 |
Water conservation is a perennial topic in Texas, and a report newly added to our collection this week examines the potential for storing water in underground aquifers, a type of storage known by water experts as aquifer storage and recovery, or ASR. Published by the Texas Water Development Board, the report describes how El Paso Water Utilities, the city of Kerrville, and the San Antonio Water System are utilizing ASR technology.
According to the report, ASR has proven to be an efficient and cost-effective method of storing water compared to the use of surface reservoirs, however Texas is lagging behind other states in the implementation of ASR. It points out that at the present time, less than 4 percent of the nation's operational ASR wellfields are located in Texas, although other fast-growing states such as Florida and California are actively pursuing this technology. The report concludes that the principal challenges for ASR are primarily the legal and regulatory frameworks which, in many states, have not yet caught up with the application of the ASR technology. It points out that although there is a solid regulatory and legal foundation in Texas, improvement and enhancement of the rules and statutes both at the state and local levels are needed. The report makes specific recommendations for legal and/or regulatory changes, and includes several other recommendations that could enhance the implementation of ASR in Texas. |
Following each legislative session, people ask us where they can view signed copies of bills and how to find session law chapter numbers for bills that became law.
The information requested in both of these questions can be found on the Secretary of State's website. As bills that passed the Legislature are signed by the Governor, copies are filed with the Secretary of State's office, where they are scanned and made available online on the Bills and Resolutions page. Bills are listed by type and bill number range. Some bills are filed without the Governor's signature, and links to view these bills are included in the list. You can determine whether a bill that passed the Legislature was signed or filed without the Governor's signature by looking up the bill in the Texas Legislature Online. If the bill passed but was not signed, you will see the action "Filed without the Governor's signature."
The same page that contains links to signed copies also lists the session law chapter numbers that were assigned to each bill. The session laws constitute a complete set of all bills passed into law during a particular legislative session. Chapter numbers are used primarily for citing a bill in a legislative history annotation. The Library's bill-chapter cross reference table, which allows you to search chapter numbers and their corresponding bill numbers back to the 19th Legislature, will be updated with 82nd R.S. bills once all chapter numbers have been assigned.
June 19 was the last day the governor could sign, veto or allow to become law without his signature bills passed during the 82nd Regular Session. When the deadline had passed, the governor had vetoed 24 bills (not including the line-item vetoes on H.B. 1, the General Appropriations Act), signed 1,458 bills and filed 27 bills without his signature.
Texas Constitution, Article IV, Section 14 states that if the governor disapproves (vetoes) a bill after the session has adjourned, he or she is required to give notice in the form of a proclamation. We've collected the veto proclamations issued by Governor Perry for the 82nd Regular Session and made them available on our website.
In addition, our Vetoed Bills, 1846-2011 page provides access to vetoes and veto proclamations from earlier sessions, back to the 1st Regular Session (1846).
Sometimes our research requires us to dig into the past by using older documents. Recently, we used a fascinating set of reports by the Capitol Building Commission, published between 1883-1889. These items detail the work of the commission to construct the current Capitol building, and include the correspondence, maps, architectural drawings, contracts, legislation, and other materials related to the project. Details about how funds were raised to construct the new building, the process of selecting an architect to design it, and the type and quantity of building materials used in the construction are all documented, making these reports a rich source of history with interest to a variety of people. We also discovered some interesting facts while looking through them. Did you know, for example, that the original 3rd floor included a "Ladies Retiring Room"? Or that in response to the advertisement for architectural plans, eleven designs were received, with names such as "Texan," "Pay as You Go," and "Woglosnop"? (Eventually, the design named "Tuebor," by E.E. Myers, was selected.) Perhaps most interesting was a section in the 1886 report in which the commissioners discuss their desire to equip the building with "a first class system of incandescent electric lighting":
The below images offer just a glimpse of what the reports contain.
How many congressional seats did Texas gain after the 2010 Census?
Texas gained 4 seats, giving it a total of 36 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
What will be the average population of each Texas Congressional district?
