The first time Shera Eichler entered the Texas Capitol to work as a legislative aide in 2002, she was nervous. She didn’t have much experience at the Capitol, apart from a visit through a school field trip.
But she was quickly promoted about a month later to chief of staff for a Republican state representative due to a vacancy.
Now, Eichler, a government affairs consultant, knows the legislative process well, having worked for that representative for about 18 years. She credits it to her willingness to ask questions and to having seasoned mentors.
“It is not unusual to ask the questions,” she said. “There are so many new faces every session and so many people learning.”
Lawmakers started convening Jan. 10 to represent the voters who elected them into office, and there are many ways for Texans to learn and get involved as representatives and senators vote on everything from abortion policy to public education funding.
Here’s a rundown of how the Texas Legislature works and how you can participate in it.
What is the Texas Legislature?
The Texas Legislature is made up of the 150-member Texas House of Representatives, known as the lower chamber, and the 31-member Texas Senate, known as the upper chamber. Each member represents a geographic district. These political districts were redrawn in 2021. Find your districts here and your lawmakers here.
After the 2022 elections, Republicans hold 86 of the seats in the House and 19 of the seats in the Senate.
Every odd-numbered year, the state Legislature gathers to pass a two-year state budget and other laws from January to May. This is known as a regular legislative session.
The governor can also call for lawmakers to convene for up to 30 days outside of this time frame during a special session in which lawmakers can pass laws only on issues outlined by the governor. In 2021, Gov. Greg Abbott called three special sessions to address voting legislation, COVID-19 relief funds and redistricting, among other things.
How does a bill become a law in Texas?
Lawmakers have been filing bills since Nov. 14, and more than 1,600 bills have been filed already. Lawmakers can continue filing any bills during the first 60 calendar days of the legislative session. After that point, only bills related to local matters or emergency items and appropriations can be filed, unless four-fifths of lawmakers are present in a chamber vote to suspend the rule.
While thousands of bills are filed — more than 7,000 bills were filed in the two most recent regular sessions — only around a thousand will pass.
“The system is designed to kill legislation, not pass legislation,” said Kathy Green, the director of state and federal strategy for AARP Texas who has 30 years of experience working in the Legislature, in state agencies and with interest groups.
First, a bill must be referred to a committee in the chamber where it was introduced by the speaker of the House or the lieutenant governor in the Senate. The committee chair then decides which legislation will be considered when the committee meets.
If a committee takes up a bill, a public hearing with opportunity for public testimony is held. The committee can then choose to report, or advance, a bill to the rest of the chamber or to not take action on the legislation.
Most bills are referred to a committee, but many are never considered or are left pending in a committee, according to the state’s handbook on the legislative process.
“Step No. 1 in advocacy is to lobby to get the bill scheduled for a hearing and nottooverlookthatimportant step,” said state Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, who has served in the Texas Senate since 1987 and claims a record of passing the most bills.
To get a bill a hearing, Zaffirini said people should work with the staff of the authors or sponsors of a bill and the staff of the committee it was referred to.
Once a bill has been reported out of a committee, it must be scheduled for debate on the floor of the chamber, among other members.
After debate on a bill, the majority of lawmakers in a chamber has to approve the bill twice in order for it to pass. While the Senate usually takes both votes on the same day, the House normally doesn’t.
After a bill is passed in the chamber it originated in, it is referred to the other chamber, where the bill must go through the same process. And if it is passed, the two chambers must agree on any changes they made to the legislation before it is sent to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.
Further complicating this process: Lawmakers must meet certain deadlines to act on bills and move them forward. This means drawn-out debates on bills or amendments can be a strategic move to kill a bill before certain midnight deadlines.
“Amendments [are] really the way that you can get in under the hood of a piece of legislation, and really try to modify it for the better [or] try to modify it for the worst if you’re trying to defeat it [by] creat[ing] like a poison pill in the legislation,” said Alex Birnel, advocacy director for MOVE Texas, an organization that focuses on voting rights, climate justice and criminal legal reform.
A poison pill would be an amendment that changes a bill’s intent, makes it ineffective or less palatable for lawmakers to pass.
Amendments can also be used to revive bills that have failed to move forward if the bills address similar issues and the amendments are accepted by the bill author, Green said. Lawmakers can also challenge and derail bills if a rule wasn’t followed through a point of order — also called a POO. The minority priority often uses this tactic to kill a bill when they lack the votes.
Resolutions, such as joint resolutions calling to put an amendment to the Texas Constitution on the ballot for voters, follow slightly different legislative processes. You can read more details about resolutions and the lawmaking process in the state’s handbook.
The state budget bill is developed through a twoyear process that is led by the Legislative Budget Board, which is cochaired by the speaker and lieutenant governor, and includes input from state agencies, the governor’s office and the comptroller. While lawmakers pass hundreds of new laws every legislative session, the budget bill — which pays for state agencies, public education, health care, roads and more — is the only piece of legislation lawmakers have to pass.
What’s the pace of the Texas Legislature?
The first three months of the legislative session are usually slow. After lawmakers gavel in on Tuesday, new members will be sworn in, a speaker of the House will be elected and each chamber will adopt its rules.
Usually by late January, the speaker of the House and the lieutenant governor will name lawmakers to committees, which will begin holding hearings for bills, Green said. And in early February, the governor usually outlines his emergency items during his State of the State speech.
This is a good time to make your voice heard by contacting your lawmakers’ offices or participating in public testimony, according to longtime advocates.
In April and May, the pace quickens as lawmakers rush to meet deadlines. During this time, the work days at the Capitol get longer, and lawmakers may work through the weekend to negotiate and pass legislation.
Here are some key dates for the upcoming session: Jan. 10 was the first day of the legislative session.
March 11 is the 60th day and the unrestricted bill filing deadline.
May 29 is sine die or the last day of the legislative session.
June 18 is the last day the governor can sign or veto bills.
Aug. 27 is the day most bills will go into effect if they didn’t pass with more than two-thirds of votes. Bills that had two-thirds support can go into effect earlier.
How can I keep up with bills and meetings?
The Texas Legislature Online: Through the Legislature’s website, you can find the bills that have been filed in this legislative session or in past sessions and see their progress. You can create a personal list of bills to easily view and set up email alerts for updates on legislation. And you can get email alerts for when notices of a committee hearing are posted.
So how can I participate in the Legislature?
■ Contact your lawmakers
■ Testify at a public hearing
■ Join an advocacy group
■ Raise awareness in your community