Lens on the Legislature: Bills in Committee

Last week's Lens on the Legislature column described how to find bills by author, subject, date, and other parameters. At that time, bills had been introduced, but because committees had not yet been appointed, no bills had been referred.

Legislative committees are actually required by Article 3, Section 37 of the Texas Constitution which says no bill shall be considered, unless it has been first referred to a committee and reported thereon... Last week, the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker appointed Senate Committees and House Committees respectively. A day later, bills began to be referred.

Here are a few ways to track referrals:

• The House Journals and Senate Journals show referrals made on any particular day.
• The actions section of the Bill Status inquiry shows referrals of specific bills. A companion bill section was added to this inquiry this year, which is helpful in tracking an identical or very similar bill in the other chamber.
• The Bills In/Out of Committee inquiry shows bills that have been referred to each committee.
• Individual House and Senate Committee pages show bills that have been referred to those committees.

Committees can meet in work sessions to discuss legislation, but formal actions can only occur in public hearings or formal meetings. Senate rules and House rules dictate how public notice is given of these meetings. While a public hearing is not always required before a bill is reported from committee, they are nearly always held. Here are some ways to monitor hearing schedules:

• Upcoming House Committee Meetings and Senate Committee Meetings are listed on the legislative Web site. A similar listing for joint committee meetings is also available.
• Meetings for a specific date are listed for the House, Senate and Joint Committees
.
• Individual House and Senate Committee pages show hearing schedules with agendas and other materials for the respective committees.
• A weekly email service providing information about House Committee and Senate Committee meetings is available.
• Live Internet broadcasts are available for many House Hearings and Senate Hearings. Archives are available at those same sites.

While the preceding links were for access on the Internet, the legislature is increasing the amount of information that can be downloaded to PDA devices. For example, information about House and Senate Committees and their meeting notices is available. Additionally, technology was recently installed to allow the public to have access to wireless Internet at the capitol complex.

In addition to these online services, there is also a toll free bill status phone number (877-824-7038) that is staffed by the Legislative Reference Library and available to the public.

Finally, there are a number of good legislative references:

• How a Bill Becomes Law (Jan 05)
• How to Follow a Bill Through the Legislative Process
• Reading a Bill (Nov 04)
• House Committee Procedures (Feb 05)
• Legislative Lexicon (Nov 04)