GOVT 2306 The Bill Making Process in Texas

In this section we walk through the bill making process in the state an closely follow the information made available online by the Texas Legislature.

The bulk of the material will be obtained through the website called the Guide to Texas Legislative Information. We will primarily follow the material it contains on the section on the Legislative Process. The Texas Medical Association provides a nice brief overview of the process.Guide to Texas Legislative Information Legislative Processnice brief overview of the process

We will also look at what’s contained in the Legislative Reference Library of Texas, which “performs research for Texas legislators, their staff, and legislative committees.”Legislative Reference Library of Texas

Clicking here takes you to the TLR’s page on Bill Statistics which shows you how many bills have been introduced and passed going back to the 19 th Legislative Session. The South Texas College of Law has a page detailing how to determine legislative intent. So does the LRL.Bill Statistics legislative intentLRL

They also provide summaries of the work done by legislative sessions dating back to the 48 th Session.summaries of the work done

Members of the Texas Legislature can obtain help in creating legislation from the Texas Legislative Council.Texas Legislative Council

Detailed background about the facts related to the subject matter of bills is provided by the House Research Organization.House Research Organization

When the legislature is in session, you can track bills by going to the Texas Legislature Online and click on Bill Lookup. Texas Legislature OnlineBill Lookup

The Texas Tribune has a page that allows you to search the bills introduced in the 82 nd Session.a page that allows you to search the bills introduced

There are several types of bills that can be introduced to the legislature, these are designated with different prefixes before the numbers which designate the order in which they were introduced.

The two general categories of legislation: bill and resolutions.

ResolutionsResolutions are used to establish law, rather they “are commonly used to propose amendments to the Texas Constitution; take care of housekeeping functions; convey congratulations or condolences to individuals or groups in the state; express legislative intent; express an opinion or sentiment on matters of public interest; give direction to a state agency or official; or call on certain governmental agencies, offices, or units such as the U.S. Congress to take a specific course of action.”

There are three types, each with a distinct heading.

Joint resolutionsJoint resolutions are titled “HJR” and “SJR” depending on whether they originate in the House or Senate. They are used to propose amendments to the Texas Constitution and require a 2/3rds vote in each chamber to pass. They are not submitted to the governor, but do have to ratified by a simple majority of the popular vote.

Concurrent resolutionsConcurrent resolutions are titled “NCR” and “SCR” and are used “when both chambers have an interest in a particular matter. Such resolutions may originate in either chamber but must be adopted by both. Concurrent resolutions may be used for matters affecting operations and procedures of the legislature, such as joint sessions or adjournment sine die. They also are used to memorialize (petition) the U.S. Congress, give directions to a state agency or officer, express views of the legislature, or express congratulations or condolences. Concurrent resolutions, except those that pertain solely to matters between the two chambers, must be submitted to the governor for approval.”

Simple resolutionsSimple resolutions are titled “HR” and “SR” and “pertain to matters considered by the chamber of origin only. They are used for such purposes as adopting or changing rules of procedure or expressing congratulations or condolences.”

The legislature spends the bulk of its time focusing on bills.

What is a bill? A type of legislative measure that requires passage by both chambers of the legislature and action by the governor. A bill is the primary means used to create and change the laws of the state.

“HB” and “SB” are the designations given to House Bills and Senate Bills. The difference between the two depends on whether the bill in question was introduced in the house or Senate. Generally a bill introduced in one chamber is accompanied with a “matching bill” introduced in the other chamber. Bills have to passed by both chambers with identical language in order for them to be presented to the governor for a potential signature.

Types of bills: Public Local – or non controversial Emergency

Here’s a quick walk through of the bill making process following the steps outlined in the GTLI. For diagrams of the process for House and Senate bills click here. The Texas House also has a quick run-through of the process.GTLIclick herea quick run-through of the process

The process itself “is governed by the Texas Constitution, applicable statutes, and the rules of procedure of the senate and house, and the different phases of activity typically occur within a prescribed timetable. The rules of procedure are adopted by the respective chambers at the beginning of each session.”process itselfTexas Constitutionapplicable statutessenate house

A quick general point: the process is cumbersome and contains many points where bills can be defeated. While Texas has a far higher rate of bill passage than the US Congress, most bill do not make it through the process. While the legislature has the power to pass laws, the ability do so is hamstrung.

And one more quick point – or a reminder: Sessions of the Texas Legislature are limited to 140 calendar days. This does not give much time for bills to be considered. Activity can be very fast, especially toward the end of the session.

Here are dates of interest for the 83 rd Session which convenes January 8, 2013.are dates of interest

How a Bill Originates

Bills originate as ideas from variety of places. They can come from the legislator, a particular constituency of the legislator, or a legislative committee. In Texas, powerful interest groups often generate bills that collectively attempt to influence the nature of governance in the state. Sometimes bills can be introduced repeatedly until conditions are ripe for their passage.