According to the Texas Legislative Council's Redistricting website, the "ideal," or average, population of each congressional district in Texas is 698,488, based on 36 districts. For comparison, in 2001, the ideal district population was 651,619, based on 32 districts (House Research Organization, Census 2010: Implications for Texas)
Where can I find data on current U.S. Congressional districts in Texas?
Maps, socioeconomic profiles, election reports, and population counts for Texas congressional districts are available on the Congressional Districts page of the Texas Legislative Council's Redistricting website. Similar data for individual districts is also available in Who Represents Me?
What are the current congressional redistricting bills and where are maps of the proposed districts?
At the time of this post, The Texas Legislature Online shows seven bills filed during the 1st Called Session of the 82nd Legislature related to congressional redistricting. Proposed maps are available on the Texas Legislative Council's Redistricting website.
How can I view congressional redistricting bills from previous legislative sessions?
The Legislative Reference Library has compiled a list of all redistricting bills introduced in the Texas Legislature from the 17th Legislature (1881) through the 81st Legislature (2009). Go to Congressional Redistricting Bills in Texas, 17th-81st Legislatures.
Is congressional redistricting required by the constitution?
Yes. The United States constitution calls for reapportionment of congressional seats according to the population from a decennial census (Section 2, Article I). The Texas Constitution requires the legislature to redistrict Texas house and senate seats during its first regular session following publication of each United States decennial census (Section 28, Article III). For additional information on legal requirements, see Texas Redistricting - Legal Requirements for the Process.
Additional resources:
Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts, 1789-1983 (Leg. Reference Library 912.73 M366H - Room use only.)
Historical Atlas of State Power in Congress, 1790-1990 (Leg. Reference Library 328.3345 C76H)
Census 2010: Implications for Texas (House Research Organization, Jan. 21, 2010)
Congressional Apportionment (U.S. Census Bureau)
Data for 2011 Redistricting in Texas (Texas Legislative Council, Feb. 2011)
Guide to 2011 Redistricting (Texas Legislative Council, July 2010)
Texas Congressional District Maps (1846-2010) (Texas Legislative Council)
Texas Redistricting Library (Texas Legislative Council)
Texas State Data Center
Special Session FAQs
May 31
The 1st Called Session of the 82nd Legislature begins today. Below you will find answers to frequently asked questions regarding special sessions. For a list of all special sessions and dates, see the library's Special Sessions and Years page.
Does the Governor have to wait twenty days after the end of the regular session before calling a special session?
No. Texas Constitution, Article 4, Section 8(a) does not place time limits on the Governor's power to convene a special session, nor does it include a requirement that he or she provide advance notice of his or her intention to call a special session. The Constitution states, "The Governor may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the Legislature at the seat of Government, or at a different place, in case that should be in possession of the public enemy or in case of the prevalence of disease threat. His proclamation therefore shall state specifically the purpose for which the Legislature is convened."
The interpretive commentary following Article 4, section 8 in Vernon's Constitution of the State of Texas Annotated explains: [The Governor] "may call at any time and for any reason, although he must state his purpose the proclamation."
How many other times has the special session convened the day after the close of a regular session?
In addition to the 82nd, 1st Called Session, six other special sessions have convened the day after the close of the regular session: the 1st Called Sessions of the 25th, 28th, 38th, 62nd, 69th and 70th Legislatures. Three special sessions have convened on the last day of the regular session: the 1st Called Sessions of the 29th, the 30th and the 31st Legislatures.
Can the Legislature consider any topic during a special session?
No. Article 3, Section 40 of the Texas Constitution states that when the Legislature is convened in special session, there shall be no legislation upon subjects other than those designated in the proclamation of the Governor calling such session, or presented to them by the Governor.
An extensive discussion of this issue can be found in the Senate Rules of the 82nd Legislature, Appendix.
Can more than one topic be covered in a special session?
