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Last night another House deadline arrived, Senate bills were to be heard on second reading or they would not advance to the calendar today for third reading. Several Senate bills did not make the midnight deadline including but not limited to: SB 29 relating to requiring public school students to compete in interscholastic athletic competitions based on biological sex; SB 10 lobby activities; and SB 12 and censorship of expression on social media platforms.

Speculation was floating on social media that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wanted to force an immediate special session on electricity and as the morning dawned there were rumors that the Senate had yet to pass the Sunset Safety Net bill which would force a special session. Patrick on his twitter feed asked Gov. Greg Abbott to call a June Special Session to pass SB 29, SB 10, and SB 12. Abbott did send out a response today about the legislative session:

“Some are trying to end the game before the time clock has run out. There’s still time remaining for the House and Senate to work together to get important conservative legislation to my desk. Members in both chambers need to be spending every minute of every day to accomplish that mission.”

Today is the last day for the House to consider local and consent SBs on 2nd & 3rd reading and ALL 3rd reading SBs/SJRs on the supplemental calendar. It is also the last day for the Senate to consider ALL bills & JRs on 2nd and 3rd reading.

Deadlines

The last few days of the 87th Session come with several deadlines.

Friday, May 28th (137th day) – Last day for House to act on Senate amendments and for certain conference committee reports (CCR) copies to be circulated in the Senate.

Saturday, May 29th (138th day) – Before midnight ALL CCRs must now be distributed.

Sunday, May 30th (139th day) – Last day for the House to adopt CCRs or discharge House conferees and concur in Senate amendments. Also, the last day for the Senate to concur in House amendments or adopt CCRs.

Monday, May 31st (140th day) – Sine Die last day of session.

CCR

There are currently 5 bills in or just out of conference committee; last session at this time there were 27 bills in or coming out of conference committee with a total of close to 90 bills referred to the conference committee process. The House and Senate will continue moving through items eligible today which could result in more bills being sent to a conference committee. As conference committee reports become available, they can be found at this LRL site – select the 87th Session.

Budget Bills Pass Senate 

This afternoon the Senate took up the conference committee report for SB 1, the general appropriations bill. SB 1 CCR was unanimously adopted by the Senate. They also took up HB 2, the supplemental appropriations bill, and passed it unanimously.

Bills Heading to Governor’s Desk

As of May 26th, 520 bills are heading to the Governor’s desk. Of those 124 have been signed by the Governor and 6 bills have been filed without the Governor’s signature.

The first Veto of the 87th Regular Session by the Governor was SB 813 (Hughes/Hefner) relating to the insurance premium tax credit for the certified rehabilitation of certified historic structures.

As the final days of the 87th continue, the Governor’s Veto Statements and Signature Statements can be found on the Governor’s website at the following links:

Spotlight on Bills Moving

The TLO shows that as of the morning of May 26th, 520 House and Senate bills have been passed but that number will continue to increase as bills are reported as enrolled and conference committees conclude.

Bill Statistics for the 133rd Day of the 87th and 86th Regular Session

The Texas Legislative Reference Library has published statistics comparing the 133rd day of the 87th Session to the 86th Regular Session.