TxLege data: How long do sessions last and how many bills are typically passed?
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Each legislative session, thousands of bills are filed by state lawmakers, but how many actually become law? And how long does each session typically last?
KXAN dug through the legislative archives to find out.
As seen in the chart below, the number of bills filed each legislative session has grown tremendously.
In the 27th, 28th and 29th sessions, in the early 1900s, fewer than 1,000 House and Senate bills were filed by state lawmakers. That compares to the more than 8,700 filed so far in the current Legislative session. As of May 13, a total of 5,644 House bills and 3,072 Senate bills have be filed by the current legislature.
Of course, not every bill is passed. In the 88th Legislative Session, in 2023, a total of 8,616 bills were filed by state lawmakers in the regular session and four subsequent special sessions. Of those, 1,252 were passed, about 14.5% of all bills filed. Gov. Abbott vetoed 76 bills, according to online legislative statistics.
When averaging the last 10 full sessions, lawmakers typically file about 6,890 bills, of which roughly 1,350 are passed — about 19.6% of the total. This session, lawmakers have passed 165 bills as of May 13, about 1.9% of the total.
The legislature meets every two years, in odd-numbered years. Since the 1960s, regular sessions have lasted for 140 days. Before then, they ranged from as short as 45 days in 1863 to 177 days in 1949.
By state law, special sessions can last a maximum of 30 days, but the governor has the power to call as many special sessions as they want.
The record came in the 71st Legislative Session, in 1989 and 1990. Gov. Bill Clements called a total of six special sessions. Since the first legislative session in 1846, there have been an average of 1.5 special sessions for each legislature.
The 12th Legislative Session was the longest in state history, at 353 days in total. That session included a 17-day 'provisional' session in February 1870, so Texas could ratify the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Just because a bill passes both the House and Senate, doesn't mean it will become law. The governor has the power to veto bills. An average of 28 bills are vetoed each legislative cycle.
The 12th Legislature, in 1870-71, saw the most vetoes in state history. Gov. Edmund J. Davis vetoed a total of 123 bills, 83 of which were in special sessions.
When only looking at regular sessions, a record 83 bills were vetoed by Rick Perry in the 77th Legislature, in 2001. Gov. Greg Abbott's 76 vetoes in the most recent regular session ranks second.
The two Republicans also rank first and second when it comes to total vetoes during their time in office. Rick Perry vetoed almost 300 bills between 2001 and 2013. Abbott has vetoed almost 250 as of May 12, 2025.
William P. Clements, Edmund J. Davis and Daniel J. Moody, Jr. are the only other governors to have vetoed more than 100 bills while in office.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
California Republicans accuse Newsom of 'sinister redistricting scheme' after Trump mockery
After California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he would move forward with a state redistricting plan – replete with implied mockery of President Donald Trump – California Republicans responded late Thursday. Newsom had declared "liberation day" – an apparent reference to Trump's own moniker for the day he introduced a comprehensive tariff regime – and preceded the announcement with "ALL CAPS" social media posts meant to mock the president's penchant for doing the same on Truth Social. California Republicans were not amused and pushed back on the project that could put an end to their already muted federal representation in America's most populous state. "Californians demand and deserve transparency from their government. Governor Newsom's sinister redistricting scheme is the opposite," the top Republican on the state's Elections Committee said. California's Top Republican Rips Dems Blocking 'Oil Goldmine' After New Trump Project Rebuffs Schiff "There is no public input," lamented state Assemblywoman Alexandra Macedo, R-Tulare, as the state hosts nine Republican federal House lawmakers of the 52 total. The state's last Republican senator was Sen. John Seymour in 1991 – who had been appointed for a brief stint after Sen. Pete Wilson resigned to take the governor's office. Read On The Fox News App Macedo suggested Newsom would go to great lengths just to grab national headlines, no matter what the "will of the voters" is in reality. "Governor Newsom is on a mission to take power away from the California Citizens Redistricting Commission," Macedo said of the panel that typically would help decide decennial mapping. "Governor Newsom's power-grab erodes public trust in our government. Undermining the commission's hard work … is shortsighted and insulting to voters," said Macedo, whose caucus holds 19 of the 60 assembly seats. Mamdani Studies 'America's Worst Mayor' Brandon Johnson To Avoid His Political Pitfalls: Report Newsom, however, defended his decision, saying that Trump "poked the bear" – the animal which also appears on the Golden State's flag – and that California will therefore push back. "DONALD 'TACO' TRUMP, AS MANY CALL HIM, 'MISSED' THE DEADLINE!!! CALIFORNIA WILL NOW DRAW NEW, MORE 'BEAUTIFUL MAPS,' THEY WILL BE HISTORIC AS THEY WILL END THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY (DEMS TAKE BACK THE HOUSE!)," Newsom wrote in his Trump-esque post. Trump has supported a "simple redrawing" of the Texas congressional map to represent the state's Republican bent, he said. "We have an opportunity in Texas to pick up five seats. We have a really good governor, and we have good people in Texas. And I won Texas, I got the highest vote in the history of Texas as you probably know. And we are entitled to five more seats," Trump recently said. Sen. Brian Jones, R-San Diego, leader of the upper chamber's minority in Sacramento, directed Fox News Digital to recent