Texas Constitution, Article 3, Section 40 places no limitation on the number of topics a Governor can designate in a special session proclamation. All topics need not be listed in a single proclamation; the governor may expand his/her call to include additional topics at any time. As an example, legislation was allowed on 240 topics during the 36th Legislature, 2nd Called Session and 165 topics during the 35th Legislature, 4th Called Session.
Do special sessions have to last 30 days?
No. Texas Constitution Article 3, Section 40 limits special sessions to a maximum of thirty days but imposes no minimum.
Is there a limit on the number of special sessions that can be called between regular legislative sessions?
No. The Texas Constitution does not limit the number of special sessions a governor may call in between two regular legislative sessions.
Does there have to be a break between special sessions?
No. The governor may call special sessions back-to-back. As an example, the 1st Called Session of the 79th Legislature ended on July 20, 2005 and the 2nd Called Session began on July 21, 2005.
The governor may also convene a new special session on the same day that a special session ends. As an example, the 1st Called Session of the 78th Legislature ended on July 28, 2003 and the 2nd Called Session began at 3:15pm the same day.
How long after a special session ends does the Governor have to veto bills?
Texas Constitution, Article 4, Section 14, which grants the Governor the power to veto bills, draws no distinction between regular and special sessions.
If a bill is presented to the Governor fewer than 10 days (not counting Sundays) prior to final adjournment, the Governor has 20 days (counting Sundays) after the final day of the session to sign or veto it. If neither action is taken, the bill becomes law without the Governor's signature (Texas Constitution, Article 4, Section 14).
If a bill is presented to the Governor prior to the final ten days of session (not counting Sundays), the Governor has 10 days (not counting Sundays) to 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, the bill becomes law as if the Governor had signed it.
Vetoes going back to the 1st Legislative Session are available on the library's Vetoed Bills page.
Can the Legislature override a veto of a regular session bill during a special session?
There is some debate over this matter, however the 1875 Constitutional Convention removed the ability for the Legislature to consider veto items from a previous session.
References:
Postadjournment Veto (In Texas Legislative Council, Gubernatorial Veto: Powers, Procedures, and Override History (May 22, 1990), pp. 11-12).
George D. Braden, et al., The Constitution of the State of Texas: An Annotated Comparative Analysis (1977), pp. 333-334.
Texplainer: Can a Veto Be Overturned After Sine Die?, Texas Tribune, retrieved 6/8/2011.
What was the shortest special session? What was the longest?
The 1st Called Session of the 38th Legislature met for only one hour. No legislation was enacted. The 1st Called Session of the 12th Legislature met for 112 days, longer than any previous or subsequent special session.
Which legislative session has had the most called sessions?
Between 1989-1990, Governor Bill Clements called six special sessions of the 71st Legislature to consider over 100 items.
Where can I see topics covered in previous special sessions?
Special session topics are available on the library's Special Sessions and Years page. Special session topics can be searched by keyword from the library's Special Sessions page.
Veto Deadlines FAQs
May 27
The Texas Constitution authorizes the Governor to veto bills sent to him by the Legislature. As the 82nd Regular Session draws to a close and bills that have passed out of both chambers of the Legislature are being sent to the Governor, it is common for the Governor to veto some of these bills. Below is a list of frequently asked questions regarding the veto process and where to find veto information.
How long does the Governor have to veto legislation?
The Governor has twenty days after final adjournment to consider bills received in the final ten days (not counting Sundays) of the session.
Sunday, June 19th is the last day the Governor can sign or veto bills that he receives in the final ten days (not counting Sundays) of the legislative session.
Does the Governor have to sign a bill for it to become law?
No. A bill that the Legislature passed during its regular legislative session and that was not vetoed by the Governor becomes law even if the Governor does not sign it. A more in-depth explanation is available in this FAQ about how long the Governor has to sign a bill.
Has the Governor vetoed any bills this session?
The General Reports section of the Texas Legislature Online provides a list of vetoed bills from the current session. You will also find a list of bills from this session that have been signed by the Governor and a list of bills filed without the Governor's signature. For your convenience, these links are duplicated below.
