Focus Report, Volume 76, Number 3, January 1999 Page: 2
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Filing dates
Beginning the first Monday after the general election
before the regular session, or 30 days before any
special session, members and members-elect may
prefile bills and resolutions (Rule 8, sec. 7).
A member may introduce any type of bill or joint
resolution during the first 60 days of the regular session
The 60th day of the 1999 regular session will be Friday,
March 12. After the 60th day, a four-fifths vote of the
members present is required to introduce bills or joint
resolutions, other than certain emergency matters
submitted by the governor, emergency appropriations,
and local bills (Rule 8, sec. 8).
Copies required
Thirteen copies of bills and resolutions, all signed by
the author, must be filed with the chief clerk. Fifteen
copies of a bill must be filed if it deals with water
conservation and reclamation districts governed by Art.
16, sec. 59 of the Constitution (Rule 8, sec. 9).
Local bill requirements
A notice of a legislator's intention to file a local bill
must be published in a newspaper in the affected
locality at least 30 days before the bill is introduced
(Constitution Art. 3, sec. 57; Rule 8, sec. 10). Six
types of bills are considered local bills:
+ bills creating or affecting water districts;
+ bills creating or affecting hospital districts;
+ bills creating or affecting road utility districts;
+ bills relating to hunting, fishing, or wildlife
conservation in a specified locality;
+ bills creating or affecting a county court or
statutory court or courts for one or more specified
counties or municipalities; and
* bills creating or affecting a juvenile board or boards
of a specified county or counties.
If bills of the last three types affect "a sufficient
number" of localities, counties, or municipalities so
that, in effect, they apply generally or have statewide
importance, they are not considered local bills (Rule 8,
sec. 10).First reading and referral to committee
To become law, a bill must be read in the House
on each of three separate days. In cases of
"imperative public necessity," this requirement may be
suspended by a four-fifths record vote of the
members present (Constitution Art. 3, sec. 32). Bills
routinely include such "emergency" language, but the
three-day rule usually is not suspended in the House.
After a bill is filed and the chief clerk has assigned
a number to the bill, first reading occurs when the
reading clerk reads the bill caption and also announces
the committee to which the speaker has referred the
bill. The speaker later may reconsider the referral and
assign the bill to another committee. The speaker's
referral also may be changed by a majority vote of
the House. The speaker may not refer a bill
simultaneously to more than one committee (Rule 1,
sec. 4; Rule 8, sec. 6).
The Bill in Committee
No bill may become law unless it is referred to
and reported by a committee (Constitution Art. 3,
sec. 37; Rule 8, sec. 11). Much of the Legislature's
work is done in committee.
The 36 House standing committees and their
jurisdictions are established in Rule 3. Thirty are
substantive committees, while six - Calendars, Local
and Consent Calendars, Rules and Resolutions, General
Investigating, House Administration, and Redistricting
- are considered procedural committees. Although
procedural committees generally do not review and
report legislation, the speaker may refer bills to the
House Administration and Redistricting committees.
The speaker by proclamation may create select
committees and specify their jurisdiction, authority,
duties, and duration (Rule 1, sec. 16). The speaker
sometimes appoints select committees at the start of
the session to allow the House to consider emergency
legislation before the standing committees have been
appointed. Another purpose for select committees is to
consider certain issues that cross committee
jurisdictional lines. For example, for the 1999 regular
session, Speaker Laney by proclamation created a
Select Committee on Constitutional Revision.House Research Organization
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Texas. Legislature. House of Representatives. Research Organization. Focus Report, Volume 76, Number 3, January 1999, periodical, January 29, 1999; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth641010/m1/2/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.