Thousands of bills filed every Texas legislative session but few become a law

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- More than 1,300 bills have already been introduced ahead of the Texas legislative session that doesn't begin until Jan. 12.

But history shows many of them will never become law.

During the last regular legislative session in 2025, more than 8,700 House and Senate bills were introduced.

Only about 1,200 became law, a success rate below 15%.

Former Texas State Representative and Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said the process is built to move slowly on purpose.

"The process itself is designed to weed out bad ideas," Emmett said. "It's made to be thoughtful. It's what I would say as a former legislator: you don't want just anything immediately on a whim getting passed."

A bill that is introduced can go through multiple hearings, readings, committee reviews, rewrites, and more.

Even a rare bill that makes it out of the legislature can still be vetoed by the governor.

"There's an old saying: watching laws get passed is like watching sausage get made," Emmett said. "And there's a lot of truth to that."