80th Texas Legislative Session
"The Texas Legislature will consider a variety of issues when it convenes in regular session on January 9, 2007. Proposals to curb rising property appraisals and revise the business tax enacted in 2006 by the 79th Legislature are expected to feature prominently in the legislative agenda. Possible changes to laws that govern how the state deals with illegal immigrants and sex offenders also are matters that promise to command the attention of lawmakers. Also, 23 state agencies, including those dealing with the criminal justice system and the regulation of alcoholic beverages, will be subject to review under the Sunset process." -- Topics for the 80th Legislature, House Research Organization, Focus Report no. 80-1, December 8, 2006.
Index: Bills | Budget and Appropriations | Executive Branch | Governor | House | House Committees | House Committee Interim Charges & Reports | Joint Committees | Legislation | Legislative Branch | Lieutenant Governor | Senate | Senate Committee Interim Reports | Senate Standing Committees | Speaker of the House
Texas Legislature Online
- The Texas Legislature Online web site is a good, all-purpose site to use for access to legislative activity.
- Access House and Senate calendars, information on committees, and their meetings.
- Search and track bills and legislation (71st Regular Session (1991) to the present).
- Use it to find out who represents you in the Texas Legislature or to find out more about the legislative process in Texas.
- Use "My TLO" to create a list of bills to watch, to provide alerts on changes to specified bills, to save searches, and to set up mobile services and RSS feeds.
Legislation
Helpful publications:
- Topics for the 80th Legislature (House Research Organization. Focus report no. 80-1, December 8, 2006) [PDF, 16 pp.]
- "This report highlights many, although by no means all, of the issues that the 80th Legislature may consider during its 2007 regular session. The House Research Organization has addressed a number of these topics in Focus Reports and Interim News articles issued since the end of the regular session of the 79th Legislature in 2005."
- Issues Facing the 80th Texas Legislature: a Briefing Report (January 2007) (Senate Research Center) [PDF, 111 pp.]
- Guide to Texas Legislative Information (November 2004) (Texas Legislative Council) [PDF, 92 pp.]
- Also available in an online version on the House web site.
- "The purpose of this publication is to help legislators, other state officials and employees, and interested citizens in researching the work of past legislatures and in tracking the progress of pending legislative measures during a session."--Introduction, P. 1.
- How a Bill Becomes Law: 80th Legislature (House Research Organization. Focus report no. 80-2, February 1, 2007) [PDF, 16 pp.]
- How to Follow a Bill Using TLO (from Texas Legislature Online)
- Legislative Lexicon (February 2007) (Senate Research Center) [PDF, 24 pp.]
- The legislature, like most organizations, has a specialized vocabulary which may prove to be confusing to those unfamiliar with the legislative process. The ability to understand and clearly communicate within the halls of the Capitol, its chambers, and its committee rooms can be crucial in determining a participant’s success in the legislative realm. The Senate Research Center offers this Legislative Lexicon to provide users with clear definitions of many of the words, terms, and phrases used in the legislature.
- Texas Legislative Council Drafting Manual (October 2002) (via Texas Legislative Council) [PDF, 248 pp.]
- This manual explains how legislative drafting is done by the staff of the Texas Legislative Council. Although it is primarily intended for use by the council staff for training and as a reference guide, other participants in the legislative process, including legislators and legislative staff members, may find it helpful in analyzing legislative documents.
- Fiscal Notes Reference Guide for State Agencies (January 2007) (Legislative Budget Board)
- State statute requires a fiscal note be prepared and accompany a bill or joint resolution as it goes through the legislative process. A fiscal note is a written estimate of the costs, savings, revenue gain, or revenue loss that may result from implementation of a bill or joint resolution. It serves as a tool to help legislators better understand how a bill might impact the state budget as a whole, individual agencies, and in some instances, local governments.
- Fiscal Notes Instructions (Legislative Budget Board)
Bill Tracking and Analysis
- How to Follow a Bill Using TLO (from Texas Legislature Online)
- How a Bill Becomes Law: 80th Legislature (House Research Organization. Focus report no. 80-2, February 1, 2007) [PDF, 16 pp.]