82nd Legislature:
Bills vetoed by the Governor
Bills signed by the Governor
Bills filed without the Governor's signature
What bills were vetoed in previous sessions?
A list of vetoed bills going back to the 1st Regular Session is available on the Library's website. See: Vetoed Bills, 1846-2009.
Can the legislature override a veto from a previous session?
There is some debate over this matter, however the 1875 Constitutional Convention removed the ability for the legislature to consider veto items from a previous session.
References:
Postadjournment Veto (In Texas Legislative Council, Gubernatorial Veto: Powers, Procedures, and Override History (May 22, 1990), pp. 11-12).
George D. Braden, et al., The Constitution of the State of Texas: An Annotated Comparative Analysis (1977), pp. 333-334.
Texplainer: Can a Veto Be Overturned After Sine Die?, Texas Tribune, retrieved 6/8/2011.
Where can I find additional information on the veto process?
Additional information about the veto process is available on our FAQs page. You can also find information about the veto process, as well as the entire legislative process, in How a Bill Becomes Law, 82nd Legislature (House Research Organization).
Conference Committee FAQs
May 16
What is a conference committee?
From the Guide to Texas Legislative Information: "When a bill that has been amended by the opposite chamber is returned to the originating chamber, the originating chamber must concur with all of the amendments made by the opposite chamber before the bill can be enrolled. If the originating chamber does not concur with some or all of the opposite chamber's amendments, it may request the appointment of a conference committee to resolve the differences between the House and Senate versions of a bill."
How do I know if a bill goes to conference committee?
The bill history indicates if a bill goes to conference committee. In the list of actions, look for "House appoints conferees" or "Senate appoints conferees." These actions indicate that the chamber has agreed to go to conference committee and has appointed members to the committee. Bill histories can be viewed in the Texas Legislature Online.
How can I see who was appointed to a particular conference committee?
Conference appointees are entered into the Texas Legislature Online system as they are appointed and will be listed on the bill details page just above the actions on the history tab--see HB 1 (82nd R.S.) as an example.
How can I view conference committee reports?
After the committee has reached an agreement, a report is submitted to both chambers for approval or disapproval. The report must be approved by at least three conferees from each chamber and must contain the text of the bill as approved by the conference committee, a side-by-side analysis comparing the text of the compromise bill to both the House and the Senate versions, and the signatures of those members of the conference committee who approved the report.
The Legislative Library scans and links conference committee reports as soon as they are made available. Once linked, they can be found on the library website at: http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/legis/conferencecommitteereports.cfm
In addition, conference committee reports are added to the Texas Legislature Online.
What if the conference committee wants to add language to the bill that is not included in either the House or Senate versions?
To add language to the bill that is not included in either the House or Senate versions, the conference committee obtains approval to suspend the language limitation found in the House and Senate rules by passing simple resolutions delineating the information they would like to include. In the bill history of the bill that went to conference committee, look for the actions "House adopts resolution to go outside bounds" and/or "Senate adopts resolution to go outside bounds." See HB 1796 (81st R.S.) as an example. HR 2975 (81st R.S.) and SR 1099 (81st R.S.) were passed to add additional language to the conference committee report.
Water Auxiliary Laws
Apr 26
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.
School Finance in Texas
Apr 5
School finance is a topic of heavy discussion this session as state lawmakers debate how to fund public education in the face of a budget shortfall. In this blog post, we've compiled a list of online resources that provide basic overviews of the school finance system in Texas.
