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Watched the Senate floor action for a little while.

Watched the House floor action for a little while:

Watched the Senate Committee on State Affairs for a little while:

Hope tomorrow is more interesting.

DOH! Missed the first 30 min.

Well, it seems the Senate if finally getting off top dead center.

Both SB11 & SB17 are on today's Senate Regular Order of Business for the second reading, starting at 2:00 pm.

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/ ... 150309.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ruark, don't look at me! I've never before been a position to watch daily of the House & Senate Floor proceedings. But one thing for sure.....

I hope that they are all but finished on congratulating alllll the colleges, counties, municipalities, etc, etc ad infinitum so we can get to the business of the much needed legislation they are there for!

Me too! Thanks Tim!

Hopefully they are nearing the end of the recognition/acknowledging/congratulating/celebrating/welcoming, etc,etc,etc ad nauseum events and get on to "legislation".

mojo84 wrote:Another long productive day completed by the Texas State senate.

Much to do about nothing. Maybe tomorrow. Same bat time....same bat channel.

It's a noble endeavor to honor and/or recognize everything under the sun. It sure takes up precious Senate time. Could this be some sort of "backdoor veiled attempt at a filibuster" to prevent needed legislation presented and debated on the floor?

Ruark wrote:

joe817 wrote:My screen froze at 1:26:51. (sigh). Even tried rebooting. Anyone else having screen freezes?

Mine kept freezing in Firefox and Chrome, but it works fine in Internet Explorer. I never use IE, normally, but sometimes it's a good standby.

Thanks for the tip! Gonna try that.

My screen froze at 1:26:51. (sigh). Even tried rebooting. Anyone else having screen freezes?

The Texas Senate IS broadcasting today. At 10:55am they started.

SB11 & SB17 were on the intent calendar for today. But I saw/heard no such mention of either bill.

In reading the "Senate Journal" for today( http://www.journals.senate.state.tx.us/ ... 2-23-F.HTM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; )

The Senate adjourned, and was to continue taking up today's business(I assume) tomorrow Tuesday the 24th:

"MOTION TO ADJOURN
On motion of Senator Whitmire and by unanimous consent, the Senate at 2:37 p.m. agreed to adjourn, upon completion of the introduction of bills and resolutions on first reading, until 11:00 a.m. tomorrow."

At the end of the Senate Journal:

"ADJOURNMENT
Pursuant to a previously adopted motion, the Senate at 2:48 p.m. adjourned until 11:00 a.m. tomorrow."

Sooooooo, the question is, will the 2 bills be talked about tomorrow, as it was not brought up today(they were on the intent calendar for today after all)? Or is that just wishful thinking on my part?

It looks like the Senate Chamber proceedings regarding SB17 WILL be televised today, starting at 2:00PM.

http://www.senate.state.tx.us/bin/live.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This should be interesting, as I have no idea what to expect.

I'd kind of like to know what happens tomorrow. In reading "How a Bill Becomes Law"(from Texas Legislature Online), it says on P.5:

"During a regular session, the senate rules further require the publication of an Intent Calendar listing the bills for which authors and sponsors will make motions to suspend the regular order of business for consideration by the full senate."

Continuing on: "Intent calendar. Senate rules require that bills and resolutions be listed on the regular order
of business and be considered on second reading in the order in which committee reports
on the measures are submitted to the senate.".........."The list, called the Intent Calendar, must
be made available to each senator and to the press not later than 6:30 p.m. on the day the
notice is filed. No bill or resolution may be considered on its first day on the Intent Calendar
before the 130th calendar day of the regular session, and a vote of two-thirds of the senators'
present is required before any of the measures listed on the Intent Calendar may be debated."

..."Although the Texas Constitution requires a bill to be read on three separate legislative days in each chamber before it can have the force of law, this constitutional rule may be suspended by a four-fifths vote of the members present from the chamber in which the bill is pending. In such cases, the bill is given an immediate third reading following the vote to pass the bill to engrossment or third reading. The senate routinely suspends the constitutional provision in order to give a bill an immediate third reading. After a bill has been read a third time, a vote is taken for final passage. When the bill is passed in the originating chamber, the bill is engrossed (all corrections and amendments are incorporated into it), and an exact and accurate copy of the engrossed bill is prepared and sent to the opposite chamber for consideration."

Note: I've edited out a lot of passages in trying to get an overview of the process. I hope you find it educational as I did. After all that said, I go back to my original question: I wonder what happens tomorrow and will it be televised? Reading through this stuff makes me feel like

TexasCajun wrote:

joe817 wrote:Thank you K5GU, it was very helpful.

I've learned that both SB11 & SB17 have been put on the Senate calendar for Monday Feb. 25, 2015.

Monday, the 23rd.

According to the bill alerts both bills are scheduled for the Senate floor with amendments. Anybody know what those amendments are?

Arrrgggghhhh! You are correct Texas Cajun! I need to get my eyes checked. Thanks for pointing that out.