THE END OF 83RD REGULAR SESSION DRAWS NEAR: DEADLINES TO WATCH
The start of May marks the final month of the 83rd Regular Legislative session. Every odd-numbered year the Texas Legislature meets for 140 days to hear and potentially pass any necessary legislation. This year, the 83rd Legislative Session began on January 8th, which puts the final day of session this year on May 27th. For those involved in the legislature, the final day of session is commonly referred to as “Sine Die”, which is a Latin phrase meaning “without day” or without any future date being designated.
Entering the final thirty days of the legislative session means that a number of deadlines will soon come to pass for the legislative members and their staff. The first such deadline is Monday the 6th of May which represents the 119th day of session. This day marks the last day for House committees to report out any House Bills that the committee heard throughout the session. The following day, on May 7th the last House Daily Calendar with House Bills and House Joint Resolutions, must be distributed for a 36 hour layout by 10 p.m. that evening. The 36 hour layout is necessary because May 9th marks the last day that the House can consider all House Bills or House Joint Resolutions on 2nd reading which were placed on the Supplemental or House Daily Calendar.
On May 10th, the House will consider House Bills that were placed on the Consent Calendar by the Local and Consent Committee. The bills that are placed on the Consent Calendar will go before the House on their 2nd and 3rd reading for the last time during the 83rd session. Bills that are sent to the Consent Calendar are those in which no opposition is anticipated and which received no nay votes in order to get out of the committee.
As these deadlines go by for House Bills, the House members will then begin to turn their focus to Senate Bills. May 18th represents the 131st day of the session and it is the last day for committees to report out any of the Senate Bills or Senate Joint Resolutions. With just seven days left, the House will consider on 2nd reading the Senate Bills and the Senate Joint Resolutions which were placed on the Supplemental or House Daily Calendar.
On the 137th day of session, or May 24th of this year, the House will have to concur or go to conference on any Senate amendments. May 26th will then be the last day for the House to adopt Conference Committee Reports. If the House and Senate do not adopt the report, then the measure will fail and the bill dies. The following day or the 140th day of session, the House and Senate are limited to only making corrections to legislation. Upon the final adjournment on May 27th, the House and Senate will officially end the 83rd Regular Session.
If you would like to follow any of the bills as these deadlines approach, these websites serve as a great resource:
• Texas Legislature Online
• The Texas House of Representatives
• The Texas Senate
If you have questions or comments regarding any of the agencies up for sunset, please do not hesitate to call my Capitol or District Office. As always, my offices are available at any time to assist with questions, concerns or comments (Capitol Office, 512-463-0672; District Office, 361-949-4603).
– State Representative Todd Hunter, District 32
Rep. Hunter represents Nueces (Part). He can be contacted at todd.hunter@house.state.tx.us or at 512-463-0672.
