Who’s actually passing laws at the Texas Capitol?

From The Texas Newsroom:

It’s been a month since the Texas Legislature adjourned and The Texas Newsroom has crunched the numbers to see which lawmakers were most successful at getting bills they authored signed into law.

After Gov. Greg Abbott’s window for vetoes ended we ran the numbers for all 150 House members and 31 state senators. We looked at how many bills each lawmaker filed as its primary author, which means they were the first and original legislator to propose that bill. Then, we checked how many of those bills did — or will soon — become law. And based on that, we calculated their success rate.

The data reveals that success under the Capitol dome follows a familiar playbook, and it’s not just about who files the most proposals.

There are a few facts to keep in mind. First, Republicans outnumber Democrats in both the Senate and the House so their bills, assuming they follow GOP priorities, will have a better chance.

Second, passing bills is only one part of a lawmaker’s job. They also help constituents access state agencies or resources, direct budget money to their home districts or investigate special issues.

But passing bills is a key tactic at lawmakers’ disposal. There were 8,719 bills filed in the regular session this spring and only 1,187 became law. They can cover major programs or minor issues. Here’s a look at how lawmakers work the system.

Power, proximity, and position

Counting the number of bills passed is the simplest way to track legislative effectiveness. But according to University of Houston political scientist Brandon Rottinghaus, the lawmakers who pass the most bills tend to have power and connections on their side.

“Proximity to power matters,” Rottinghaus said. “If you’re chairing an influential committee and aligned with House leadership, your chances of getting things passed go way up.”

Chairman Giovanni Capriglione, right, and Committee Clerk Katy Aldredge, left, listen to testimony during a public hearing for the Committee on Delivery of Government Efficiency on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, at the Texas State Capitol Building in Austin, Texas. Michael Minasi / KUT News

That describes Southlake Republican Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, who tied for the highest number of bills passed in the House this session, with 22 measures becoming law. He also led the newly created Committee on Delivery of Government Efficiency or DOGE.

Many of Capriglione’s bills went through the committee he chaired, several of them dealing with reporting requirements, and regulation.

Over in the Senate, the trend held. Houston Republican Sen. Joan Huffman, who chairs the critical Finance Committee, passed 26 of her 53 bills, the highest total of any senator and a success rate of nearly 50%.

Like Caprigilione, many of Huffman’s 26 bills went through the committee she chaired. Legislation like the budget, creation of the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, and the bill giving more money to the program that provides incentives for the production of TV shows and movies in Texas.

Joshua Blank, a political scientist at UT Austin, says that level of success is typical when a lawmaker runs such a prominent committee.

“In finance, no bill comes up for a vote without a pretty clear idea of how it’ll turn out,” Blank said. “Most of the negotiating is done before the public hearing.”

For all the debate that takes place in the Capitol, lawmakers usually know how they’re voting before it takes place. That takes convincing by the bill sponsor or a nudge from the leadership.

Seniority matters — a lot

But power alone isn’t the only factor. Alison Craig, a UT Austin American politics professor, points out that seniority often plays a significant role.

Senator Judith Zaffirini of the Texas State Senate on the opening day of the third Special Session of the 87th Legislative Session at the Texas State Capitol on Sep. 20, 2021.

“Lawmakers with more years in office tend to be more effective, even beyond their committee roles,” Craig said.

That’s certainly true for Democratic Sen. Judith Zaffirini, the longest-serving woman in the Texas Legislature, who’s been representing Laredo since 1987.

Her decades of experience helped her pass more bills than any other lawmaker this session, despite being in the minority party. Several of them dealt with licensing and regulation for different professions.

Party leaders often decide ahead of time what they want to pass in the session, like the new school vouchers plan or the bill to address the booming sales of THC products. They’ll make sure those bills get on the agenda and tell their members what should get a thumbs up or down. They often repay the loyalty with good committee seats or support during elections.

Less is often more

For lawmakers without seniority or committee power, there’s still a strategy to winning: Don’t file too many bills, even if it might look good to voters.

Blank says members who limit the number of proposals they introduce often have better odds.

