The Texas State Legislature is the legislative branch of Texas. The Texas Legislature is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. It meets every two years in regular session, starting on the second Tuesday in January of odd-numbered years, and sessions can last up to 140 days. It’s a powerful part of the Texas government because of its control over state spending, its strong connection to the lieutenant governor, and Texas’s plural executive system.[1]
In the 89th Legislature (2025), Republicans hold 88 of the 150 seats in the House and 20 of the 31 seats in the Senate.[2]
History
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Establishment
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.[1] Under the newly adopted State Constitution, the original memberships in the House was 66 members and the Senate 19 to 33 members. Neither the regular biennial session nor the special sessions of the legislature had limits in duration. In the House, leadership consisted of a Speaker of the House who was elected by and from the membership. In the Senate, the Lieutenant Governor served as President of the Senate. On occasions when the Lieutenant Governor was absent, the senators elected from their members a "president for the time being" (president pro tempore).[3][4] Like many other southern states at the time, Texas explicitly barred clergy from membership in the legislature.[5]Quorum was defined as 2/3rds of the membership, and it is only one of four states (the others being Indiana, Oregon, and Tennessee) to require a supermajority.[1][6]
Civil War and Reconstruction
Following the election of Abraham Lincoln, the Texas legislature was involved in the Secession crisis. There was a campaign for Texas to call a convention to vote on the issue, but only the Governor can call a special session of the legislature. Governor Sam Houston was a unionist and refused. Chief justice of the Texas Supreme CourtOran M. Roberts went around him and began organizing a convention. Houston called a special session in January 1861, hoping to the legislature would declare a secession convention illegal. This backfired and the legislature validated the convention and granted the use of the House of Representatives chamber for such a purpose. The Secession ordinance was overwhelmingly adopted, but unlike other southern states put the issue to a popular vote. The vote on February 23, 2861 approved secession by 44,317 to 13,020.[7] Texas began the process of joining the new Confederate States by making a new Constitution, and in doing so made all officeholders swear a loyalty oath to the Confederacy. Sam Houston refused to do so and the legislature declared the office of governor vacant, effectively removing him from office.[8]
At the conclusion of the Civil War, a new constitution was drafted in 1866. But the legislature refused to ratify the Thirteenth and Fourteenth amendments to the FederalConstitution and Congress placed the state under a military district. In 1869, a new constitution was written by Republicans and expanded the size of the legislature and moved the legislature to annual sessions. The Reconstruction amendments were adopted and Edmund J. Davis as the new governor called the legislature into session for the first time in 5 years. The state struggled during Reconstruction, Governor Davis frequently called martial law and the legislature reflected the chaotic energy and instability of the era. In 1870, the legislature passed a law postponing the date of the next election by a year in violation of the 1869 Constitution. Republican Speaker of the House Ira Evans opposed the law, and for his siding with the Democrats on the issue was removed from his speakership.[9] That same year in the Senate, a group of Democratic senators broke quorum to prevent the passage of legislation creating a state police force and expanding the Governor’s power in declaring martial law.[10][11] Several of the senators were arrested and told they could no longer vote on bills and one was expelled for allegedly resisting arrest. This led the chamber to known as the “Rump Senate”[12], a reference to the Rump Parliament of King Charles I. The senate later voted to undo this expulsion, but a special election was held to fill the seat and a replacement was sworn in.[11] This period of time also saw the first African-American members of the legislature elected. Three in the Senate and 32 in the House.[13][14]
In 1873, Richard Coke was elected governor in a controversial election and Edmund Davis refused to leave office. The State Supreme court ruled the election was unconstitutional because the polls had not been opened long enough, but the ruling was not enforced and militia removed Davis from the Capitol after a brief standoff. United States PresidentUlysses S. Grant refused to send federal troops to support Davis and Coke was sworn in as Governor.[15][16] As a white supremacist he worked to undo the changes brought by the Republicans and Reconstruction. This culminated in the Constitution of 1876, which is the current Constitution.[17]
20th Century
