3. The Legislature, live
50 min. A free alert system on your phone, and how little notice you actually get.
3.1 Why this is urgent
Prefiling for the 90th Legislature opens Monday 9 November 2026. The session convenes at noon on Tuesday 12 January 2027 and runs 140 days to sine die on 31 May 2027. The next round of precinct conventions is not until March 2028, which is why the legislature comes before conventions in this program.
3.2 The ten steps
Go to capitol.texas.gov, register a free account, confirm your email, open My TLO, create a bill list, add a bill by number, search by subject and save the search, open Alerts, set exactly three, and bookmark both committee posting pages. The numbered version, matching what the presenter calls out, is at the link below.
3.3 Why only three alerts
My TLO can notify you on committee postings, calendar postings, subject assignments, and adjournment. Select all of it and you will get so much mail that you stop reading any of it. Three alerts covers the moments where you can still change an outcome: Scheduled for Hearing, Reported Out of Committee, and Calendar Action. The account is free and always has been.
3.4 How much notice you actually get
A House public hearing in regular session requires five calendar days, and 24 hours in a special session. A House formal meeting or work session, where official action can be taken, requires two hours. A Senate committee meeting requires 24 hours. The daily House calendar is distributed 36 hours before consideration.
TWO HOURS IS THE NUMBER. Bills can be voted out of a House formal meeting on two hours notice, which is why one daily email check is not coverage during session.
3.5 The fix: split the week
Three or four chairs each take assigned days. Somebody checks postings every morning and every evening during session. One person has advance authority to register a position or submit written testimony without calling a meeting first, because a two hour window does not survive a phone tree. Agree this before session convenes.
3.6 Who really decides
The committee chair decides when the committee meets and which bills get considered. Most bills die by never being set for a hearing, not by being voted down. Getting a bill set is usually harder and more important than winning the vote once it is set.
3.7 Three ways to weigh in
Registering a position online takes minutes and puts you in the record of the hearing. Written testimony takes an hour and reaches staff, who actually read it. Appearing in person takes a day plus travel and is the only one that lets a member ask you a question. If you are four hours from Austin, the first two are not a consolation prize.
3.8 Which bills carry party weight
The Legislative Priorities Committee proposes no more than fifteen priorities at the state convention. The convention votes on each and the top half rounded up become the party priorities for the following session, which the SREC is directed to promote. No one may add or edit after sine die. Knowing which are live tells you which bills already have organised support.
Your action this week
Create a My TLO account and set three alerts
This is the one the program is measured on. It gives you a free legislative alert system on your own phone before the session convenes.