. Print this entry.

Bill Prefiling Statistics and FAQ

Nov 9

posted by TexasLRL in Legislative process

Bill prefiling begins November 14, 2016. Starting that day, returning members and members-elect may file bills to be considered during the regular session of the 85th Legislature, which begins at noon on January 10, 2017.    
 
For a general overview of bill prefiling, see our previous blog post, Bill Prefiling FAQs.
 

This entry was posted on November 9, 2016 at 8:36 AM and has received 2700 views. Print this entry.

Dates of Interest for the 85th Regular Session

Aug 19

posted by TexasLRL in 85th Session, Legislative process

What are the key deadlines for the 85th Regular Session? Official deadlines will be set when the House and Senate adopt their rules, but until then, the Texas Legislative Council Drafting Manual provides a perpetual calendar (shown below) that can be useful. According to the Manual:

 

Bill pre-filing begins:  Nov 14, 2016

 

1st day of session:  Jan 10, 2017

 

60-day bill filing deadline:  Mar 10, 2017

 

Adjournment sine die:  May 29, 2017

 

Post-session 20-day deadline for governor to sign or veto:  June 18, 2017

 

Effective date (91st day after adjournment):  Aug 28, 2017

 

 

  Table can be viewed on pg. 135 of the Texas Legislative Council Drafting Manual. 

This entry was posted on August 19, 2016 at 4:50 PM and has received 20154 views. Print this entry.

LRL's State Budget Diagram

Jun 21

posted by TexasLRL in Legislative process

The library's state budget diagram charts the budget-making process in Texas month-by-month. The diagram is a helpful way to understand where we are in the budget process and what lies ahead. Users will learn about legislative appropriations requests, budget hearings, the process of writing the budget bill during session, and the variety of reports created during the budget process. The library updates the diagram as the process moves forward, so continue to check back.  
 

This entry was posted on June 21, 2016 at 8:34 AM and has received 1214 views. Print this entry.

Answer Your Committee-Related Questions with the LRL Committee Search

May 4

posted by TexasLRL in LRL news, Legislative process

In a recent blog post, we discussed committee minute availability. This week, we're continuing our focus on Texas legislative committees by taking a look at the library's Committee Search page. 
 
The library's Committee Search page allows users to find information like committee membership, committee charges, published interim reports, and in some cases, committee minutes. You can use our committee search page to answer questions like:
  • What were the standing and joint committees of the 69th Legislature?
  • Has there ever been a committee to look at auto theft? (Answer: yes)
  • What issues has the Senate Natural Resources Committee examined over the last 5 sessions?
  • How long did the House Cultural and Historical Resources Committee exist and who served on it?
You can also search by committee member last name or by committee member role, which allows you to answer questions such as:
  • What committees has my state senator or representative served on during their time in the legislature? 
  • Did he or she ever chair a committee?
  • Who has chaired the Senate Finance Committee during its history?
There are many more committee-related questions that can be answered using our committee search page. For assistance or questions, please contact the library at (512) 463-1252.
 
Image: Committee search page on the LRL website.
 
 

This entry was posted on May 4, 2016 at 12:20 PM and has received 1161 views. Print this entry.

New Reports of Legislative Interest

Nov 19

posted by TexasLRL in Legislative process

The Texas Legislative Council has published two reports of legislative interest:
 
This publication provides a summary of each bill that passed during the 2015 session, and categorizes each measure by subject. For Summary of Enactments reports for previous sessions, please see the library's session summaries page.
 
This publication provides information about statutory state agencies, interagency panels, advisory committees, and other state government entities that were created, restructured, or eliminated by the Legislature. The report provides the following information for each entity:
  • Name
  • Legislation
  • Effective/Abolished
  • Function
  • Composition
  • Expiration Date
The report also provides, in the appendix, a list of the entities affected by Tex. S.B. 219, 84th Leg., R.S., relating to the provision of health and human services in the state.  

This entry was posted on November 19, 2015 at 10:52 AM and has received 928 views. Print this entry.

5 Things You Can Find in a Legislative Journal

Oct 6

posted by TexasLRL in Legislative process

Texas Constitution art. III § 12 directs each chamber of the legislature to keep a journal of its proceedings for each legislative day during session. Daily journals are compiled and indexed following a session, and these bound volumes become what we know as the House and Senate Journals. 
 
House and Senate journals can be a valuable source of information for research. Though they usually do not contain a transcript of debate, they do have other information that's helpful. Here are five examples:
 
1. Reason for vote or statement of legislative intent: On some occasions, a reason for vote or a statement of legislative intent will be recorded in the journal. A reason for vote is usually listed in the index as "Vote, reason for, by" or "Reasons for Vote, By." A statement of legislative intent can usually be found as "Legislative intent, statement of." Here's an example of a reason for vote from the Senate Journal for the 31st Legislature (see pg. 7 of the pdf). To see what a statement of legislative intent looks like, see pg. 14 of this pdf.
 
2. Record votes - If you want to see how a legislator voted on a particular bill at a particular stage in the legislative process, check the bill history to see if a record vote was taken. A record vote is a list of each member's vote on a particular motion or measure.  
 
3. Speeches - Sometimes the text of speeches will be included in the journals.  As an example, see pg. 11 of this pdf for the text of a speech by Ross Perot when he visited the Legislature in 1971. To find speeches, look in the index for "Address by, text of" or a variation of that.
 
4. Bill authors and bill histories: The standard appendices in most journals will include a list of bills by author as well as the history of bills and resolutions in the House and Senate. The history contains a list of actions on a bill and is helpful if you want to see if a record vote was ever taken.
 
5. Messages from the Governor - Governors submit a variety of messages to the legislature during the course of a session. You can usually find these listed in the index under "Governor, Messages From."
 
The Library has a large collection of House and Senate journals on its website, as well as a comprehensive collection of the hardbound volumes. We've also made all of the journals of the Republic of Texas available online. For help finding information in a journal, please contact the library at (512) 463-1252.
 

This entry was posted on October 6, 2015 at 3:24 PM and has received 1098 views. Print this entry.

New Report: Sunset Commission Final Results, 2014-15

Jul 20

posted by TexasLRL in Legislation, Sunset review, Legislative process

The Sunset Commission’s last report of the 2014–2015 cycle, Final Results of Sunset Reviews, is now available on the Sunset Advisory Commission's website. 
 
"This comprehensive report briefly summarizes the final results of each Sunset review, including both legislative actions and nonstatutory management directives. Despite the failure of four bills, the 84th Legislature adopted 72 percent of the Commission’s 185 recommendations through Sunset legislation or other related legislation. The legislation is estimated to have a positive fiscal impact of some $38 million."
- Ken Levine, Director of the Sunset Advisory Commission
 
A diagram of how the Sunset process works is available via the Sunset Advisory Commission's website.  
 
 
 
 
 
Cover image by Pixabay user gsbarber.
 

This entry was posted on July 20, 2015 at 3:22 PM and has received 2588 views. Print this entry.

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