Texas Legislature

For the building, see Texas State Capitol.

Texas State Legislature
Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	Senate House of Representatives
History
Founded	May 13, 1846 (1846-05-13)
Preceded by	Congress of the Republic of Texas (1836–1845)
Leadership
Senate President	Dan Patrick (R) since January 20, 2015
Senate President pro tempore	Charles Perry (R) since June 2, 2025
House Speaker	Dustin Burrows (R) since January 14, 2025
Speaker Pro Tempore	Joe Moody (D) since February 13, 2025
Structure
Seats	181 31 Senators 150 Representatives
Senate political groups	Republican  (20)    Democratic  (11)
House political groups	Republican (88)   Democratic (62)
Elections
Last Senate election	November 5, 2024
Last House election	November 5, 2024
Meeting place
Texas State Capitol Austin
Website
https://capitol.texas.gov

The Texas State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful arm of the Texas government not only because of its power of the purse to control and direct the activities of state government and the strong constitutional connections between it and the lieutenant governor of Texas, but also due to Texas's plural executive.

The Legislature is the constitutional successor of the Congress of the Republic of Texas since Texas's 1845 entrance into the Union. The Legislature held its first regular session from February 16 to May 13, 1846.

Structure and operations

The Texas Legislature meets in regular session on the second Tuesday in January of each odd-numbered year, ^[1] one of only four states (and by far the largest) not to hold annual sessions. The Texas Constitution limits the regular session to 140 calendar days. The lieutenant governor, elected statewide separately from the governor, presides over the Senate, while the Speaker of the House is elected from that body by its members. Both have wide latitude in choosing committee membership in their respective houses and have a large impact on lawmaking in the state.

Only the governor may call the Legislature into special sessions, unlike other states where the legislature may call itself into session. The governor may call as many sessions as desired. For example, Governor Rick Perry called three consecutive sessions to address the 2003 Texas congressional redistricting. The Texas Constitution limits the duration of each special session to 30 days; lawmakers may consider only those issues designated by the governor in his "call," or proclamation convening the special session (though other issues may be added by the Governor during a session).

Any bill passed by the Legislature takes effect 90 days after its passage unless two-thirds of each house votes to give the bill either immediate effect or earlier effect. The Legislature may provide for an effective date that is after the 90th day. Under current legislative practice, most bills are given an effective date of September 1 in odd-numbered years (September 1 is the start of the state's fiscal year). Bills can (and many are) pre-filed before the start of a session: for regular sessions the lower numbers are reserved for bills with high priority by Legislative leadership (with HB1 and SB1 specifically reserved for each chamber's version of the General Appropriations Act, the state's budget and spending authority).

As of 2025, a majority of the members of each chamber are members of the Republican Party.

Qualifications for service

The Texas Constitution sets the qualifications for election to each house as follows: ^[2]

• A senator must be at least 26 years of age, a resident of Texas for five years prior to election and a resident of the district from which elected one year prior to election. Each senator serves a four-year term and one-half of the Senate membership is elected every two years in even-numbered years, with the exception that all the Senate seats are up for election for the first legislature following the decennial census in order to reflect the newly redrawn districts (this takes place in years ending in "2"). After the initial election, the Senate is divided by lot into two classes, with one class having a re-election after two years and the other having a re-election after four years.
• A representative must be at least 21 years of age, a citizen of Texas for two years prior to election and a resident of the district from which elected one year prior to election. They are elected for two-year terms, running for re-election in even-numbered years. ^[3]
• Neither may, for the time they were originally elected, hold any civil office under the State that was created during that term, nor for any such office whose compensation was increased during such time. Furthermore, judges (and their clerks) and any person holding a "lucrative office" under the United States, this State or a foreign government, cannot, while remaining in those offices, be a member of the Legislature; tax collectors and those entrusted with public money must receive a discharge for those funds before they are eligible to the Legislature. ^[4]

Salary of legislative officials

State legislators in Texas make $600 per month, or $7,200 per year, plus a per diem of $221 for every day the Legislature is in session (also including any special sessions). That adds up to $38,140 a year for a regular session (140 days), with the total pay for a two-year term being $45,340. ^{[5] [6]} Legislators receive a pension after eight years of service, starting at age 60. ^[7]

Makeup

Senate

Seal of the Texas State Senate

Main article: Texas Senate

Affiliation		Members
	Republican Party	20
	Democratic Party	11
Total		31

Senate Districts and Party Affiliation after the 2024 election

  Republican Party

  Democratic Party

House of Representatives

Seal of the Texas House of Representatives

Main article: Texas House of Representatives

Affiliation		Members
	Republican Party	88
	Democratic Party	62
Total		150

House Districts and Party Affiliation after the 2024 election

  Republican Party

  Democratic Party

Support agencies

The Texas Legislature has five support agencies that are within the legislative branch of state government.

