Texas' most senior senator looks ahead at upcoming legislative session
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas lawmakers broke a record Tuesday after they submitted more than 1,500 bills at the Capitol building on the first day of prefiling before the start of the 89th legislative session in January.
As of 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, the Texas Legislature's online database showed 1,506 bills have been filed by lawmakers. The first senator to file her bills was Sen. Judith Zaffirini, a tradition she has continued for years. Her staff said interns in her office waited in line for 20 hours to make sure they were first to submit this year.
"Filing bills early demonstrates the commitment my staff and I have maintained throughout the interim to address the needs and priorities of families in Senate District 21," Zaffirini said in a news release. Zaffirini represents a district that spans from Laredo up to southern Travis County.
Zaffirini is the highest-bill passer in the state of Texas, and as a Democrat, that is no small feat in a Republican-controlled Capitol. She offered her advice for getting a bill turned into a law.
"Focus on the issue and not to be partisan when presenting a bill," Zaffirini explained.
She filed 34 bills and four joint resolutions on Tuesday. Her priorities have remained the same throughout her tenure at the Capitol. Education and health and human services remain at the top constantly, but she has adapted priorities to adjust with the times, such as focusing on energy grid reliability after the winter storm in 2021.
Education remains a priority for the senator ahead of the 89th legislative session, which is similar to Republican leadership. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick announced last week Senate Bill 2 will be the school choice legislation Republicans tried to pass during that last session.
Patrick said in a release he is hoping the governor will declare school choice as an emergency item, allowing lawmakers to attempt to pass it in the early weeks of the session.
Zaffirini has voted no on school choice legislation in the past, but is holding off on commenting on this year's legislation proposal until she sees what's in it.
"The fact of the matter is it's easy to take a position on vouchers in general, what's important is to understand the impact of vouchers, and the particular voucher bill that is being considered," Zaffirini explained.
She predicts there will be no one overarching theme in this upcoming session. Lawmakers will address a multitude of issues facing the state. Zaffirini said although there will be controversial issues that will split lawmakers down party lines, the majority of bills passed this year will be bipartisan.
"While we will disagree on many issues -- and there will be some issues that will be bipartisan and others that are partisan -- but the fact is the people who look at the results of the session will realize that most of the legislation passed by the Texas Senate is passed by bipartisan support," Zaffirini said.