Yesterday Governor Greg Abbott released his Proclamation for the first called 87th Special Session which allowed for bills to be filed. By the end of the day, there were 121 bills and resolutions were filed. Out of those, 85 are House and 13 Senate bills. More bills will be filed in the following days.
Bills with low numbers are typically reserved for priority issues. So far, House members have filed HB 1 relating to appropriations, HB 2 relating to rules for setting bail, and HB 3 relating to election integrity. The Senate has not yet filed any Senate bills numbered 1-10 although Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has signaled SB 1 will be an election integrity bill.
Bills can be filed that are NOT related to the call but details on what legislation is referred, set for a hearing and brought to the chamber floor is subject to the Texas Constitution & both House and Senate rules. Generally, a bill will not progress far if the subject is not on the call. The Governor may expand his call to include any additional topics at any time.
