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March 16, 2001
Legislature nears halfway mark...
The 77th Legislature reached a major milestone recently. Capitol observers know it as the "60th day."
On March 9, the session concluded the first 60 days of its 140-day calendar. At this point, Legislators, lobbyists, and all interested parties are just a few strides from being halfway through a session that starts out as a marathon but quickly turns into a sprint. The date offers everyone a mark on the track to check their pace, size-up their competitors, and plan for the home stretch.
This is definitely true for all of us in Texas Farm Bureau's legislative department. The 60th day is significant because it represents the procedural deadline for House members and senators to introduce bills on any subject. After 60 days, the introduction of any bill other than a local bill, or a bill related to an emergency declared by the governor, requires the consent of at least four-fifths of the members present and voting in the House or four-fifths of the membership in the Senate. Although much work and legislative maneuvering lies ahead, the basic ingredients of the session are known following the filing deadline.
Not surprisingly, the week of filing deadline is a mad scramble. The week of March 5-9 produced nearly 2,500 bills this session. A time span representing 1/12th of the overall filing period generated over 1/3 of the session's total bills.
Thanks to modern legislative tracking services and computers, though, we are able to sift through all of the filings to find those bills of interest to our organization. But even one of the most modern and sophisticated legislative tracking services issued a disclaimer to its subscribers at the beginning of the week asking for patience and understanding. The bills are coming too fast, it said, for all of the information on the legislation to be posted in a timely manner—please check back during the weekend.
A check of our pace indicates a very active session thus far. TFB is monitoring over 400 individual bills. Speculation during the interim that this session would be a "rural session" has indeed proven true.
A greater emphasis by key House and Senate leaders on improving rural economic development, rural health care, and addressing rural infrastructure needs has spawned dozens of bills. Many of these initiatives are quite substantive. They're not tweaks around the edges of a larger issue. These bills strike at the heart of the problem by advocating significant changes in public policy.
We heard during the months leading up to the session that 87 percent of Texas residents now live in the state's seven largest metropolitan areas. And that this session, more than ever, was the time for key rural legislative leaders to flex their muscle of seniority and committee leadership in advance of redistricting.
Without a doubt, this influence is happening. We see it and hear it every day in the hallways and in the committee rooms of the Capitol. Check out the progress of these important "rural" bills on our TFB website at www.txfb.org. Click on the most recent "Austin Newsletter" for our most complete legislative update.
We're excited about the prospects for a successful 77th Legislature for rural Texas and for Texas Farm Bureau. Thank you for the opportunity and privilege of representing your organization's interests.
The TFB Legislative staff may be reached at 512/472-8288.