- Texas Legislature Online. Legislation
- Bill Lookup
- Reports
- View reports representing bills authored, bills sponsored, bills reported to committee, bills by subject, today's legislative activity, general legislature and non-legislature activity.
- Bills by ... Reports (search by Author, Coauthor, Sponsor, Cosponsor, Committee, Subject, and Filing date)
- General Reports (Today's Activity, Legislature-Based, Non-Legislature)
- Bill Analyses (via House Research Organization)
- Bill analyses prepared by the HRO reflect the version of the bill as it was reported by House committee and first considered by the House of Representatives. It does not reflect any subsequent changes or amendments made on the House floor or in the Senate.
- Bill Analysis (via Senate Research Center)
- "A bill analysis is a summary of a bill written in layman's terms. According to the Senate Rules, in order for a piece of legislation to be heard on the Senate floor, a bill must be accompanied by, among other items, a bill analysis (Senate Rule 7.12(b)(10))."
- "A bill analysis is composed of three sections: Digest and Purpose; Rulemaking Authority; and Section-by-Section Analysis. If the bill is amended in committee, a fourth section, entitled List of Committee Amendments, will be added to the BA."
- Floor Report by Date (via House Research Organization)
- Floor Reports are a collection of bill analyses for bills scheduled on the daily House calendar for floor debate on a particular legislative day.
- Amendment Search (via Texas Legislature Online)
- Retrieve History, Text, Actions, Captions, Authors, and Amendment of both the Introduced and the Enrolled version
- See Fiscal Note, Witness Lists, and Summary of Committee Action
- Texas Bill Status (via Legislative Reference Library of Texas)
- Bill Status Hotline: phone numbers, hours and availability, information available from Hotline staff
- Not an online resource.
- The hotline gives the public access to up-to-the-minute information including:
- Current status of Texas legislation
- Legislative processes in Texas
- Contact information for legislative members and other elected officials
- Guidelines on how to obtain a copy of a bill
- Addresses for legislative and governmental websites and toll-free telephone numbers
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Budget and Appropriations
Helpful Publications:
- Budget 101: a Guide to the Budget Process in Texas (January 2007) (Senate Research Center) [PDF, 74 pp.]
- "State Finance Reports" from the House Research Organization review the budget process and analyze the appropriations bill, focusing on policy issues related to various agency spending proposals.
- Writing the state budget: 80th Legislature (House Research Organization. State finance report no. 80-1, February 14, 2007)
- Publications from the Comptroller of Public Accounts
- Legislative Appropriations Request: Fiscal Years 2008-2009, September 1, 2007-August 31, 2009 [PDF, 201 pp.]
- Fall 2006 State Economic Forecast
- Includes State Economic Forecast, Real Gross State Product, Nominal Gross State Product, Nonfarm Employment Detail, and Economic Detail
- Economic Indicators
Appropriations Bill(s)
- Senate Bill 1 [PDF, 947 pp., 24.14 MB] -- "The Budget Bill"
- The Appropriations bill is the only bill the Texas Legislature is required to pass during each legislative session.
- Once passed by the legislature, the General Appropriations Act, and related committee reports and summary reports, are available online via the Legislative Budget Board's web site.
- House Bill 1 [PDF, 947 pp., 24.14 MB] -- "The Budget Bill"
- Texas Budget Source (via Legislative Budget Board)
- "The Legislative Budget Board (LBB) developed the Texas Budget Source (TBS), a report generator, to provide the general public information on the Texas state budget. TBS extracts its data from the LBB’s Automated Budget and Evaluation System of Texas (ABEST). Users may generate budget reports for a specific state agency. They may also generate reports organized by the articles of the General Appropriations Bill. In either case, users choose the legislative biennium, e.g. 2002-2003, the report type (which identifies a particular stage of the General Appropriations Bill), and the data view (the actual title of the report). A Help button is available on the request screen for a quick guide to navigating the screen and viewing, printing, and downloading reports."
- Governor's proposed budget, 2008-09 (January 2007) (via Office of the Governor) [PDF, 5.2MB, 866 pp.]