During the first half of the 20th century, under the new constitution the norms and traditions of the legislature began to be established. The biannual session was reinstated and the legislature grew to its current size of 150 members in the House.[1] The legislature moved into the current Capitol building in 1888.[18] In the Senate, instead of electing a president pro tempore only when the Lieutenant governor was absent, an election was held regularly at the start of every session to fill the role.[19] Dr. Read Granberry became the first the first parliamentarian of the House in 1915 and helped to develop its precedents of procedure.[20] In the House a tradition of a speaker only serving a single term became the norm in addition to a tradition that when a candidate won the speakership the other candidates would move to have the Speaker elected unanimously by the body.[21] Notable speakers during this time include Austin Milton Kennedy (1909) who was forced to resign after accusations of improper spending,[22] and Samuel T. Rayburn (1911) who would go on to become the longest serving Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.[1]
Jim Crow
With the state government “Redeemed” by the end of Reconstruction. Texas became part of the “Solid South” and moved into an era of the Democratic party leading as a single party. From 1874 to 1978 all of Texas’ statewide offices were held by Democrats. From 1881 to 1969 there was never more than a single Republican in the Senate and it wasn’t until 1973 that there were more than 10 Republicans serving in the House.[23] Due to this total domination over the political process, the Democratic Primary was effectively the only election of consequence. Like the rest of the south, Texas had also instituted legal segregation and Jim Crow laws against the African American population. Robert Lloyd Smith’s election in 1896 was the last African American to serve in the state House until 1966.[13]
Prominent practices that developed during this era to limit African American participation in the legislative process were the poll tax, literacy tests, and the White primary. Starting in 1923, the legislature passed a law that prevented black voters from participating in the primary election. As the only election of consequence this effectively disenfranchised all black voters. The legality of the white primary was challenged multiple times on constitutional grounds and it was eventually ended by the 1944 Supreme Court Case Smith v. Allwright.[24]
Mexican Americans were also the subjects of discrimination in Texas, and were often the victims of violence and lynching. This violence peaked in the 1910s during an era known as La Matanza (the massacre).[25][26] This violence was often conducted by or with the implicit consent of local government authorities, including the Texas Rangers. In 1919, state representative José Tomás Canales conducted an investigation into the Rangers in response to the Porvenir Massacre which found that up to 5,000 people had been killed by the Rangers during the decade.[27]
During the 1920s, a new iteration of the Ku Klux Klan returned to prominence in the South and found success in the state. At their height in 1922, a majority of the State Legislature were members[28] and Earle Bradford Mayfield was elected to the U.S. Senate by openly seeking the Klan’s support.[29] In 1923, there was a demonstration by robbed Klan members in the House Chamber.[30]
Progressive Era
Texas was heavily involved in the major political movements of the early 1900s such as prohibition and women’s suffrage. Texas held multiple failed referendums to attempt to pass statewide prohibition of alcohol in 1887, 1908, and 1911. The effort did eventually succeed as the state was one of the first to ratify the Eighteenth amendment in 1918 and passed a statewide prohibition law the following year. Prohibition stayed in placed in Texas until 1935.[31]
Women’s suffrage had been discussed in the state since a proposal was brought up during the writing of the 1869 state constitution. In 1915 and 1917, a majority of the state House voted in favor of expanding the right to vote but fell short of reaching the 2/3 majority needed for a constitutional amendment. In 1918 a special session was called on the issue and representative Charles B. Metcalfe introduced legislation to allow women to vote in primary elections. This legislation did not need a constitutional amendment and as such was passed. The next year Texas was one of the first states to pass the Nineteenth amendment.[32] In 1922 Edith Wilmans was the first woman elected to the Texas House and in 1927 Margie Elizabeth Neal was the first woman elected to the Senate.[33]
In 1914, James E. Ferguson used his skills as an orator to win election as governor on a populist, anti-prohibition platform.[34] He became a deeply divisive figure and legislative pro and anti-Fergusonian factions emerged. He was reelected in 1916, but soon after was impeached by the State House. He was convicted by the Senate and removed from office and barred from running in the future. He became the first official to be successfully removed in this manner. Ferguson contested his removal on the grounds that he had technically resigned prior to his conviction and as such was still eligible to run for office. His political philosophy influenced the state for decades[35] as he remained active in state politics for many years running for multiple offices including a run for President in 1920 but failing to win any. He entered the 1924 gubernatorial race, but after the state supreme court upheld his ineligibility to run for office, his wife Miriam “Ma” Ferguson ran in his place.[34] She won the race, on the campaign of getting “two governors for the price of one" and became Texas’ first female governor and the second female governor in the country.[36][37] She lost re election in 1926 to an opponent of her husband, but she was elected to a nonconsecutive second term in 1932.
