Lens on the Legislature: Resolutions

A bill is the primary means used to create and change the laws of the state and most previous Lens on the Legislature columns have dealt with bills. This week's focus is on those other filings that for the past five legislative sessions have comprised more than a third of the total.

A resolution, according to the Legislative Glossary, is a formal expression of opinion or decision, other than a proposed law, that may be offered for approval to one or both houses of the legislature by a member of the house or senate.

Over half of the resolutions that have been filed so far are congratulatory or honorary. Another 187 are memorials.

The Texas Legislative Council's Drafting Manual describes the rules for three kinds of resolutions: simple resolutions, joint resolutions and concurrent resolutions.

A simple resolution is considered only within the chamber in which it is filed and does not need gubernatorial approval. It can establish the rules of procedure, endorse a policy or action, offer a commendation or memorial, invite a distinguished guest, or a host of other things.

Examples of simple resolutions that have been introduced this session:

• HR2 provided for the election of the Speaker of the House.
• HR6 was an historic action that for the first time recognized a person to be acting for a representative who is a military reservist called to active duty.
• SR1 formalized the Senate Caucus Report.

A concurrent resolution deals with matters of interest to the whole legislature such as conveying the sentiment of the legislature, establishing joint rules of procedure, designating state symbols, requesting action by another governmental entity, or inviting distinguished speakers to address a joint session. These resolutions frequently require the governor's signature.

Examples of concurrent resolutions that have been introduced this session:

• 14 CRs urge the US Congress to take some action. For instance, HCR49 urges the US Congress to fully fund NASA's budget request for FY06.
• 31 CRs deal with legislative policy. For instance, HCR36 gives legislative authorization to a Vietnam War monument on the Capitol grounds.
• CRs have been filed designating the chuck wagon as the official vehicle of Texas , the purple sage as the official state Native Shrub of Texas, the cast iron Dutch oven as the official State cooking implement and the Yaga's Children's Fund World Championship Wild Game and BBQ Cook-off as the Official Wild Game Cook-off of Texas.

A joint resolution is used to propose amendments to the Texas Constitution (as provided for in Section 1, Article XVII of the Texas Constitution), to ratify amendments to the U.S. Constitution, or to request a convention to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution. It does not require the governor's signature, but joint resolutions proposing amendments to the Texas Constitution must be approved by the voters of Texas. Note that simple or concurrent resolutions may urge ("memorialize" in legalspeak) the US Congress to propose a constitutional amendment, since such resolutions merely express opinions.

Examples of joint resolutions that have been introduced this session:

• 76 joint resolutions propose amendments to the Texas Constitution.
• HJR 26 supports the ratification of a proposed amendment to the US Constitution providing for a balanced federal budget.

Most of the links described in previous Lens on the Legislature columns for researching bills also apply to resolutions. In fact, many of those resources use bill as a catchall term for both bills and resolutions.