November 14th was the first day legislators could begin filing bills for the 88th Legislature. Compared to previous legislative sessions, the 88th has seen “a record number for the first day of the prefilling period.” View this statistic, and other information on prefilling, at the Legislative Reference Library of Texas website.
The next session convenes Tuesday, January 10, 2023. The legislature assembles for session in January of each odd-numbered year (Tex. Gov’t. Code §301.001). The public can stay attuned to developments with the help of the online tools outlined below.
How do I see what bills have been filed?
Bill Search by Texas Legislature Online offers the ability to search bills filed by legislators. You can retrieve all results for a specific session by simply hitting “Search,” without setting any parameters. Or users can search by the following:
How do I contact my legislator?
Use the “Who Represents Me?” site to find out what Texas district you live in, who your state representatives are, how to contact them, and what committees they serve. All you need is a zip code to run a search.
Texas Senate
You can email members of the Texas Senate directly from The Official Website for The Texas Senate. The member profiles include a link that can be used to e-mail your senator, a list of courtesy services that senator provides, and a quick tool that allows you to see what bills your senator has authored.
Texas House of Representatives
Members of the Texas House of Representatives may be emailed directly from the Texas House of Representatives’ website. A summary of bills authored, bills sponsored, and committee assignments may be viewed in each house member’s profile.
How can I attend a public hearing?
The house and senate committees post their schedule information online.
To attend an upcoming house committee meeting in-person, view the public access rules and information available online. If you wish to testify at a meeting, you will have to register when you arrive at the Texas Capitol. Contact the committee clerk of the committee for which you wish to testify for more information on witness registration availability. Alternatively, members of the public may submit comments electronically. Submit a comment related to an agenda item by viewing the House Public Comment form. Live broadcasts of meeting are available here.
Information about upcoming senate committee meetings is available online. View the “Notice of Assistance” for more information on attending a meeting in-person. Senate live broadcasts of meetings are available to the public. If a live broadcast cannot be provided, an audio recording will be made available and will be listed in the senate audio archive.
How can I view bills passed?
Read a copy of bills passed by the Texas Legislature at the Harris County Hainsworth Law Library. The publication General and Special Laws of the State of Texas contains updates which include current session laws (updates are mailed by the publisher). A final bound versions of General and Special Laws of the State of Texas is available sometime after the legislative session concludes.
View bills from previous legislative sessions, 1931-2009, through The Portal to Texas History. This site contains digitized copies of previously published General and Special Law of the State of Texas.