The vast majority of bills don鈥檛 make it anywhere close to being signed into law. Of the more than 6,000 bills filed in both chambers last legislative session, fewer than 1 in 6 made it through, according to the Legislative Reference Library of Texas.
A number of bills introduced in the current session will advance a big step closer to the finish line this week as committees in both chambers begin holding meetings, considering the proposals within their jurisdictions.
Sergio Mart铆nez-Beltr谩n, who covers the Capitol for the Texas Newsroom, said committees will discuss and possibly amend bills before deciding whether to pass them along to the full chamber.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the important part of this committee, because they are, in a way, gatekeepers,鈥� he said. 鈥淥nce the bill is discussed in committee and it鈥檚 amended 鈥� many times these bills are amended 鈥� the committee can choose to do two things: either to do nothing, which would mean, arguably, that the bill would die there. Or you can write a report on the bill pretty much stating that the committee supports the bill and would like for the full House or the full Senate to pass it. And then the bill goes to the consideration of both chambers for a vote.鈥�
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Mart铆nez-Beltr谩n said there are a few bills going to committee this week that he finds particularly interesting.
鈥淭he Senate Committee on State Affairs will discuss a piece of legislation that would increase the penalty for illegal voting from a Class A misdemeanor to a second-degree felony,鈥� he said. 鈥淭omorrow, the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee will discuss a bill that would allow lawyers in a capital death case to ask a judge to hold a hearing to determine if the defendant has an intellectual disability 鈥� and if a judge makes that determination, under this bill, the defendant would not be able to be sentenced to death. And on Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice will discuss a joint resolution that would amend the Constitution to allow judges to deny bail for those accused of violent or sexual offenses.鈥�
Once a bill is passed through a committee, the next step is the consideration of the entire House and Senate. Mart铆nez-Beltr谩n said there are a couple of things he looks for to gauge how likely a bill is to make it to the finish line.
鈥淥ne of the things that I check is whether their proposal has any co-authors and whether there鈥檚 a companion bill in the other chamber,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f a bill was filed in the Senate, there should be a similar bill filed in the House. But besides that, I鈥檓 also paying attention to the discussion in committees about these bills. Is there any opposition in this case from the majority, the Republicans? What about the interest groups pushing for or against the measure? And also, are the bills lining up with the priorities of the House speaker and the lieutenant governor?鈥�
However, Mart铆nez-Beltr谩n clarified that just because a bill looks likely or unlikely to pass does not mean that will be the outcome.
鈥淥ne thing that I鈥檝e been told over and over by my editors is that even then, a bill is not dead until the Legislature adjourns sine die on May 29,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o there鈥檚 quite some time for things to move forward or be decided.鈥�
Mart铆nez-Beltr谩n said he has his eye on the bill that would ban the death sentence for those with intellectual disabilities and the bill covering bail reform. Both seem to have bipartisan support, he said.
鈥淏ut I think it鈥檚 too early at this point鈥� to say what will pass, he said. 鈥淎nd like I said, the language of the bill that we鈥檙e seeing now is going to be very different by the time it passes committee, and by the time it passes the House or the Senate, if it gets to that point.鈥�
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