Nominate the Legislator Who Did the Most in the 81st Session to Fleece the People of Texax

Important Dates for Texas 81st Legislative Session

By Martha Estes - May 26, 2009

Wednesday, May 27, 2009 (135th day)
Last day for house to consider local and consent senate bills on second reading or any senate bills or joint resolutions on third reading
[House Rule 8, Sec. 13(c)]

Last day for senate to consider any bills or joint resolutions on third reading
[Senate Rule 7.25]

Thursday, May 28, 2009 (136th day)
Midnight deadline for house to print and distribute senate amendments
[relates to House Rule 13, Sec. 5(a), requiring 24-hour layout of senate amendments prior to consideration]

Friday, May 29, 2009 (137th day)
Last day for house to consider senate amendments
[House Rule 8, Sec. 13(d)]

Midnight deadline for senate to print and distribute senate copies of conference committee reports on tax, general appropriations, and reapportionment bills
[relates to Senate Rule 12.09(a), requiring 48-hour layout of certain conference committee reports in regular session]

Last day for senate committees to report all bills
[relates to Senate Rule 7.24(b), but note that the 135th day (two days earlier) is the last day for third reading in the senate; practical deadline for senate committees is before the 135th day]

Saturday, May 30, 2009 (138th day)
Midnight deadline for house to print and distribute house copies of all conference committee reports
[relates to House Rule 13, Sec. 10(a), requiring 24-hour layout of all conference committee reports]

Midnight deadline for senate to print and distribute all conference committee reports on bills other than tax, general appropriations, and reapportionment bills and all house amendments to Senate bills that did not go to a conference committee
[relates to Senate Rule 12.09(b) and Senate Rule 7.21, requiring 24-hour layout of certain conference committee reports and house amendments to senate bills during the last 72 hours of a regular session]

NOTE: Date extended until midnight Sunday, May 31, 2009


Sunday, May 31, 2009 (139th day)
Last day for house to adopt conference committee reports
[House Rule 8, Sec. 13(e)]

Last day for senate to concur in house amendments or adopt conference committee reports
[relates to Senate Rule 7.25, limiting a vote on the passage of any bill during the last 24 hours of the session to correct an error in the bill]

Monday, June 1, 2009 (140th day)
Last day of 81st Regular Session; corrections only
in house and senate
[Sec. 24(b), Art. III, TexasConstitution]

Session Ends

Sunday, June 21, 2009 (20th day following final adjournment)
Last day governor can sign or veto bills passed during the
regular legislative session
[Sec. 14, Art. IV, Texas Constitution]

Monday, August 31, 2009 (91st day following final adjournment)
Date that bills without specific effective dates (that could not
be effective immediately) become law
[Sec. 39, Art. III, Texas Constitution]


Saturday, December 29, 2007

Several law changes take effect with new year

By JIM VERTUNO - The Associated Press - Sat, Dec. 29, 2007
AUSTIN -- From Texas classrooms to investment in Sudan, the new year means that new state laws and programs are going into effect.

After Tuesday, Texas teachers will be required to start submitting fingerprints for criminal background checks. Two state pension funds will be required to divest from companies doing business with the Sudanese government, and law enforcement will soon have a new tool to catch uninsured motorists.

Teacher fingerprints

In the classroom, the Texas Education Agency will begin selecting school districts at random and giving educators 80 days to be fingerprinted for criminal background checks.

Texas began requiring national criminal background checks for all teaching candidates in 2003, but that law did not apply to teachers who were already certified. Since those checks began, almost 200 candidates have been found to have serious offenses on their records.

The new law requires all certified teachers to be fingerprinted by Sept. 1, 2011. Other school employees, such as janitors and cafeteria workers, will be required to complete the process at the time of their hire.

Pension divestments

State lawmakers ordered the pension funds for retired teachers and retired state employees to divest from certain international companies doing business with Sudan.

The United States has declared the killings of more of 200,000 people in the African nation since 2003 to be genocide and has largely blamed Sudan and government-backed militias.

Supporters of the effort have said it could result in a $500 million divestment by the two funds, which are worth more than $120 billion combined.

Uninsured motorists

The Texas Department of Public Safety and state insurance officials are working on a database that will allow officers to know immediately whether a driver who's been pulled over has insurance.

Insurance companies are required to submit lists of Texas customers, with weekly updates. An estimated 15 percent to 20 percent of drivers in Texas don't have valid insurance, and drivers can be ticketed $175 to $350 the first time they're caught without a policy.

The launch of the Texas Financial Responsibility Verification program may be pushed back to February.
Read more in the Fort Worth Star Telegram
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Bills Passed into Law by the 80th Legislature

Can be found through the links on the sidebar under "80th Texas Legislature (2007) - Bills Passed by Legislature".

The sidebar contains links for:
House Bills Passed and Signed into Law by Gov. Perry
Senate Bills Passed and Signed into Law by Gov. Perry
Bills Passed by Legislature and Passed into law WITHOUT Governor's Signature
Bills Passed by Legislature but vetoed by Gov. Perry
Line Item Veto exercised by Gov. Perry


Bill Becomes Law - Governor"s Action

Except in the case of a bill sent to the governor within 10 days of final adjournment, upon receiving a bill, the governor has 10 days in which to sign the bill, veto it, or allow it to become law without a signature.

If the governor elects to veto the bill and the legislature is still in session, the bill is returned to the chamber in which it originated with an explanation of the governor’s objections.

A two-thirds majority in each chamber is required to override the veto. If the governor neither vetoes nor signs the bill within the allotted time, the bill becomes a law.

When a bill is sent to the governor within 10 days of final adjournment, the governor has until 20 days after final adjournment to sign the bill, veto it, or allow it to become law without a signature. Read more about How a Bill Becomes Law