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Filibusters and Chubbing

May 23

posted by TexasLRL in Legislative process

Near the end of the legislative session, delaying tactics such as filibusters and chubbing come into play as members seek to prevent the passage of bills, delay their consideration, or gain an advantage in negotiations.
 
What is a filibuster?
A filibuster is the prolonged discussion of a bill by an individual, intended to delay legislative action. 
 
Are filibusters allowed in the Texas legislature?
Filibusters are permitted in the Senate but not in the House of Representatives.
 
Are there any rules for a filibuster?
Filibusters are governed by the Senate rules and by precedents interpreting the rules. 
 
Rule 3.02 prohibits eating or drinking in the Senate chamber.
 
Rule 4.01 requires a member of the Senate to stand at his or her desk to address the Senate. The member speaking may not sit, lean, or use a desk or chair in any way. Bathroom breaks are not allowed.
 
Rule 4.03, which governs the interruption of a member who is speaking, allows other senators to raise objections if a speaker does not confine his or her remarks to the issue under consideration or if his or her voice is inaudible.
 
Is there a way to end a filibuster?
If a point of order is raised that the senator speaking has violated the rules for decorum or debate, the presiding officer will warn the senator twice; after a third violation, the Senate may vote on the point of order. If it is sustained, the senator speaking must yield the floor. 
 
What is the longest filibuster?
Senator Bill Meier holds both the state and national record for his 43-hour filibuster on SB 1275 during the 65th regular session in 1977. Senator Meier objected to a provision of the bill which would have prevented public inspection of the records of the Industrial Accident Board.
 
How common are filibusters?
Filibusters are not officially recorded in the Senate Journal, and they can be difficult to document, but they are not uncommon.   The Legislative Reference Library has indentified more than 100 filibusters in the last 72 years, including several record-breakers:
 
Session
Beginning date
Senator
Bill
Length
Source
65th R.S.
5/2/1977
43 hours
Houston Post, 5/5/1977 "Filibuster sets record, but bill passes anyway"
62nd, 3 C.S.
6/27/1972
42 hours, 33 min
Houston Chronicle ,6/28/1972 "McKool, glassy-eyed, but strong of voice, breaks filibuster record"
62nd R.S.
5/29/1971
29 hours, 22 min
Dallas Times-Herald, 5/31/1971 "UT-Dallas bill gains nod despite record filibuster"
54th R.S.
5/17/1955
SJR  1
28 hours 20 min
Dallas News, 5/18/1955 "Filibuster bars vote on water measure"
54th R.S.
3/30/1955
28 hours, 6 min
Texas Observer 4/4/1955 ".. And new champion .."      
54th R.S.
3/23/1955
23 hours and 35 or 45 minutes
Texas Observer , 3/28/1955 "Polka Dots and Orange Juice."
 
 
What is chubbing?
Chubbing refers to the practice of one or more members of the legislature debating bills at great length to slow down the legislative process.   It is frequently practiced on those legislative days which have deadlines near the end of session. Chubbing occurs in both the House and the Senate.
 
Why is this called chubbing?
The origin of the use of the word "chubbing" to refer to a tactic of talking at length to delay the consideration of legislation is not known.
 
It appears that the use of this term in Texas dates back at least to the 1950s. This usage may be unique to Texas. The Oxford Dictionary of American Political Slang lists the term as originating in Texas, and cites its appearance in newspapers and magazines. Texas newspapers articles from the early 1970s through the present describe the practice of chubbing, but give no information about the origin of the term.
 
The technique is also mentioned in several of the general books on Texas politics in the Library's collection; the earliest is from The Texas Citizen : the Guide to Active Citizenship in the Lone Star State by William Henry Gardner, published in 1955.  In a section on delaying tactics Gardner writes "A number of maneuvers are employed by opponents of a bill to defeat it, or delay its passage. In the House, members may prevent a bill that is on the calendar from being taken up for floor consideration by a time-consuming stratagem known as chubbing, which consists of talking at length on a number of other irrelevant matters." Again, no background is provided.

This entry was posted on May 23, 2011 at 10:00 AM and has received 49977 views. Print this entry.

