A brief guide to the 88th Texas Legislature Session.
What is the Texas Legislative Session?
- Every two years, the Texas Legislature convenes for 140 days to make and pass new laws across the state. They also pass the state budget which lasts for two years.
- 2023 marks the 88th legislative session. It started on January 10th and will run until May 29th. Republicans control both the house and the senate.
How Does it Work?
- For the first 60 calendar days, house members or senators can introduce a bill on any subject to their chambers.
- The bill is then assigned to a committee where it will be decided which bills will be considered. Bills that are considered require a public input session before they are advanced or not.
- Bills which the committee decides to consider are brought back to the chamber for discussion and editing.
- If a bill is passed by majority on the third reading, it is sent to the opposite chamber (house sends to senate, or senate sends to house).
- If a bill passes both chambers, it is sent to the governor where it can be signed into law or vetoed.
Read more about how a bill becomes a law here.
More Information
- Lawmakers can begin filing bills on any subject in November, and can continue filing bills on any subject for the first 60 calendar days of the session.
- After those 60 days (March 10, 2023), any bill that is not a local bill or a bill related to an emergency declaration requires 4/5ths approval by the attending house or senate.
- It's predicted that the Texas budget will have an unprecedented $32.7 billion surplus to distribute (or not distribute). Bills filed earlier in the session are anticipated to receive smaller amounts of money.
- Special sessions can be called outside of the regular session and last for 30 days.
More Information about the Texas Legislative Process here.
Why This Matters
- Thousands of bills have been filed so far. That means we have thousands of potential new laws that will impact all sorts of Texans.
- Given that all three branches of government in Texas are Republican controlled, it is likely these new laws will be harmful to thousands of Texans statewide.
Hot Topics So Far
Lawmakers so far have concentrated on the following topics:
This is just a short highlight reel of the thousands of bills that have been introduced.
View all bills and their status here.
Articles about bills via the Texas Tribune.
What We Can Do
There's a few ways to make your voice heard in the Texas Legislative Session.
- Sign up to testify. Have copies of your testimony to distribute to members of the session. You can testify at hearings.
Click here to learn how to testify.
- Show up and drop a card. This means you can officially register your stance on a piece of legislation at the capitol. You must do this at the capitol on the day a bill is being heard by the senate or house.
Click here to learn how to drop a card.
- Email/call the committee. You can find the relevant contacts on the Texas leg website.
Find relevant committees here.
Show up how you can. Follow local activists organizations to stay up to date. Do your part.
Sources & More Information
Texas Tribune: Understanding the State Government
Texas Tribune: Articles about Texas Bills
Texas Tribune: Targets of the 2023 Session
Texas Tribune: How to Make Your Voice Heard
Texas Bills affecting LGBTQ people
Texas Senate to Consider Controversial Immigrant Rights Bills