Bills have to be in a specific form – which can be found in the Texas Legislative Council’s Drafting Manual. Bills can only contain one subject, with the exception of general appropriations bills which are prepared by the Texas Budget Board.Drafting Manualgeneral appropriations billsTexas Budget Board

Example of Groups: Texas Public Policy Foundation ALEC

Introducing a bill

Any member of either chamber can introduce bills in that chamber by providing a required number of copies to the chief clerk, who then assigns the bill a number. A few rules apply to when and how bills can be introduced.

Bills can be pre-filed beginning the Monday following the general election. For the 83 rd session, that date is Monday November 12, 2012.

Any bill can be introduced on any subject during the first 60 days of the session. After 60 days, only local or emergency bills can be introduced.

The governor can also declare certain bills to be “emergency bills” and these are fast-tracked through the legislative process.

Referral to a committee

After a bill is introduced into one of the chambers of the legislature, the caption is read and it is referred to a committee by the Speaker or Lieutenant Governor. This is an additional power for each of these offices. Discretion over which committee considers the bill can help determine the fate of a bill.

Committees exist in order toCommittees exist in order to allow subsets of legislators to focus on specific types of legislation. The Speaker and the Lieutenant Governor have the sole power to appoint members to committee, as well as appoint committee chairs. This is a key source of their strength. Committee members can then hold hearings on the bills, modify it, or table it meaning that it dies in committee. Bills must be reported out of committee in order for it to move forward. This is the most common place for bill to die.

Committees may the most important institution in the legislature because that is where the actual subject matter of legislation is established.

It is crucial for members of the legislature to be assigned to committees that give them jurisdiction over issues important to their constituents. This need creates leverage for each chamber’s presiding officer. Members must cooperate with the officer’s objectives in order to be appointed to their preferred committees.

“Committees are formed at the beginning of the regular session and generally consist of 5 to 29 members. For committees of the house of representatives, membership of most committees is determined in part by seniority and in part by appointments by the speaker. Each representative sits on at least one committee, and most representatives sit on two or three committees. The house in the 80th Legislature had 40 substantive and procedural standing committees.”committees of the house of representatives

“For committees of the senate, membership is determined entirely by appointments by the lieutenant governor. Senators generally sit on three or four committees each, and the senate in the 80th Legislature had 15 standing committees.”committees of the senate

Click here for House Committees Click Here for Senate Committees

There are two general types of committees in the Texas Legislature. Substantive committees, where bills are considered, and procedural committees, that determine how the legislature operates.

The committee chair may decide to appoint subcommittees to consider certain types of bills.

Once a bill is referred to committee, a determination is made as to whether the bill will involve any costs. If so, a fiscal note must be prepared by the Legislative Budget Board that accompanies the bill as it goes through the legislative process.

FISCAL NOTE—An estimate, prepared by the Legislative Budget Board, of the probable costs that will be incurred as an effect of a bill or joint resolution.Legislative Budget Board

Committees can then hold public hearings on the bills – if they choose to do so. After consideration, the committee may choose to report out a bill. This means they pass it and report to others in the legislature why.hold public hearings on the bills

If the committee reports unfavorably on a bill, it is generally dead, but if an interested minority of the committee approves of the bill, it can issue a minority report which can be adopted by a minority of the House or by 2/3rds of the Senate.

Committee Reports

“ After considering a bill, a committee may choose to take no action or may issue a report on the bill to the house or senate. Committee reports are advisory only and may take several forms. The committee may recommend passage of the bill without amendments, or it may recommend amendments to the bill or even substitute a new bill for the original document. The committee report includes a record of the committee’s recommendations and vote regarding house or senate action on the bill, including the recommendation regarding placement on a calendar; the text of the bill as reported by the committee, which may be the introduced text or a substitute; any proposed amendments; a detailed bill analysis; a fiscal note or other impact statement; and other attachments as necessary.”

Committee reports are printed and delivered to each member of the chamber in question. For bills in the House, a copy is also delivered to the calendars committee which then schedules the bill for floor consideration.

Getting from the Committee to the Floor: Calendars and Agendas

The House Calendar

The Texas House has a Committee on Calendars which has wide discretion in determining when bills reported out of committee will be heard on the House floor. Click here for the page in the Texas Legislature Online that describes and contains these calendars.Committee on Calendars Click here for the page

There are four types of calendars

1 - the Daily House Calendar, which contains a list of new bills and resolutions scheduled by the Committee on Calendars for consideration by the house; 2 - the Supplemental House Calendar (prepared by the Committee on Calendars), which may contain: (a) measures passed to third reading on the previous day; (b) measures on the Daily House Calendar for a previous day that were not reached for consideration; (c) measures on the Daily House Calendar for the current day; (d) postponed business from a previous day; and (e) notice to call from the table a measure laid on the table subject to call on a previous day; 3 - the Local, Consent, and Resolutions Calendar, which contains a list of local or noncontroversial bills scheduled by the Committee on Local and Consent Calendars for consideration by the house; and 4 - the Congratulatory and Memorial Calendar, which contains a list of congratulatory and memorial resolutions and motions scheduled by the Committee on Rules and Resolutions for consideration by the house

The Senate Agenda and Intent Calendar

The Senate Agenda contains information on various measures that the Senate may act on. Only one of which is the consideration of bills reported out of committee. These are officially to be heard in the order they are reported out of committee to the Senate. Here’s language from the GTLI:

“Senate rules require that bills and resolutions be listed on the regular order of business and be considered on second reading in the order in which committee reports on the measures are submitted to the senate. During a regular session, the senate adopts a further rule specifying that before a bill or joint resolution may be brought up for floor debate out of its regular order, notice of intent must be filed with the secretary of the senate by 3 p.m. on the last preceding calendar day the senate was in session....

