As the clock ticks down to midnight Thursday, the Texas House enters one of its most chaotic and consequential nights of the legislative session. It’s do-or-die time for hundreds of bills: anything that hasn’t received preliminary approval by the deadline is effectively dead for the remainder of the session.
This high-stakes milestone, occurring on the 122nd day of the 140-day legislative session, marks the last chance for House-authored bills to receive a second reading — the first of two floor votes needed to send legislation to the Senate. According to the Texas Constitution, each bill must be heard three times in both the House and the Senate before it can become law.
Thursday’s deadline is a ritual in the Texas Capitol, where the usually measured pace of lawmaking gives way to frenetic urgency. Republicans, who hold the majority, will try to push through as many bills as possible, while Democrats will lean on a time-honored tactic known as “chubbing” — using delay tactics like asking endless questions, raising points of order, and generally running out the clock.
The Democrats’ leverage is limited, but on deadline day, their power to slow the machine is significant — and strategic. This year, their slow-roll began last week, stacking the chamber’s legislative calendars into an unwieldy pile. Though Thursday’s official calendar is six pages, in practice, more than 20 pages’ worth of bills could be in play. There’s simply no way they’ll all make it to the floor.
In the crosshairs each year is the so-called “blocker bill” — a key piece of legislation the minority party wants to keep off the books above all else. Last session, it was a bill requiring insurance coverage for detransition procedures. This year, that bill passed early, well before Thursday’s rush.
Another GOP priority, House Bill 113, authored by Rep. Cody Vasut (R-Angleton), narrowly made it across the second-reading finish line Wednesday night. The bill, dubbed the “Statutory Construction Act,” aims to strip away the use of “legislative intent” in court interpretations of laws — a major philosophical shift in how statutes are read and applied in Texas. Speaker Pro Tem Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock), a longtime advocate of the idea, previously filed the bill in an earlier session.
Democrats strongly opposed the bill, and its survival came partly due to its placement on the calendar — just above HB 1738, a long-shot proposal by Rep. Venton Jones (D-Dallas) to repeal Texas’ unenforced anti-sodomy law. Though unenforced since the U.S. Supreme Court's Lawrence v. Texas decision in 2003, the law remains on the books. Jones, the Legislature’s first openly gay Black lawmaker, found bipartisan support, including from former House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont). Still, its position at the bottom of the calendar meant the bill didn’t reach the floor before the deadline — a fate shared by many.
Looking to Thursday night, one bill stands out as this session’s late-stage flashpoint: HB 3441, filed by Rep. Shelley Luther (R-Tom Bean), which would open vaccine manufacturers to civil liability for injuries allegedly caused by their products. The bill's summary claims it seeks to ensure that manufacturers who advertise their vaccines are held financially responsible for injuries, including attorney’s fees and court costs.
Critics say the bill echoes vaccine misinformation and could have dangerous implications for public health policy. Its inclusion late in the queue makes it an obvious target for Democratic stalling, with opposition sure to spike as the midnight bell approaches.
As the evening unfolds, the Texas House will shift from structured debate to what often feels more like an auctioneer’s sprint, with lawmakers and staff scrambling to shepherd bills across the line.
When the clock hits 12:00 a.m. Friday morning, any bill not passed on second reading is done — at least until the next regular session in 2027.
But the work doesn’t stop there. On Friday, all bills passed on second reading must pass their third and final House vote. Then attention turns to Senate bills — which face their own midnight deadline on May 27. After that, the 88th Legislature will adjourn sine die on June 2, closing the book on another round of political gamesmanship under the dome.
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