Texas legislative sessions run for 140 days every other year, convening on the second Tuesday in January of odd-numbered years. Between those regular sessions, the governor can call the Legislature back for special sessions of up to 30 days each, with no limit on how many can be called in a row. Everything the Legislature does, from passing the two-year budget to confirming appointees, has to fit inside those windows.
When the Regular Session Meets
Article 3, Section 5 of the Texas Constitution requires the Legislature to meet every two years at a time set by law.1Justia Law. Texas Constitution Art 3 – Sec 5 That time is the second Tuesday in January of odd-numbered years. The 89th Legislature, for instance, convened on January 14, 2025, with sine die set for June 2, 2025.2Texas Legislative Council. 89th Legislature – Deadline Action Calendar
The 140-day limit is constitutional. The Legislature cannot extend it on its own. Inside that window, both chambers have to file and consider thousands of bills, write a two-year state budget, and clear the governor’s appointees through the Senate. The pace in the final weeks is intense by design: anything that hasn’t passed both chambers by day 140 dies, and a sponsor who wants to try again has to refile from scratch two years later.
The Three Phases Inside 140 Days
Article 3, Section 5(b) splits the session into three stretches, each with its own purpose.1Justia Law. Texas Constitution Art 3 – Sec 5
- First 30 days: members file bills and resolutions, the Senate considers the governor’s recess appointees, and the Legislature handles emergency appropriations.
- Next 30 days: committees in both chambers hold hearings on pending bills. Most public testimony happens here, and most bills are refined, amended, or killed in committee.
- Final 80 days: floor votes on bills that survived committee, with conference committees reconciling House and Senate versions before final passage.
Two things can override that phased schedule. The governor can designate a bill as an emergency item, which lets the Legislature introduce, hear, and vote on it during the first 60 days without waiting.1Justia Law. Texas Constitution Art 3 – Sec 5 Either chamber can also set the phased calendar aside by a four-fifths vote of its members, though that threshold is high and rarely cleared.
Special Sessions
When urgent business comes up between regular sessions, or the regular session ends with a priority unfinished, the governor can call the Legislature back. Article 4, Section 8 of the Texas Constitution gives this power exclusively to the governor. No legislator, no committee, and no other official can force one to occur.3State of Texas. Texas Constitution Article 4 – Executive Department
Each special session is capped at 30 days. There’s no cap on how many the governor can call back to back. If a 30-day session expires with work undone, a new one can start immediately.
The governor also decides what the Legislature can work on. A formal proclamation known as “the call” lists the subjects open for legislation, and bills outside those subjects cannot become law. The constitution lets the governor add new subjects during the session by submitting them to the Legislature, so the agenda can grow across the 30 days.3State of Texas. Texas Constitution Article 4 – Executive Department Members can still pass internal resolutions on other topics, but binding legislation outside the call’s scope will not stand.
Sine Die and What Happens to Unfinished Bills
“Sine die” is Latin for “without day.” It marks the moment the Legislature’s lawmaking authority ends for that session: the 140th day of a regular session, the 30th day of a special. Once the presiding officers gavel out, no further votes can be taken.
Any bill that hasn’t received final approval from both chambers by sine die is finished. There’s no queue, no carryover, no revival. If the sponsor wants to try again, the bill has to be refiled as new legislation in the next session. The deadline action calendar published by the Texas Legislative Council sets the internal cutoffs leading up to sine die, including the last day for committee reports, second and third readings, and conference committee reports.2Texas Legislative Council. 89th Legislature – Deadline Action Calendar Most bills that die do so at one of those internal deadlines, well before the final gavel.
After Adjournment: Vetoes and Effective Dates
Passing both chambers doesn’t make a bill law. Every bill goes to the governor, who can sign it, veto it, or let it become law without a signature.
Veto Timing Changes at Adjournment
While the Legislature is still in session, the governor has 10 days (Sundays excluded) to act on a bill. Signing it makes it law. A veto returns the bill to its originating chamber with written objections, and the Legislature can override by a two-thirds vote of the members present in each chamber.4Justia Law. Texas Constitution Art 4 – Sec 14 Inaction for 10 days makes the bill law automatically.
Once the Legislature adjourns, the window stretches to 20 days, and the governor files any objections with the Secretary of State along with a public proclamation. Because members have gone home, there’s no practical override opportunity for post-adjournment vetoes, which is where most vetoes actually happen.4Justia Law. Texas Constitution Art 4 – Sec 14
Line-Item Veto on Appropriations
On spending bills, the governor can strike individual items while signing the rest into law, listing the vetoed items in a statement appended to the bill. If the Legislature is still in session, each struck item goes back for separate reconsideration and can be restored by a two-thirds vote of the members present in both chambers.4Justia Law. Texas Constitution Art 4 – Sec 14
When New Laws Actually Take Effect
A signature is not the start date. Article 3, Section 39 of the Texas Constitution sets a default effective date of 90 days after the session adjourns.5Justia Law. Texas Constitution Art 3 – Sec 39 The general appropriations act is the exception and takes effect immediately. For any other bill to take effect sooner than 90 days, the Legislature has to include an emergency provision and pass it with a two-thirds vote of all elected members in each chamber, recorded by name in the journals. Many bills simply specify September 1 as their effective date, which usually falls after the 90-day window following a regular session.
How to Follow a Session or Testify
Texas Legislature Online, at capitol.texas.gov, is the main tool for tracking what’s happening. You can search for bills by number, subject, or keyword, pull up a bill’s status and full legislative history, and set email alerts that notify you when a bill moves.6Texas Legislature. How to Follow A Bill Using TLO Committee notices, chamber calendars, and live webcasts of floor proceedings run through the same site.
If you want to testify at a committee hearing, you’ll register as a witness before the hearing starts; the House uses an online system available at Capitol kiosks and on its website, and the Senate uses paper witness cards at the hearing room. You’ll need the bill number, the hearing’s time and location, and whether you’re appearing for, against, or as a neutral resource. Written testimony can also be submitted. Most committee hearings are open to the public and webcast live, so you can follow proceedings without traveling to Austin.