“There’s probably a sweet spot in terms of the number of bills someone files and actually maximizing their success rate,” Blank said. “If a member has 80 bills, it’s very unlikely they can give time and attention to all 80 of those bills. But if that member has a couple dozen bills, it’s much more likely that they’re going to be able to focus on that.”

Going beyond the bill count

When it comes to evaluating which lawmakers are truly effective, it’s not just about volume. Power, experience, relationships, and strategic planning all help separate those who actually shape Texas law — and those who just fill up the docket.

Some lawmakers say success isn’t measured by what reaches the governor’s desk, but by influence, messaging, and behind-the-scenes negotiations.

Take Midlothian Republican Rep. Brian Harrison. He filed 66 bills this session. None became law. Yet he’s unfazed.

“I’m probably one of, if not the most effective member of the Texas Legislature,” Harrison said.

The power of the platform

For Harrison, effectiveness means using his platform to push conservative priorities outside of the formal legislative process. He points to his role in influencing universities and state agencies.

“I led the charge to get Texas A&M to end their LGBTQ studies minor,” he said. “I’ve lost track of how many state agencies I’ve forced to remove DEI from their websites and their strategic plans.”

These moves have had support from other Republicans in Texas and in other states, not just Harrison. But he’s defined himself on those issues. When asked why none of his bills passed, Harrison blamed Republican House leadership, particularly Speaker Pro Tem Dustin Burrows.

“People hear that Republicans have a majority — and yeah, we do — but conservatives don’t.”

Burrows told The Texas Newsroom, “If a member is serious about governing and ready to do the work, they’ll have a voice at the table.”

“The House can’t be viewed purely through a partisan lens,” Burrows said.

Alison Craig credits Harrison’s lack of success in passing bills to the type they propose.

“If your ideological messaging as a very conservative member is not aligned with the ideological message that your party leader wants to advance that session, then they’re not going to consider your bills, even if you’re in the majority,” Craig said.

Dallas Democratic Rep. John Bryant, who also passed zero bills, takes a similar stance, albeit from the opposite side of the aisle. He says his proposals were never expected to pass in a Republican-controlled chamber, but were designed to send a message about Democratic priorities.

“I introduced those bills because they’re important to me and I wanted to communicate: if I were in charge, this is what would pass,” Bryant said.

“I was so concerned about Trump and Abbott and the authoritarian direction of things,” he said, who came back to the Legislature after 14 years in Congress. “It seemed to me that the Democratic Caucus needed more members committed to fighting the Republican agenda in a unified and meaningful way.”

Political scientist Rottinghaus describes this approach as filing “messaging bills” — legislation introduced not with the expectation of passage, but to stake out political ground or create talking points for future elections.

“The goal is not necessarily to get the bills passed and to the governor’s desk,” Rottinghaus said, “but rather to have a political talking point they can use electorally or within their party.”

The power of killing — or amending — bills

Beyond messaging, Democrats often exercise power by trying to kill bills — a method the system favors over passing bills.

“The process makes it easier to kill a bill than to pass one,” Rottinghaus said. “Democrats can use their leverage — sometimes in front of the camera, sometimes behind the scenes — to try to kill these bills.”

Democratic Rep. John Bucy and other members from the Austin area succeeded in killing bills that specifically targeted the capital city. One would have made it harder for the city to raise money for a light rail system.

“It’s constantly the punching bag of outside lawmakers,” Bucy said.

But when neither killing a bill nor messaging is enough, lawmakers may negotiate changes to blunt a bill’s impact. That’s the strategy of Rep. Gina Hinojosa, who also passed zero bills but still counts key wins.

One example: during debate on a high-profile school voucher bill, she successfully pushed to remove language that would have allowed anonymous donations from private vendors.

“Never before have I seen that provision in a piece of legislation. It was opening the door to all sorts of corruption opportunities. I called it out during the hearing, spoke to the chairman about it, and it was taken out.”

Hinojosa says she’s able to make such changes because of the credibility she’s built over time, particularly on education issues.

“I always know the big marquee education bills better than the authors themselves and will often point things out to them that they don’t quite realize in their bill.”

So while some lawmakers rise through seniority, committee assignments, and the priority pathway, others find power in resistance, negotiation, or public messaging.

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