Deadlines, Exceptional Votes and Blocker Bills

May 10

posted by TexasLRL in Legislative process

As the 140 days of the regular session draw near an end, a variety of deadlines, rules, and legislative procedures begin to play a larger role in the legislative process. 
 
Deadlines
With just three weeks remaining in the session, a series of deadlines will begin to affect the legislative process.   The end of session deadlines are set in the House and Senate rules. 

This week, Thursday May 12 is the last day for the House to consider second reading House bills and House joint resolutions on the Daily or Supplemental Calendar; Friday, May 13 is the last day for the House to consider consent House Bills on second reading and all third reading House bills and House joint resolutions on the supplemental calendar.
 
The month of May includes so many dates of interest that the Texas Legislative Council has prepared a calendar showing deadlines for action under the House and Senate rules.

Other significant dates and deadlines can be found on the Texas Legislative Council's Dates of Interest page.
 
Exceptional votes
While many issues are decided in the Legislature by a simple majority vote, the Texas Constitution and the House and Senate rules include provisions for situations which require a supermajority. Exceptional votes  may require approval by a certain fraction of the members present and voting on a particular question or it may require approval by a portion of all members eligible to vote, whether or not they are present.
 
Some of the issues which require approval by a supermajority include:
 
Three-fifths of members present and voting
  • Appropriate amounts from the Economic Stabilization Fund for previous purpose during the current biennium Constitution III, § 49-g(k)
  • Appropriate amounts from the Economic Stabilization Fund for the succeeding biennium when the revenue estimate is lower than the revenue estimate for the prior biennium Constitution III, § 49-g(l)

Two-thirds of members present and voting

Two-thirds of members qualified
 
Four-fifths of members present and voting

Four-fifths of Members qualified
 
Consult the Texas Constitution and the House and Senate rules for more information on exceptional votes. Article XVI of the Senate rules includes a list of votes required to adopt motions; a chart summarizing these requirements is included in the Senate Research Center's Legislative Lexicon
 
Blocker bills and the 2/3 rule
The use of a blocker bill is a tradition in the Texas Senate. Blocker bills are bills that are introduced and passed out of committee as early as possible in a legislative session in order that they may occupy the first position on the calendar.
 
The blocker bills for the 82nd R.S. are SB 445 and SJR 18.
 
Senate rule 5.13 provides: "No bill, joint resolution, or resolution affecting state policy may be considered out of its regular calendar order unless the regular order is suspended by a vote of two-thirds of the members present."
 
With a blocker bill at the top of the regular order of business, at least two-thirds of the senators present must vote to begin debating a measure before it can come to the floor.  Bills that do not enjoy substantial support cannot make it past the blocker bill.   

Wednesday and Thursday are designated House bill days in the Senate and on these days a House bill is found at the top of the calendar; there is no permanent blocker bill for House bills on a House bill day. The Senate may continue to bring bills up for consideration out of the regular order of business, in which case the House bill at the top of the calendar may serve as a temporary blocker bill for House bills.  If the House bill at the top of the calendar comes up for consideration during the course of the day, the next bill on the calendar may in turn be treated as a blocker bill.

This entry was posted on May 10, 2011 at 1:06 PM and has received 6173 views. Print this entry.

Water Auxiliary Laws

Apr 26

posted by Admin in Water auxiliary laws, Legislative process

We frequently receive research questions about legislation on water districts in Texas.  This information can be a bit difficult to find since many of the statutes that created water districts were never incorporated into, nor repealed by, the current Texas Water Code.  Without a section to look at in the current statutes, where does one look to find a legislative history?

To find the legislative history of water districts, we usually turn to the Water Auxiliary Laws pamphlet, published by West as part of the Vernon's Texas Code Annotated.  The pamphlet contains general and special laws pertaining to water, deemed to be general and permanent in nature, that were neither repealed by, nor incorporated into, the Water Code.  If you know the name of a district, you can use the tables provided in the pamphlet to find the year and session law chapter of the enacting and amending legislation, as well as the Vernon's Civil Statutes article number where the enacting legislation was originally codified.

