Nov. 14 was the first day of bill prefiling for Texas' upcoming 88th Legislative Session, and 921 bills and resolutions were filed (646 House bills and 198 Senate bills).
The National Conference of State Legislatures says prefiling is when legislators file bills and resolutions before the regular session begins. Prefiling allows more time for drafting legislation and for leadership to review bills before they get referred to committees.
House bills 1-20, House Bill 200, and Senate bills 1-30 are reserved. It is customary to secure lower-numbered bills for leadership priority legislation.
The number of first-day filings is 381 more bills and resolutions filed on the first day of filing for the 87th session. That session saw the filing of 10,000 bills and resolutions.
In comparison to previous legislative sessions:
- 465 bills and resolutions (286 House bills and 139 Senate bills) were filed on the first day of prefiling for the 86th Session
- 525 bills and resolutions (292 House bills and 194 Senate bills) on the first day of the 85th Session
Bill filing continues for the 88th Session until March 10, 2023. For more information, the TLO captures legislative statistics here.
Key Dates
Texas' 88th Legislative Session begins on Jan. 10, 2023. Sine die, or adjournment, is May 29, 2023.