In Texas, both congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn by the Texas State Legislature. These lines are subject to veto by the governor.^[21]

If the state legislature is unable to approve a state legislative redistricting plan, a backup commission must draw the lines (the backup commission is not involved in congressional redistricting). This backup commission, established in 1948, comprises the following members:^[21]

1. Lieutenant governor
2. Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives
3. Attorney general
4. State comptroller
5. Commissioner of the General Land Office

The Texas Constitution requires that state legislative districts be contiguous and "that they preserve whole counties when population mandates permit."^[21]

2020

See also: Redistricting in Texas after the 2020 census

Texas enacted new state legislative districts on October 25, 2021. The Senate Redistricting Committee released a draft of a Senate legislative map on September 18, 2021. A Senate panel advanced the proposal to the full Senate for debate on September 28, 2021. The Senate approved an amended version in a 20-11 vote on October 4.^[22] On October 13, 2021, the full House approved an amended version of the map introduced on September 30 with a vote evenly split along party lines.^[23] The House and Senate approved maps for each other's districts on October 15, 2021. The House approved the Senate map by an 81-60 vote, and the Senate approved the House map by an 18-13 vote.^[24] Gov. Abbott signed both maps into law on October 25, 2021.^[25]These maps take effect for Texas' 2022 legislative elections.

District map after 2020 redistricting

This map takes effect for Texas' 2022 legislative elections.

2010

See also: Redistricting in Texas after the 2010 census

Texas received its local census data on February 17, 2011. The state grew 20.6%, with Hispanics making up at least 2/3 of that growth. The growth rate in the largest cities was as follows: Houston grew by 7.5 percent, San Antonio grew by 16.0 percent, Dallas grew by 0.8 percent, Austin grew by 20.4 percent, and Fort Worth grew by 38.6 percent. Harris County grew by 20%, which suggested suburban growth.^[26]

The Texas State Senate released a proposed map of its 31 districts on May 11, 2011. The Senate and House plans were passed by the Texas Legislature on May 21, 2011, and were signed by Gov. Rick Perry (R) on June 17, 2011. Attorney General Greg Abbott submitted Texas' redistricting maps to a panel of three federal judges in Washington DC on July 19, 2011, as required under the Voting Rights Act. The DC federal court rejected Texas' senate and house maps on November 8, 2011, denying the state's request for preclearance summary judgment.^[27] The Texas House of Representatives approved new district maps during a June 2013 special session. The maps passed the Texas State Senate and were signed into law by Gov. Perry on June 26, 2013.^[28][29]

Sessions

Legislation

The legislation tracker below displays all legislation that the Texas House of Representatives has approved in its most recent legislative session—this includes legislation that has been sent from the House to the Senate and legislation that has already been approved by both chambers and signed by the governor. The table below includes the bill number, its name, progress, most recent action date, and sponsor. Scroll up and down and side to side to see more. Click the bill number to read the bill text and see its voting history. Click the headings to sort the content. Rearrange the order of the headings by clicking and dragging them. Click the magnifying glass in the bottom left corner to search for specific terms. The legislation tracker is maintained and updated by BillTrack50.

Dates of legislative sessions in Texas by year

2021

See also: 2021 Texas legislative session and Dates of 2021 state legislative sessions

In 2021, the legislature was scheduled to convene on January 12, 2021, and adjourn on May 31, 2021.

2020

See also: Dates of 2020 state legislative sessions

In 2020, the legislature did not hold a regular session.

2019

See also: 2019 Texas legislative session and Dates of 2019 state legislative sessions

In 2019, the legislature was in session from January 8, 2019, through May 27, 2019.

2018

See also: Dates of 2018 state legislative sessions

In 2018, the legislature did not hold a regular session.

About legislative sessions in Texas

The Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution declares that any power not already given to the federal government is reserved to the states and the people.^[59] State governments across the country use this authority to hold legislative sessions where a state's elected representatives meet for a period of time to draft and vote on legislation and set state policies on issues such as taxation, education, and government spending. The different types of legislation passed by a legislature may include resolutions, legislatively referred constitutional amendments, and bills that become law.

Article III of the Texas Constitution establishes when the Texas State Legislature, of which the House of Representatives is a part, is to be in session. Section 5 of Article III states that the Legislature shall meet every two years at times to be established by law. Section 5 goes on to say that the Legislature can also be convened by the governor of Texas.

Legislative roles and procedures

Every state legislature throughout the country features its own internal procedures that it uses to govern itself and how it interacts with other parts of state government. Ballotpedia's coverage of internal state legislative procedures includes veto overrides, the role of the legislature in the state budget, and procedures for filling membership vacancies.

Veto overrides

See also: Veto overrides in state legislatures

State legislatures can override governors' vetoes. Depending on the state, this can be done during the regular legislative session, in a special session following the adjournment of the regular session, or during the next legislative session. The rules for legislative overrides of gubernatorial vetoes in Texas are listed below.

How many legislators are required to vote for an override? Two-thirds of members present in both chambers.

Authority: Article 4, Section 14 of the Texas Constitution.

