At long last, the deadline to file bills in the Texas Legislature has passed
AUSTIN — As the sun started to set in Austin on Friday, lawmakers were still scrambling to file bills at the Capitol, submitting last-minute legislation that would exempt breastfeeding moms from jury duty, require universities to put cats and dogs used in research up for adoption and create a system that would let Texans send a text to 911.
Friday was the 60th day of the session and the last day lawmakers could file legislation. Most of the blockbuster bills of the session have been filed — bathrooms, sanctuary cities, the state's foster care system — but even more slipped into the system Friday: nearly 900.
These late additions pushed up the total count of bills and resolutions in the both chambers, with more than 5,200 bills and resolutions in the House and 2,700 in the Senate.
In 2015, during the last legislative session, 8,094 bills and resolutions were filed in the House and 3,262 in the Senate. On bill filing deadline in 2015, lawmakers got 928 bills into the system.
Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas-legislature/2017/03/10/long-last-deadline-file-bills-texas-legislature-passed