Here's an example from the Water Laws Auxiliary pamphlet, Table III: Districts Created and/or Validated Pursuant to Const. Art. 16 § 59:

Name of District
Vernon's Civ.St.Art.
Laws Citations
 
Bevil Oaks Municipal Utility District
1973, ch. 621
 
2007, ch. 920
 Bexar County Metropolitan Water District
8280-126
1945, ch. 306
 
 
1953, ch. 66
 
 
1957, ch. 40
 
 
1997, ch. 91
 
 
2003, ch. 375
 
 
2007, ch. 1024
Bexar County Water Control and Improvement District
 
 
 
Lackland
8280-224
1959, ch. 199
 
Northwest
8280-225
1959, ch. 200
 
Oak Hills
8280-223
1959, ch. 198
Bilma Public Utility District
8280-512
1971, ch. 559
 

In the left column of the table are the names of the districts.  The middle column contains the Vernon's Civil Statute Article number of the original, codified form of the enacting legislation.  Next to the article number, in the right-hand column, is the year and chapter number of the enacting legislation, with all legislation that subsequently amended the enacting legislation in the rows underneath it.

Suppose we would like to find the bill that created the Bexar County Metropolitan Water District.  We would simply find the bill number that corresponds to 1945, ch. 306, the first law listed for this district.  This can be done using the Direct Search function in the library's Legislative Archive System.  Under "Search by Session Law Chapter," select the correct session (based on year), then enter the chapter number in the field next to it.  Press search, and you will be taken to a page containing the bill number, caption and other details.  The bill that created the Bexar County Metropolitan Water District was HB 834, 49th R. S. (1945). 

The Water Auxiliary Laws pamphlet is available at the Legislative Reference Library, as well as any other library that makes a full set of the Vernon's Annotated Statutes available for public use.  The pamphlet is not online for free, however if you have a subscription to Westlaw, you can view it as part of the statutes.

This entry was posted on April 26, 2011 at 10:18 AM and has received 3600 views. Print this entry.

Track Proposed Legislation with the Index to Sections Affected

Mar 28

posted by TexasLRL in Legislative process

More than 5,000 bills and joint resolutions have been introduced so far during the 82nd Legislature; many of these bills propose adding to, amending or repealing existing laws. 
 
The Index to Sections Affected, produced by the Legislative Reference Library, can help you track how proposed legislation would affect existing laws. 
 
Let's say you are searching for bills affecting podiatrists, governed by Occupations Code chapter 202. Simply select Occupations Code from the dropdown menu, and enter 202 in the Section / Legislature box to see a list of all introduced bills which would affect this chapter.
 
You can also search for changes to laws which have not been codified and are only found in the session laws, if you know the session and chapter of the law. 
 
For example, the Bexar Metropolitan Water District was created by Chapter 306, Acts of the 49th Legislature, Regular Session, 1945. To find legislation proposing changes to the district, select the "Session Laws" from the dropdown Code menu, then enter the number 49 in the Section / Legislature box.
 
You can search entries from the 76th Legislature through the 82nd by code and section. Library staff indexes each version of each bill, so you can see how legislation evolves over the course of a session. Use the Status options to specify which versions to search. If a bill is vetoed, the veto will be noted on all entries associated with the bill.
 
 
After a session, it may be some time before print and online statutes are updated. Use the Index to Sections Affected to search for bills with the status "Enrolled" to determine whether laws you are researching were amended by any passed bills.

This entry was posted on March 28, 2011 at 9:58 AM and has received 1489 views. Print this entry.

Legislative Deadlines

Feb 24

posted by TexasLRL in Legislative process

The Texas Legislature meets in regular session for 140 days every other year. 

To keep the legislative process moving smoothly, the House and Senate rules include a series of deadlines.

Friday, March 11 is the 60th calendar day of the session.  This is the deadline for free introduction of bills and joint resolutions, other than local bills, emergency appropriations, and bills that have been declared an emergency by the governor. 

May includes so many dates of interest that the Texas Legislative Council has prepared a calendar showing deadlines for action under the House and Senate Rules.

Other significant dates can be found on the Legislative Council's Dates of Interest page.

This entry was posted on February 24, 2011 at 12:18 PM and has received 1246 views. Print this entry.

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