Those five agencies are as follows:

• Texas Legislative Budget Board
• Texas Legislative Council
• Texas Legislative Reference Library
• Texas State Auditor
• Texas Sunset Advisory Commission

Scandals

• In 1971, it was revealed that Houston banker and insurance company manager Frank Sharp and his companies granted $600,000 in loans from his bank to state officials who would, in turn, purchase stock in National Bankers Life, to be resold later at a huge profit. Many statewide office holders and members of the legislature were implicated. House Speaker Gus Mutscher Jr. along with a handful of other legislators would be fined and put on probation. While most of those involved did not face legal punishments, many were voted out of office due to their connection to the scandal. The incident led to the introduction of many campaign finance and open record reforms.
  Main article: Sharpstown scandal
• In 1989, Lonnie "Bo" Pilgrim, co-founder of the chicken production company Pilgrim's Pride entered the Texas Senate and handed out $10,000 US checks to nine of the state senators two days before the body was scheduled to vote on a bill to make major changes to the state workers' compensation system. Pilgrim was not a supporter of the bill, and defended his actions by saying the checks were campaign contributions, not an attempt at bribery. ^[8] The episode was dubbed "Chickengate" and led to changes in the state's ethics laws.
• On April 10, 2023, a complaint against Republican Rep. Bryan Slaton was made public, alleging that Slaton had an "inappropriate relationship" with an intern. The Texas House General Investigating Committee investigated the alleged incident, and found that Slaton had provided alcohol to a 19-year old legislative aide before the two had sexual relations at Slaton's apartment in Austin. ^[9] The committee, composed of three Republicans and two Democrats, unanimously recommended Slaton's expulsion from the House. Slaton resigned from the House on May 8, 2023, but unless expelled he would have been entitled to his salary and per diem under Texas law until a successor was elected. On May 9, 2023, the House expelled Slaton by a vote of 147–0. ^[10]

See also

• Texas portal

• 2019 Texas property tax reform
• Sunset Advisory Commission
• List of Texas state legislatures

References

1. Texas Government Code 301.001
2. "Qualifications for Office". Sos.state.tx.us. Archived from the original on February 7, 2004. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
3. Texas House of Representatives – Frequently Asked Questions
4. "The Texas Constitution Article 3. Legislative Department". statutes.capitol.texas.gov. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
5. "The Texas Constitution Article 3. Legislative Department". Statutes.legis.state.tx.us. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
6. "Chapter 50, Ethics Commission Rules". Ethics.state.tx.us. Archived from the original on June 14, 2013. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
7. "Legislators With Benefits, Even When They Stray". The New York Times . April 12, 2012. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
8. "Texas Businessman Hands Out $10,000 Checks in State Senate (Published 1989)". July 9, 1989. Retrieved August 30, 2025.
9. Svitek, Zach Despart, James Barragán and Patrick (April 10, 2023). "Complaint alleges Rep. Bryan Slaton had "inappropriate relationship" with an intern". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
10. Downen, Robert (May 9, 2023). "Texas House expels Bryan Slaton, first member ousted since 1927". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved May 31, 2023.

Further reading

• "Citizen Handbook". The Senate of Texas. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
• Texas Legislature from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 13 April 2005.
• Stanley K. Young, Texas Legislative Handbook (1973).
• Univ. of Tex., The Legislative Branch in Texas Politics, (last accessed Oct. 8, 2006) (stating that "The Texas Legislature is the most powerful of the three main branches of government[,]" primarily because it is "less weak than the other branches").
• See also: Texas Government Newsletter

External links

• Texas Legislature Online
• Texas House of Representatives
• Texas Senate
• Open Government Texas from the Sunlight Foundation
• Texas at Project Vote Smart
• Texas Politics – The Legislative Branch
• Texas Government Newsletter and Voter's Guide to the Texas Legislature
• Billhop – Texas Legislative Wiki