- Budget summary, 2008-09 [PDF, 100 pp.]
- Office of the Governor. Budget, Planning, and Policy
- Agency Budget Instructions for 2008-09
- Includes Policy letter to agencies for 2008-09 legislative appropriations (baseline requests will be limited to 90% of FY2006 amounts), Detailed instructions for requests, Appendices, and Templates
- Detailed Instructions for Institutions and Agencies of Higher Education
- Detailed Instructions for Public Community/Junior Colleges
- Agency Budget Instructions for 2008-09
- Biennial Revenue Estimate 2008-2009 (January 2007) (via Comptroller of Public Accounts) [PDF, 102 pp.]
- Texas Finances (via Comptroller of Public Accounts)
- Includes the Biennial revenue estimate, Sales tax collections, and Tax exemptions and tax incidence
- General Appropriations and Budget Estimates and Recommendations (via Legislative Budget Board)
- General Appropriations Act 2008-2009 biennium, 80th Legislature, regular session, January 2007 (contents page containing links to the PDF version of each section) (not yet available)
- Legislative Budget Estimates, 2008-2009 Biennium (January 2007) [PDF, 801 pp.]
- Summary of Legislative Budget Estimates for the 2008-2009 Biennium (January 2007)
- Legislative Budget Board recommendations, 80th Legislature, 2008-09 biennium (January 2007) [PDF, 947 pp., 24.14 MB]
- Appropriations Bills Archives
- 1998-1999 to 2006-2007
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Executive Branch
- Office of the Governor (Rick Perry)
- Executive Orders
- Signed Bills
- Vetoed Bills
- "State of the State" address (February 6, 2007) [Note: Gov. Perry frequently deviates from prepared text]
- Gov. Perry Outlines Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2008–09 (includes Highlights) (Press release, February 6, 2007)
- Budget summary, 2008-09 [PDF, 100 pp.]
- Governor's proposed budget, 2008-09 (January 2007) (via Office of the Governor) [PDF, 866 pp.]
Gov. Rick Perry’s Higher Education Reform Proposal, 80th Texas Legislature (February 1, 2007)
- Lieutenant Governor (David Dewhurst)
- Office of the Secretary of State (Roger Williams)
- Comptroller of Public Accounts (Susan Combs) ("Window on State Government")
- General Land Office (Jerry Patterson, Commissioner)
- Attorney General of Texas (Greg Abbott)
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Legislative Branch
Helpful Publications
- Daily House Journals
- PDF and HTML versions of the daily proceedings in the House
- Provided as an informational service only until the official permanent journal is published
- Senate Journal Online
- PDF and HTML versions of the daily proceedings in the Senate
- Provided as an informational service only until the official permanent journal is published
- Topics for the 80th Legislature (House Research Organization. Focus report no. 80-1, December 8, 2006) [PDF, 16 pp.]
- The 80th Texas Legislature interim digest (February 2007) [not yet available]
- A compilation of legislative interim committee action, produced for the 80th Texas Legislature by the Senate Research Center
- Issues Facing the 80th Texas Legislature: a Briefing Report (January 2007) (Senate Research Center)
- Legislative staff: 80th Legislature (Focus report, House Research Organization) [not yet available]
Texas House of Representatives
Helpful Publications and Research
- Daily House Journals
- PDF and HTML versions of the daily proceedings in the House
- Provided as an informational service only until the official permanent journal is published
- How a Bill Becomes Law: 80th Legislature (House Research Organization. Focus report no. 80-2, February 1, 2007) [PDF, 16 pp.]
- Bill Analyses (via House Research Organization)
- Bill analyses prepared by the HRO reflect the version of the bill as it was reported by House committee and first considered by the House of Representatives. It does not reflect any subsequent changes or amendments made on the House floor or in the Senate.
- Floor Report by Date (via House Research Organization)
- Floor Reports are collections of bill analyses for bills scheduled on the daily House calendar for floor debate on a particular legislative day.
- House Research Organization [Click on All Publications, then the series, to retrieve the separate reports]
- "Focus Reports" provide a thorough examination of particular issues, such as tort reform or electric utility deregulation. The Major Issues report summarizes significant legislation considered during each legislative session.
