Lawmakers file more than 7,000 bills, resolutions for session

Although more than 7,000 bills and resolutions may seem like a high number to some, lawmakers as recently as 2009 filed more than 12,000 pieces of legislation.

Roughly 2,000 of this session's filings are simple resolutions congratulating constituents and highlighting districts, honoring musicians and athletes, or memorializing friends and dignitaries who have died.

Others deal with more weighty issues, such as referendums to legalize gambling or resolutions backing Texans' Second Amendment rights.

But 5,686 bills are proposed new laws, and an average of one-third of them will make it through the entire process and become law, mostly by Sept. 1.

This session's count is similar to last session and lower than 2009, which some attribute to the large freshman classes of 2011 and 2013.

This session's class of 40 freshmen is the largest in recent memory, and because freshmen are expected to file only about a dozen bills, veteran lawmakers may file several dozen or even more than 100.