comments prior to the official announcement by Newsom. "Californians didn't elect Newsom to play gerrymandering games to boost his presidential campaign, they elected him to solve problems here at home," said Jones, who leads 10 senators compared to the Democrats' 30. "What he's doing now undermines the independent redistricting commission that voters created to stop exactly this kind of political manipulation." He also ripped Democrats after hearing that California Secretary of State Shirley Weber told reporters the legislature would have only a short window to schedule a special election for redistricting to coincide with the November elections. California lawmakers are on summer recess until Monday. The process would have to finish by next Friday; five days. "Once again, Newsom convinced Senate and Assembly Democrats to roll over, ignore voters, rush sham hearings, and violate the California Constitution," Jones said. "Democracy is dead in California, killed by Newsom's corrupt pursuit of the presidency." Fox News Digital's Paul Steinhauser contributed to this article source: California Republicans accuse Newsom of 'sinister redistricting scheme' after Trump mockery
The Hill
4 hours ago
- The Hill
Texas state senators take first step toward redistricting
State senators in Texas launched a public hearing Sunday on a bill to redraw congressional voting districts in the state, a move that could win Republicans five more seats in the House if the GOP plan works perfectly. The public hearing is a required step before a bill can advance for a vote on the state Senate floor, Nexstar's KXAN reported. Democrats fled the state earlier this summer to prevent Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Republicans from having the legislative quorum necessary to pass legislation. But Democrats are expected to attend the new special session after garnering attention with their walkout, and triggering more redistricting efforts around the country. 'We did exactly what we said we needed to do, and that is bringing a spotlight on this issue,' State Rep. Josey Garcia (D-San Antonio) said in an interview with KXAN one day before Abbott called the second special session. Most notably, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is spearheading an effort to change district lines in his state to make up for any potential losses for Democrats in Texas. Democrats released their proposed map on Friday evening. Newsom (D) is vying to hold a special election this fall on a ballot measure that would suspend the state's independent redistricting commission until the end of the decade in an effort to keep up with Republican gerrymandering. Newsom has stressed that bypassing the commission, which Californians approved back in 2008 and 2010, would be temporary, and that redrawing the lines would only be triggered by redistricting in red states. 'They do five seats, we do five seats,' Newsom has said. KXAN reported that Texas House leaders expect that the House will have enough members present Monday to conduct legislative business. GOP State Sen. Phil King told KXAN that the new mapy would be legal and will perform better for Republicans in the state. 'We heard a lot of testimony that the current map had a number of districts that were not compact, were not close together, were not tight, in in their in their design, and in this map, listening to that testimony, we applied it, and this map also is much more compact than the current congressional redistricting map.' The proposed changes target five districts in areas around Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, creating Republican-leaning seats. The Texas push was directed by President Trump, who has also been pushing other states where Republicans are in control of government to look at redistricting to gain Republicans seats. The states considering such options include Missouri and Indiana. Trump was impeached twice in his first term after Democrats regained control of the House. Because the GOP has a very narrow majority in the House and the president's party typically loses seats in the midterm elections, the possibility of Democrats regaining the House majority is a real possibility in 2026.
The Hill
4 hours ago
- The Hill
Trump ‘bela' post is new ‘covfefe,' stirs Newsom into action
A key meeting on the Russia-Ukraine war is set for Monday. Erin has been downgraded to a tropical storm but could still cause danger. But some on the internet want to know what Trump was talking about with his 'bela' post. Trump at 8:31 a.m. on Sunday posted the one-word message on his Truth Social media account. The word means beautiful in Italian if spelled with a double L, as 'bella.' Perhaps the president was looking at something, outside or on television, that sparked him to send the message. Whatever it was, it had a number of notables weighing in. Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom have been feuding, and the Democrat's press office took the occasion to argue it is winning. 'We broke Donald Trump,' Newsom's press office wrote in response to the 'bela' post. In an earlier post, Newsom's office took more shots at Trump, seemingly inviting the president into an online fight with shots at his 'tiny hands.' The Lincoln Project, the conservative group that opposes Trump and is active on social media, wrote that Trump had dropped the new 'Covfefe.' Trump, during his first term, bewildered much of the country back in 2017 with the original covfefe tweet, which was likely a typo of some sort. Back then, the president's musings on Twitter were watched by much of the country and world – perhap more avidly than now. George Conway, the frequent Trump critic, was also reminded of covfefe, writing that bela was a 'blend' of covfefe. Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), responding to the tweet, wrote 'that's what we call Comer,' apparently a reference to the chairman of the House Oversight panel, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.). Another account suggested a simple explanation. Trump was writing about Belarus, and got cut off with a typo.
