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2022 Texas legislative session

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2022 Texas legislative session
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General information
Session start:    No regular legislative session.

Session end:    N/A

Leadership
Senate President
Dan Patrick (R)

House Speaker
Dade Phelan (R)
Majority Leader
Senate: N/A[1]
House: N/A[1]
Minority Leader
Senate: N/A[1]
House: N/A[1]

Elections
Next Election:    November 8, 2022

Last Election:    November 3, 2020

Previous legislative sessions
2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018
Other 2022 legislative sessions


Texas held no regular legislative session in 2022.

Leadership in 2022

Texas State Senate

Texas House of Representatives

Partisan control in 2022

See also: State government trifectas

Texas was one of 23 Republican state government trifectas at the start of 2022. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.

Texas was also one of 26 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.

The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the Texas State Legislature as of January 2022.

Texas State Senate

Party As of January 2022
     Democratic Party 13
     Republican Party 18
Total 31

Texas House of Representatives

Party As of January 2022
     Democratic Party 65
     Republican Party 85
Total 150

Standing legislative committees

See also: Standing committee and List of committees in Texas state government


A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.

At the beginning of 2022, there were 49 standing committees in Texas' state government, including zero joint legislative committees, 15 state Senate committees, and 34 state House committees.

Joint legislative committees

There are no joint committees of the Texas State Legislature.

Senate committees

  • Administration Committee
  • Business & Commerce Committee
  • Criminal Justice Committee
  • Education Committee
  • Finance Committee
  • Health & Human Services Committee
  • Jurisprudence Committee
  • Local Government Committee
  • Natural Resources and Economic Development Committee
  • Nominations Committee
  • Senate Higher Education Committee
  • Senate State Affairs Committee
  • Senate Transportation Committee
  • Veteran Affairs & Border Security Committee
  • Water, Agriculture, & Rural Affairs Committee

House committees

  • Agriculture and Livestock Committee
  • Appropriations Committee
  • Business & Industry Committee
  • Calendars Committee
  • Corrections Committee
  • County Affairs Committee
  • Criminal Jurisprudence Committee
  • Culture, Recreation, & Tourism Committee
  • Defense & Veterans' Affairs Committee
  • Elections Committee
  • Energy Resources Committee
  • Environmental Regulation Committee
  • General Investigating Committee
  • Homeland Security & Public Safety Committee
  • House Administration Committee
  • House Higher Education Committee
  • House State Affairs Committee
  • House Transportation Committee
  • Human Services Committee
  • Insurance Committee
  • International Relations & Economic Development Committee
  • Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee
  • Juvenile Justice & Family Issues Committee
  • Land & Resource Management Committee
  • Licensing & Administrative Procedures Committee
  • Local & Consent Calendars Committee
  • Natural Resources Committee
  • Pensions, Investments and Financial Services Committee
  • Public Education Committee
  • Public Health Committee
  • Redistricting Committee
  • Resolutions Calendars Committee
  • Urban Affairs Committee
  • Ways & Means Committee

Legislatively referred constitutional amendments

In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.

The methods by which the Texas Constitution can be amended:

See also: Article 17 of the Texas Constitution and Laws governing ballot measures in Texas

The Texas Constitution provides one mechanism for amending the state's constitution—legislatively referred constitutional amendments. Texas requires a simple majority vote (50% plus 1) for voters to approve constitutional amendments.

Legislature

See also: Legislatively referred constitutional amendment

According to Article 17, the state Legislature can refer constitutional amendments to the ballot for voters to decide. A two-thirds (66.67%) vote is required during one legislative session for the Texas State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 100 votes in the Texas House of Representatives and 21 votes in the Texas State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.


Historical partisan control

The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of Texas.

Texas Party Control: 1992-2025
Three years of Democratic trifectas  •  Twenty-three years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Governor D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
Senate D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
House D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R

Historical Senate control

Between 1992 and 2020, partisan control of the Texas State Senate shifted in favor of the Republican Party. As a result of the 1992 elections, Democrats held an 18-13 majority. Republicans flipped the chamber in 1996 and, by 2020, expanded their majority to 18-13. The table below shows the partisan history of the Texas State Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2020. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

Texas State Senate election results: 1992-2020

Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18 '20
Democrats 18 17 15 15 15 12 12 11 12 12 12 11 11 12 13
Republicans 13 14 16 16 16 19 19 20 19 19 19 20 20 19 18

The movement from an 18-13 Democratic majority in 1992 to a 18-13 Republican majority in 2020 was gradual. Half of the elections between 1992 and 2018 saw no change to the partisan balance of the state Senate. In years where there was a shift in balance, those shifts were minimal. Republicans made their largest gains—three seats—in the 2002 elections. The only years Democrats made gains were 2008, 2018, and 2020 picking up one seat in each year.

Historical House control

Between 1992 and 2020, partisan control of the Texas House of Representatives shifted in favor of the Republican Party. As a result of the 1992 elections, Democrats held a 91-58 majority. Republicans flipped the chamber in 2002 and, by 2020, expanded their majority to 83-67. The table below shows the partisan history of the Texas House of Representatives following every general election from 1992 to 2020. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

Texas House of Representatives election results: 1992-2020

Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18 '20
Democrats 91 89 82 79 78 62 63 69 74 51 55 52 55 67 67
Republicans 58 61 68 71 72 88 87 81 76 99 95 98 95 83 83

Republicans gained control of the state House in 2002 after gaining 16 seats. The partisan balance of the chamber moved 14 seats in favor of Republicans in the four elections leading up to the 2002 elections. Between 2002 and 2008, Democrats were able to take back 12 seats. After 2008, the chamber was nearly split at a 76-74 Republican majority. Republicans' largest gains would occur as a result of the 2010 elections, when they picked up 23 seats. Democrats gained 16 seats between 2010 and 2020.

See also

Elections Texas State Government State Legislatures State Politics
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External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 There are no official majority or minority leaders in the two chambers of the Texas State Legislature.
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