School Finance 101: Funding of Texas Public Schools (Texas Education Agency, January 2011)
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=id&ItemID=2147495107&libID=2147495104
An Introduction to School Finance in Texas (Texas Taxpayers and Research Association, January 2012)
http://www.ttara.org/files/document/file-4f1732f763446.pdf
Texas Tribune's School Finance Primer (March 31, 2011)
http://www.texastribune.org/texas-education/public-education/how-to-navigate-texas-school-finance-system/
School Daze (Texas Observer, March 30, 2011)
http://www.texasobserver.org/cover-story/school-daze
Texas Education Agency's page on School Finance
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=6957&menu_id=645&menu_id2=789
Resources for the current Texas School Finance system (Texas Association of School Boards)
http://www.tasb.org/legislative/resources/current.aspx
Tracking the Education Dollar (Texas Association of School Boards, February 2011) http://www.tasb.org/legislative/resources/documents/trackingtheeducationdollar2011.pdf
Education Finance (National Conference of State Legislatures)
http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?TabID=756&tabs=951,64,221#221
Funding
Funding for public education comes from a combination of state, local and federal revenue. In the General Appropriations Act, state funding for public education is found in Article III, where it is nearly all appropriated to the Texas Education Agency (TEA). Article III public education funding also is appropriated to the State Board for Educator Certification, the Texas School for the Deaf, the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and the Teacher Retirement System.
See a discussion of proposed Article III public education funding (in CSHB 1):
CSHB 1: The House Appropriation Committee's proposed budget for Fiscal 2012-2013 (see Art. III: Public Education) : http://www.hro.house.state.tx.us/pdf/focus/CSHB1_82.pdf
For TEA operating budgets, legislative appropriations requests, and other funding information, see:
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index.aspx?id=2147495409&menu_id=645&menu_id2=789&cid=2147483657
Search
RSS
Recent Entries
First Day of Prefiling Statistics, 89th Regular Session
Current Articles & Research Resources, November 14, 2024
Current Articles & Research Resources, November 7, 2024
Interim Hearings and Sunset Commission Meeting – Week of November 11, 2024
Current Articles & Research Resources, October 31, 2024
Interim Hearings – Week of November 4, 2024
Current Articles & Research Resources, October 24, 2024
Archives by Subject
83rd Session (66) [RSS]
84th Session (68) [RSS]
85th Session (87) [RSS]
86th Session (75) [RSS]
87th Session (68) [RSS]
88th Session (41) [RSS]
89th Session (2) [RSS]
Alcohol (1) [RSS]
Archives (1) [RSS]
Bill statistics (89) [RSS]
Bills in the News (20) [RSS]
Christmas (6) [RSS]
Committee Resources (20) [RSS]
Committees (11) [RSS]
Concealed weapons (1) [RSS]
Conference Committees (3) [RSS]
Court cases (5) [RSS]
COVID-19 (10) [RSS]
Criminal Justice (1) [RSS]
Current Articles (336) [RSS]
Distracted Driving (1) [RSS]
Election (2) [RSS]
Fireworks (1) [RSS]
Governor (11) [RSS]
Impeachment (3) [RSS]
Interesting documents (8) [RSS]
Interim hearings (283) [RSS]
Interim reports (11) [RSS]
Legislation (176) [RSS]
Legislative Agencies (2) [RSS]
Legislative families (3) [RSS]
Legislative process (154) [RSS]
LRL news (54) [RSS]
Lt. Governor (2) [RSS]
Medicaid (2) [RSS]
Members of the Legislature (45) [RSS]
Misc. (1) [RSS]
National Library Week (11) [RSS]
New & Noteworthy (95) [RSS]
Nuclear energy (1) [RSS]
Rainy Day Fund (2) [RSS]
Redistricting (3) [RSS]
Research minute (19) [RSS]
Research Resources (339) [RSS]
Resource highlights (25) [RSS]
School finance (3) [RSS]
Search tips (14) [RSS]
Speaker of the House (4) [RSS]
Special Sessions (3) [RSS]
Sunset review (18) [RSS]
Texas Constitution (1) [RSS]
Texas history (51) [RSS]
Texas Treasures (4) [RSS]
Twitter (1) [RSS]
TxLege Terms (3) [RSS]
TxLege Trivia (1) [RSS]
Vetoes (2) [RSS]
Voter ID (1) [RSS]
Water auxiliary laws (1) [RSS]
Water planning (4) [RSS]
Week in review (369) [RSS]