In my business, I see people from all walks of life every day, and I help them find solutions for their problems. All taxes collected from gas, inspections and car purchases must be completely devoted to transportation purposes and not diverted to other budget items.

We should eliminate non-core government budgeted items in order to have the funds needed for our roads, schools, and justice system.

As property valuations increase, property taxes increase. In regards to wrongful convictions, we will need to enact reforms that involve the police, prosecution, defense, courts, forensic science and corrections. Each of these has, at one time or another, committed errors that have led to wrongful convictions.

Institution of legislation that provides for the implementation of evidence-based policies and programs and requires evaluation to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of the policy and program is needed. The largest provider of mental health services to youth in our state is juvenile detention. We need more initiatives through the courts to divert defendants to mental health services, drug rehabilitation, prostitution diversion programs, and so on.

This huge cost regardless of practicality is a major issue for our local communities. I want property rights to mean something for Texas families. Our local school property taxes are among the highest in the nation and we need bold leadership in Austin to reduce the tax burden on local municipalities and restructure our school funding formula so that every student in Texas receives a high-quality equitable education.

I do believe the state should spend more on education. We must find a way to increase state funding to support teachers and students while not adding additional tax burdens on local taxpayers.

Dallas needs to hire more officers to address a rising violent crime rate. Yet some in the Legislature are proposing bad bills that would artificially cap local city budgets. We elect local officials to make these kinds of decisions. The Legislature should let them do their jobs. It is completely unjust to jail people for being poor and it is fiscally irresponsible. The aims of any future reforms by our legislature should be focused on accountability for police, citizens, defendants, prisoners and the families of prisoners alike.

After all, they built this life for us. Steve will always be a strong advocate for providing property tax relief to taxpayers. I will support our Public Schools, fight for more equitable funding and reduce unfunded mandates. I will work for fair pay for teachers and to increase contributions to retired teachers. This means creating a viable means to avoid flooding and to ensure that we have better regulation for developing properties in flood prone areas.

A primary is scheduled for March 1, , and a primary runoff is scheduled for May 24, The filing deadline is December 13, Elections for the office of Texas House of Representatives took place in The general election was held on November 3, A primary was scheduled for March 3, , and a primary runoff was scheduled for July 14, The filing deadline was December 9, In the elections, Republicans in the Texas House of Representatives maintained their majority.

Elections for the Texas House of Representatives took place in An open primary election took place on March 6, The general election was held on November 6, The candidate filing deadline was December 11, Candidate filing deadline.

In the elections, the Republican majority in the Texas House of Representatives was reduced from to The primary election was held on March 1, , and the general election was held on November 8, The candidate filing deadline was December 14, Heading into the election, Republicans held a majority with one vacancy. Republicans lost five seats in the election, giving them a majority. Elections for all seats in the Texas House of Representatives took place in A primary election took place on March 4, Those candidates who did not receive 50 percent or more of the vote in their party primary on March 4 faced an additional May 27 primary runoff.

The general election was held on November 4, The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in these elections was December 9, Republicans gained four seats in the election, giving them a majority.

The primary election was held on May 29, , and the general election was held on November 6, A primary runoff election was scheduled for July 31, The candidate filing deadline was December 19, All seats were up for election. Heading into the election, Republicans held a majority with two vacancies. The following table details the 10 districts with the smallest margin of victory in the November 6 general election.

The primary election was held on March 2, , and the general election was held on November 2, The runoff election was held on April 13, The candidate filing deadline was January 4, All seats were up for election in Republicans gained 22 seats in the election, giving them a majority with one vacancy.

The top 10 donors were: [12]. Elections for the office of Texas House of Representatives consisted of a primary election on March 4, , and a general election on November 4, The top 10 contributors were: [13]. Elections for the office of Texas House of Representatives consisted of a primary election on March 7, , and a general election on November 7, The top 10 contributors were: [14].

Elections for the office of Texas House of Representatives consisted of a primary election on March 9, , and a general election on November 2, The top 10 contributors were: [15]. Elections for the office of Texas House of Representatives consisted of a primary election on March 12, , and a general election on November 5, The top 10 contributors were: [16].

Elections for the office of Texas House of Representatives consisted of a primary election on March 14, , and a general election on November 7, The top 10 contributors were: [17].

If there is a vacancy in the Texas State Legislature , the governor must call a special election to fill the vacant seat. The secretary of state can declare a candidate duly elected in a special election if there is no opposition. See sources: Texas Elec. 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.

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 , comprises the following members: [21].

The Texas Constitution requires that state legislative districts be contiguous and "that they preserve whole counties when population mandates permit. This map takes effect for Texas' legislative elections. Texas received its local census data on February 17, The state grew The growth rate in the largest cities was as follows: Houston grew by 7. The Texas State Senate released a proposed map of its 31 districts on May 11, Rick Perry R on June 17, The DC federal court rejected Texas' senate and house maps on November 8, , denying the state's request for preclearance summary judgment.

The maps passed the Texas State Senate and were signed into law by Gov. Perry on June 26, 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 BillTrack In , the legislature was scheduled to convene on January 12, , and adjourn on May 31, In , the legislature was in session from January 10, , through May 29, A special session was held from July 18 to August Major issues during the legislative session included transportation funding, especially funding of the Texas Department of Transportation.

A bill meant to help alleviate funding issues within the agency died in the last legislative session, leaving the issue to the legislative session. In , the legislature was in session from January 8 to May Thirty minutes after the regular session ended, Governor Rick Perry R called legislators back for a special session starting that evening.

Along with the necessity of creating a new budget, some of the biggest issues included Medicaid and school funding, a water shortage, and reforming the school finance system.

