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The Legislative Process

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The beginning step of the legislative process is the introduction of a bill, a proposed law, or the establishment of a resolution which is a legislative statement of opinion on a specific matter. To introduce these bills, members of the Texas House of Representatives or the Texas Senate may formally present legislation by filing copies in their respective chamber with the secretary of the Senate or the chief clerk of the House of Representative, on the first Monday after the November general elections. After a bill has been introduced the chief clerk of the House or the secretary of the Senate assigns the measure number which indicates the order of introduction and chamber of origin. Next the Lieutenant Governor and speaker consult with the …show more content…

In the House of Representatives, measures that were recommended by a standing committee go to the Calendars Committee for assignment into a House Calendar, which sets the order of priority for legislation. Because the Senate does not have a Calendar Committee, legislation requires a two-thirds vote from the entire membership to be considers on the floor. When a bill reaches the floor in their chamber, the members begin to debate, and in some cases propose amendments. Once the legislation has received the required amount of votes, the measure is sent to the opposite chamber and again gets debated on and revised. After the bill passes the legislature, it gets passed to the governor who can choose one of three actions: sign the bill into law, deny the bill, or do nothing. If legislature is still in session when the governor denies the bill, the legislature can override the governor’s veto with a two-thirds vote from both chambers. The legislation process can be influenced by political ideology because with the support of the speaker and lieutenant governor, the chances of the measure being passed is highly

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