Structure and operations
The Texas Legislature meets every two years, starting on the second Tuesday in January of each odd-numbered year. It is one of only four states — and the largest — that doesn’t hold annual legislative sessions.[38] During a regular session, the first 60 days are reserved for filing legislation and setting up committees. No bills can be passed during this time, unless they have been designated as an "emergency issue by the governor.[39] Regular sessions last for 140 days, technically they can be shorter but this has not occurred since 1959.[40] The governor also is the only one who can call the Legislature into special sessions. This can be at any time and can last up to 30 days. During a special session, the legislators can only work on the issues the governor orders, though the governor may add more during the session.[41]
Committees play a crucial role in the Texas Legislature. The Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor determine both the members who serve on the committees and which committees legislation is assigned to in their respective chambers, giving them significant influence over what laws advance. There are several types of committees: standing committees handle bills related to specific topics, special committees focus on temporary or unusual issues, and conference committees resolve differences between House and Senate versions of a bill. By reviewing, amending, and voting on bills, committees shape the legislative process and help determine which proposals reach the full chamber. Most bills filed do not receive a vote on the floor, let alone pass; this is either due to them not making it out of the committees or by missing a one of several legislative deadlines.[39][42]
Most bills take effect 90 days after passage, but the Legislature can vote to make them effective sooner if two-thirds of both chambers agree. The Legislature may provide for an effective date that is after the 90th day. Most bills are set to take effect on September 1 in odd-numbered years, which marks the start of Texas’ fiscal year.[43]
Many bills can be pre-filed before a session begins, with lower numbers reserved for high-priority bills like HB1 and SB1, which are each chamber’s version of the state budget.[44][45][46]
The governor can veto legislation. During a session, the governor has ten days to veto a bill. After a session ends that deadline extends to 20 days. The governor, unlike the U.S. President, also has the power of a line item veto for appropriations. Two-thirds of the legislature can vote to over turn a veto, but since most vetoes are issued after the legislature has adjourned this rarely occurs.[47][39]
Qualifications for service
The Texas Constitution sets the qualifications for election to each house as follows:[48]
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.
Representatives are elected for two-year terms. Elections are held in even-numbered years.[49]
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.[50]
Salary of legislative officials
Legislators earn $600 per month, plus $221 per day while in session which totals about $38,140 for a regular 140-day session and $45,340 over a two-year term.[50][51] They qualify for a pension after eight years of service, starting at age 60.[52]
House Districts and Party Affiliation after the 2024 election
Republican Party
Democratic Party
Support agencies
The Texas Legislature oversees five support agencies that operate within the legislative branch. These agencies are:
• Texas Legislative Budget Board
• Texas Legislative Council
• Texas Legislative Reference Library
• Texas State Auditor
• Texas Sunset Advisory Commission
Scandals
In 1971, Houston banker Frank Sharp and his companies gave $600,000 in loans to state officials, who then bought stock in National Bankers Life to resell at a large profit. Many statewide office holders and members of the legislature were implicated. House Speaker Gus Mutscher Jr. and a few other legislators were fined and placed 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 scandal also led to the introduction of stricter campaign finance laws and open record requirements in Texas. The incident led to the introduction of several campaign finance and open records reforms.
In 1989, Lonnie “Bo” Pilgrim, co-founder of Pilgrim’s Pride, entered the Texas Senate and gave $10,000 checks to nine state senators just two days before a vote on major changes to the state workers’ compensation system. Pilgrim said the checks were campaign contributions, not bribery, even though he opposed the bill.[53] The episode was called "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 found that Slaton gave alcohol to a 19-year-old aide before the two had sexual relations at his Austin apartment.[54] The committee, composed of three Republicans and two Democrats, unanimously recommended Slaton's expulsion from the House.[55] Slaton resigned on May 8, 2023, but would have continued receiving his salary and per diem under Texas law unless he was expelled. On May 9, 2023, the House expelled Slaton by a vote of 147–0.[56] This marked the first time a Texas House member had been expelled since 1927. It highlighted issues around workplace conduct and ethics in the state legislature, leading to renewed calls for stricter rules and oversight.[57]
↑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, [1] (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").
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").
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