After he was appointed in , University of Texas Regent Wallace Hall began looking into what he believed to be clout scandals within the University of Texas system. Hall investigated the university's forgivable-loans program and admissions policies and preferential treatment to politically-connected individuals. System has not protected the privacy rights of students, staff, and patients.

This is simply not true. An effort was begun in June by members of the Texas State House to try and impeach Hall from his position as Regent. Some legislators justified the impeachment on the grounds that Hall did not disclose several lawsuits that he was involved in when he originally completed his Regent background check. Only two elected officials in the history of Texas have ever been successfully impeached.

In , the legislature was in session from January 11 through May While redistricting maps were passed for the Texas House of Representatives , the Texas State Senate , and the State Board of Education, the legislature failed to pass a congressional map within the regular session.

The 82nd Legislative Session officially ended Monday, May 30, Due to a lack of progress on key legislative items, Governor Rick Perry R called a special session which began first thing Tuesday, May 31, Of primary concern in the special session was passing supporting legislation needed to balance the budget. Even though a budget bill passed both the House and Senate during the regular session, a last-minute filibuster by Democratic Senator Wendy Davis halted the passing of an essential school finance bill that was required to balance the budget.

The Texas Constitution requires a balanced budget, so a special session was called. Balancing the budget was not the only item on the special session agenda. Medicaid reform, immigration, and congressional redistricting were amongst the issues to be addressed. In , the legislature did not hold a regular session.

In , the legislature met in session from January 13 through June 1. The Tenth Amendment of the U. Constitution declares that any power not already given to the federal government is reserved to the states and the people. The different types of legislation passed by a legislature may include resolutions, legislatively referred constitutional amendments , and bills that become law.

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. 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. 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. The state operates on a biennial budget cycle. The sequence of key events in the budget process is as follows: [60]. Texas is one of 44 states in which the governor has line item veto authority. The legislature is constitutionally required to adopt a balanced budget.

The governor must sign a balanced budget into law. 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. Ballotpedia covers standing and joint committees. The Texas House of Representatives has 34 standing committees:.

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. What's on my ballot? Elections in How to vote How to run for office Ballot measures. Who represents me? President U. Under normal circumstances, joint committees in Texas are created to operate in the interim of legislative sessions, and rarely during a session. All joint committees in Texas are classified as select committees, and do not carry over between legislative sessions. Texas Senate: From , the Democratic Party was the majority in the Texas State Senate for five years while the Republicans were the majority for 17 years.

Texas was under Republican trifectas for the final 11 years of the study. Across the country, there were Democratic and Republican state senates from to Texas House: From , the Democratic Party was the majority in the Texas State House of Representatives for the first 11 years while the Republicans were the majority for the last 11 years. Across the country, there were Democratic and Republican State Houses of Representatives from to Over the course of the year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan.

At the outset of the study period , 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments.

In , only 13 states had divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied. The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Office of the Governor of Texas , the Texas State Senate and the Texas House of Representatives from to Texas was one of eight states to demonstrate a dramatic partisan shift in the 22 years studied.

A dramatic shift was defined by a movement of 40 percent or more toward one party over the course of the study period.

Texas started out with Democratic trifectas but shifted to Republican trifectas by the end of the study. The chart below depicts the partisanship of the Texas state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from , with 1 being the best and 50 the worst.

Prior to Republican trifectas, which started in , the SQLI rating for Texas stayed consistently in the 30s, except for its lowest ranking of 40 in during a Democratic trifecta.

Within a few years of the Republican trifectas that ranking moved up, and Texas finished 11th, its highest ranking, in 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. Ballotpedia features , encyclopedic articles written and curated by our professional staff of editors, writers, and researchers.

Click here to contact our editorial staff, and click here to report an error. Click here to contact us for media inquiries, and please donate here to support our continued expansion. Share this page Follow Ballotpedia. What's on your ballot? Jump to: navigation , search. Code 3. Census Bureau , "U. Categories : Texas State legislatures, Texas Legislature. Voter information What's on my ballot? Where do I vote? How do I register to vote? How do I request a ballot?

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How do I update a page? Election results. Privacy policy About Ballotpedia Disclaimers Login. Texas State Legislature. General information. Official Legislature Page. Art 3, Texas Constitution. November 3, November 8, Texas Legislature has control. Click [show] to read about the special session.

Greg Abbott R called a day special session after the legislature failed to pass sunset legislation that would prevent the shutdown of five government agencies, including the Texas Medical Board. Shortly after midnight on July 20, SB 20 and SB 60 were given final approval by the Senate, allowing for additional agenda items to be taken up by the chamber.

The Senate and House were unable to agree on key thresholds for when local governments would require voter approval to raise property taxes. The Senate passed a bill on bathroom usage, but the House did not take up the subject in committee.

On the final day of the special session, the House voted in favor of the Senate's version of HB The bill also set up a commission to further study the issue in advance of more significant changes to school finance during the legislative session. On May 11, the caucus used procedural tactics in the House rules blocking legislation not expected to generate debate from being fast tracked to prevent votes on more than pieces of legislation, including bills renewing the medical board and other state agencies.

The caucus released a statement in support of a special session and the agenda items established for the special session. Texas on. Check out Ballotpedia articles about policy in your state on:. Two-thirds of members present in both chambers must vote to override a veto. If all members are in attendance, this is of the members in the Texas House of Representatives and 21 of the 31 members in the Texas State Senate.

Texas is one of 36 states that requires a two-thirds vote from both of its legislative chambers to override a veto. If he approve he shall sign it; but if he disapprove it, he shall return it, with his objections, to the House in which it originated, which House shall enter the objections at large upon its journal, and proceed to reconsider it.

If after such reconsideration, two-thirds of the members present agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, with the objections, to the other House, by which likewise it shall be reconsidered; and, if approved by two-thirds of the members of that House, it shall become a law; but in such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the members voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House respectively.

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