Role in state budget

See also: Texas state budget and finances

Texas on

Check out Ballotpedia articles about policy in your state on:

Budgets • Civil liberties • Education • Elections • Energy • Environment • Healthcare • Pensions

The state operates on a biennial budget cycle. The sequence of key events in the budget process is as follows:^[60]

1. Budget instructions are sent to state agencies beginning in June.
2. Agencies submit their budget requests to the governor between July and September.
3. Agency hearings are held between July and October.
4. The governor submits his or her proposed budget to the state legislature by the date of the State of the State address.
5. The legislature typically adopts a budget in May. A simple majority is required to pass a budget. The fiscal year begins in September.

Texas is one of 44 states in which the governor has line item veto authority.^[60]

The legislature is constitutionally required to adopt a balanced budget. The governor must sign a balanced budget into law.^[60]

Committees

See also: List of committees in Texas state government

Every state legislature and state legislative chamber in the country contains several legislative committees. These committees are responsible for studying, amending, and voting on legislation before it reaches the floor of a chamber for a full vote. The different types of committees include standing committees, select or special, and joint.

• Standing committees are generally permanent committees, the names of which sometimes change from session to session.
• Select or special committees are temporary committees formed to deal with specific issues such as recent legislation, major public policy or proposals, or investigations.
• Joint committees are committees that feature members of both chambers of a legislature.

Ballotpedia covers standing and joint committees. The Texas House of Representatives has 34 standing committees:

Constitutional amendments

In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.

The methods in which the Texas Constitution can be amended:

See also: Article 17 of the Texas Constitution and Laws governing ballot measures in Texas

Texas Constitution
Preamble
Articles
1 • 2 3 (1-43) • 3 (44-49) • 3 (50-67) 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17

• As laid out in Article 17, in order for a proposed constitutional amendment to go before the people, the Texas State Legislature must propose the amendment in a joint resolution of both the Texas State Senate and the Texas House of Representatives.

• The joint resolution can originate in either branch of the legislature. The resolution must be adopted by a vote of at least two-thirds of the membership of each house of the legislature. That amounts to a minimum of 100 votes in the House of Representatives and 21 votes in the Senate.
• Amendments may be proposed in either regular or special sessions.
• Joint resolutions endorsing a proposed amendment must include the text of the proposed constitutional amendment and specify an election date. These joint resolutions may include more than one proposed amendment.
• If more than one proposition is under consideration on a ballot, the Texas Secretary of State conducts a random drawing to assign each proposition a ballot number.
• If voters reject an amendment, the legislature can resubmit it. For example, after Proposition 2 was rejected in August 1991, the legislature re-adopted it and re-submitted it for that year's November ballot, where it was approved as Texas Proposition 13 (1991).
• The ballot wording of a proposition is specified in the joint resolution adopted by the Legislature, which has broad discretion in this matter. Texas courts have heard challenges to proposed ballot wording but have generally ruled that "ballot language is sufficient if it describes the proposed amendment with such definiteness and certainty that voters will not be misled."^[61]
• The Legislature may call an election for voter consideration of proposed constitutional amendments on any date, as long as election authorities have sufficient time to provide notice to the voters and print the ballots.
• A brief explanatory statement of the nature of each proposed amendment, along with the ballot wording for each amendment, must be published twice in each newspaper in the state that prints official notices. The first notice must be published 50 to 60 days before the election. The second notice must be published on the same day of the subsequent week. The secretary of state must send a complete copy of each amendment to each county clerk, who must post it in the courthouse at least 30 days prior to the election.
• The secretary of state drafts the ballot explanation. This must be approved by the Attorney General of Texas.
• Constitutional amendments take effect when the official vote canvass confirms statewide majority approval, unless a later date is specified. Statewide election results are tabulated by the secretary of state and must be canvassed by the governor 15 to 30 days following the election.

2021 measures:

Below is a list of measures that were referred to the 2021 ballot by the legislature.

See also: Texas 2021 ballot measures

Certified:

The following measures were certified for the ballot.

• Texas Proposition 1, Authorize Charitable Raffles at Rodeo Venues Amendment (2021)
• Texas Proposition 2, Authorize Counties to Issue Infrastructure Bonds in Blighted Areas Amendment (2021)
• Texas Proposition 3, Prohibition on Limiting Religious Services or Organizations Amendment (2021)
• Texas Proposition 4, Changes to Eligibility for Certain Judicial Offices Amendment (2021)
• Texas Proposition 5, State Commission on Judicial Conduct Authority Over Candidates for Judicial Office Amendment (2021)
• Texas Proposition 6, Right to Designated Essential Caregiver Amendment (2021)
• Texas Proposition 7, Homestead Tax Limit for Surviving Spouses of Disabled Individuals Amendment (2021)
• Texas Proposition 8, Homestead Tax Exemption for Surviving Spouses of Military Fatally Injured in the Line of Duty Amendment (2021)

See also

Elections	Texas State Government	State Legislatures	State Politics
Texas House of Representatives elections, 2022 Texas House of Representatives elections, 2020 Texas House of Representatives elections, 2018	Texas State Legislature Texas State Senate Governor of Texas Texas Supreme Court	State legislative elections, 2022 State legislative elections, 2021 State legislative elections, 2020 State legislative elections, 2019 State legislative elections, 2018	State government trifectas State government triplexes State executives State courts Ballot measures

Footnotes

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