... senator may give notice on no more than three bills or resolutions before April 15 and on no more than five bills or resolutions on or after April 15. Senate rules direct the secretary of the senate to prepare a list of all legislation for which notice has been given. The list, called the Intent Calendar, must be made available to each senator and to the press not later than 6:30 p.m. on the day the notice is filed. No bill or resolution may be considered on its first day on the Intent Calendar, and a vote of two-thirds of the senators present is required before any of the measures listed on the Intent Calendar may be debated.”

That last part is important. An opportunity exists to consider bills out of order if the desired bill is placed on the intent calendar. This has led to a custom in the Senate. At the beginning of each session a dummy bill is introduced and placed on the Intent Calendar.

Since it is on top of the Intent Calendar, a 2/3rds vote is necessary in order for any other bill to be considered by the Senate. This allows the Senate to be more responsive to minorities than the House.

Floor Action

Bills are then read a second time before the chamber (the caption only). It can then be debated by the chamber. The chamber may then amend the bill by simple majority vote. After amendments are considered, the bill is read a third time and a final vote is held.

“If the bill receives a simple majority vote, it is considered passed, and the chief clerk of the house or the secretary of the senate, as appropriate, certifies the bill’s final passage, noting on it the date of its passage and the vote by which it passed. When the bill is passed in the originating chamber, the bill is engrossed (all corrections and amendments are incorporated into it), and an exact and accurate copy of the engrossed bill is prepared and sent to the opposite chamber for consideration.”

Consideration in the other chamber

The process in the other chamber mostly mirrors that in the originating chamber. The chamber itself however is different and the factors that motivate one may not motivate the other. There is no guarantee that a bill supported by the House will be approved by the Senate or voice versa.

In a bicameral legislature, each chamber is a check on the power of the other. The majoritarian pressures the electorate can place to act quickly in the House is checked by the processes that slow things down in the Senate.

Consideration of local and noncontroversial bills

A significant number of bills introduced in the House and Senate do not deal with any substantive state matters, but rather local matters, or issues that are non-controversial. Each chamber has a committees that sets the calendar that deals with each.

Click here for the House Local and Consent Calendars CommitteeClick here for the House Local and Consent Calendars Committee. Click here for the Senate Committee on Administration, which sets the Local and Uncontested Calendar for that chamber. Click here for the Senate Committee on Administration

Return of a bill to the originating chamber

If a bill has been passed by the other chamber without amendment, then it is returned to the originating chamber where the bill is then enrolled.

ENROLLEDENROLLED—The stage in a bill’s legislative progress when it has been passed by both chambers of the legislature in identical form and is prepared for signature by the presiding officers of both houses.

Conference committee

If amendments have been made to a bill in one chamber, that were not accepted in the other a conference committee can be requested by the presiding officers in each chamber to reconcile differences between the two. The resulting report is introduced in both chambers and if it is passed, the report is enrolled, signed by the presiding officers of each chamber and sent to the governor.

If the report is not accepted by either chamber the bill dies.

Governor's action

If a bill is sent to the governor within 10 days of the final adjournment (sine die), the governor can sign or veto it or allow it to become a law without his signature. Vetoes or signatures must happen within 20 calendar days after final adjournment.sine die

If the bill is sent with more than 10 days remaining, the vetoed bill is returned to the chamber where it originated and if a 2/3rds majority votes for the bill – as well as a 2/3rds majority of the other chamber – then the veto is overturned.

The Texas Governor also has line item veto authority which allows for the veto of specific budget items. This is an effective tool for limiting spending.

For the 82nd Session Bills Signed Bills Vetoes Bills Allowed to Become Law Bills Signed Bills Vetoes Bills Allowed to Become Law

Effective date

Following a constitutional mandate, bills do not become effective for 90 days following the adjournment of the session where it was enacted. The Legislature, by a 2/3rds vote can direct otherwise.

Filing and publication of laws

Once a bill becomes a law, the executive clerk to the governor sends the bill to the Secretary of State which files the bill. Bills are kept at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. executive clerk to the governorSecretary of StateTexas State Library and Archives Commission

Further information about past laws can be found here: General and Special Laws of the State of Texas General and Special Laws of the State of Texas

The content of bills is incorporated into Texas Government Code.Texas Government Code