- "Interim News" reports provide a brief review of topics of current interest and summaries of interim committee hearings.
- "Constitutional Amendment" analyses provide a summary and arguments for and against ballot propositions submitted for voter approval.
- "State Finance Reports" review the budget process and analyze the appropriations bill, focusing on policy issues related to various agency spending proposals.
Membership
- Speaker of the House (Tom Craddick) (via House of Representatives web site)
- House Membership, Listed by Name (via House of Representatives web site)
Committee Information
- House Committee Assignments & Appointments (via House of Representatives web site)
- House Committee Meetings (via Texas Legislature Online)
- Texas Legislature Online provides a database of searchable information about committee schedules, minutes, membership, process, and other related material.
- House Committee Procedures: 80th Legislature (House Research Organization. Focus report no. 80-3, February 1, 2007) [PDF, 8 pp.]
House Committees (80th Legislature) (via House of Representatives web site)
- House Committee Assignments & Appointments (master list)
- Committees composed of members of the House meet to consider and make recommendations concerning disposition of bills, resolutions, and other related matters referred to them. Committees are appointed by the Speaker of the House and are organized according to subject matter.
- Information includes: Chair, Vice Chair, and other members; Address and phone number; and Committee jurisdiction information. Includes links to Bills referred; Upcoming schedule; Past notices, minutes, and witness lists; Broadcast archives; and Interim report.
- Links from members' names retrieve contact information, committee assignments, legislative information, and district analyses and map.
- Agriculture & Livestock
- Appropriations
- Border & International Affairs
- Business & Industry
- Calendars
- Civil Practices
- Corrections
- County Affairs
- Criminal Jurisprudence
- Culture, Recreation, & Tourism
- Defense Affairs & State-Federal Relations
- Economic Development
- Elections
- Energy Resources
- Environmental Regulation
- Financial Institutions
- General Investigating & Ethics
- Government Reform
- Higher & Public Education Finance, Select
- Higher Education
- House Administration
- Human Services
- Insurance
- Judiciary
- Juvenile Justice & Family Issues
- Land & Resource Management
- Law Enforcement
- Licensing & Administrative Procedures
- Local & Consent Calendars
- Local Government Ways & Means
- Natural Resources
- Pensions & Investments
- Public Education
- Public Health
- Redistricting
- Regulated Industries
- Rules & Resolutions
- State Affairs
- Transportation
- Urban Affairs
- Ways & Means
House Committee Interim Charges (79th Legislature)
- Interim Study Charges, Texas House of Representatives, 79th Legislature (issued by Tom Craddick, October 19, 2005) [PDF, 39 pp.]
House Committee Interim Reports (79th Legislature)
- Interim reports present recommendations to the 80th Legislature
- Committee Interim Reports master list from the House web site (updated periodically as reports are released)
- The following links are to PDF documents on the House of Representatives web site. (Adobe Acrobat Reader required.) Those committees marked by an asterisk (*) did not have an interim charge and therefore did not produce an interim report.
- Agriculture & Livestock
- Appropriations
- Border & International Affairs
- Business & Industry
- Calendars*
- Civil Practices
- Construction Industry-Related Workers' Compensation Issues, Select Interim
- Corrections
- County Affairs
- Criminal Jurisprudence
- Defense Affairs & State-Federal Relations
- Economic Development
- Elections
- Energy Resources
- Environmental Regulation
- Financial Institutions
- General Investigating & Ethics
- Government Reform
- Higher Education
- House Administration*
- Human Services
- Insurance
- Judicial Affairs
- Juvenile Justice & Family Issues
- Land & Resource Management
- Law Enforcement
- Licensing & Administrative Procedures
- Local & Consent Calendars*
- Local Government Ways & Means
- Natural Resources
- Pensions & Investments
- Public Education
- Public Health
- Public School Finance, Select
- Redistricting
- Regulated Industries
- Rules and Resolutions*
- Sex Offender Statutes, Select Interim on
- State Affairs
- State Cultural & Recreational Resources
- State Health Care Expenditures, Select
- Transportation
- Urban Affairs
- Ways & Means
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Texas Senate
Helpful Publications and Research
- Senate Journal Online
- PDF and HTML versions of the daily proceedings in the Senate
- Provided as an informational service only until the official permanent journal is published
- The Senate Guide to Ethics and Financial Disclosure (February 2005) (Senate Research Center) [PDF, 146 pp.]
- Senate Research Center
- The Senate Research Center provides quality, specialized, objective research and information to the Texas Senate and Office of the Lieutenant Governor.
- Budget 101: a Guide to the Budget Process in Texas (January 2007) [PDF, 74 pp.]
- Issues Facing the 80th Texas Legislature: a Briefing Report (January 2007) [PDF, 111 pp.]
- Legislative Lexicon (February 2007) [PDF, 24 pp.]
Membership
- Lieutenant Governor (David Dewhurst)
- The Lieutenant Governor in Texas is unique in that he is part of both the Executive and Legislative branches.
- Powers & Duties
- List of Texas Senate Members (via Texas Senate web site)
Committee Information
- Senate Committees (80th Legislature) (via Texas Legislature Online)
- Links to web pages for each Committee showing Appointment Date, Chair, Vice Chair, and other members
- Links from members' names retrieve contact information, committee assignments, and legislative information
- Senate Committee Meetings (via Texas Legislature Online)
- Texas Legislature Online provides a database of searchable information about committee schedules, minutes, membership, process and other related material.
- Senate Committee Hearings (via Texas Senate web site)
Senate Standing Committees (80th Legislature) (via Senate web site)
- Committees of the 80th Legislature
- Committees composed of members of the Senate meet to consider and make recommendations concerning disposition of bills, resolutions, and other related matters referred to them. Committees are appointed by the Lieutenant Governor and are organized according to subject matter.
- Information includes: Chair, Vice Chair, and other members; Clerk's name and phone number; Video/audio archives; and Interim charges; Reports; Budget and staff; and Interim Appointments.
- Links from members' names retrieve contact information, committee assignments, legislative information, district analyses and map, and press archives.
- Administration
- Business and Commerce
- Criminal Justice
- Education
- Education Reform & Public School Finance, Select
- Finance
- Government Organization
- Health and Human Services
- Intergovernmental Relations
- International Relations and Trade
- Jurisprudence
- Natural Resources
- Nominations
- State Affairs
- Transportation & Homeland Security
- Veteran Affairs and Military Installations
Senate Committee Interim Reports (79th Legislature)
- Interim reports present recommendations to the 80th Legislature
- The following links are to PDF documents on the Senate web site. (Adobe Acrobat Reader required.) Those committees marked by an asterisk (*) did not have an interim charge and therefore did not produce an interim report.
- Administration*
- Business & Commerce
- Criminal Justice
- Education
- Finance
- Senate Committees on Education & Finance Joint Report
- Subcommittee on Capital Funding for Higher Education
- Government Organization
- Health & Human Services
- Intergovernmental Relations
- International Relations and Trade
- Jurisprudence
- Natural Resources
- Nominations*
- State Affairs
- Transportation & Homeland Security
- Veteran Affairs & Military Installations
- Subcommittee on Base Realignment and Closure
Return to Index | Return to Top
Joint Committees
Joint Committees (80th Legislature)
- Joint Committee on Oversight of Edwards Aquifer
- Joint Select Committee on the Operation and Management of the Texas Youth Commission
- Legislative Audit Committee
Joint Committees Interim Reports (79th Legislature)
- Senate Select Committee on Education Reform & Public School Finance
- Joint Select Committee on Windstorm Coverage
- Study Commission on Transportation Financing
- Joint Select Committee to Study the Medical Peer Review Process
- Joint Select Committee to Study the Texas Health Insurance Risk Pool Deficit
- Interim Committee to Study the Power of Eminent Domain
- Edwards Aquifer Legislative Oversight Committee
- Joint Study Commission on Availability of Pre-Owned Heavy Duty Commercial Motor Vehicles
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Compiled: January-March 2007 by Janetta Paschal, Government Documents/Reference Librarian |
