The Senate on Friday granted the House’s requests to form conference committees on several House bills and announced the conferees who will represent the Senate on each panel.

The action consisted of a series of "motions in writing" presented by senators including Senator Hall, Senator Hughes, Senator Zaffirini, Senator Parker and others. Each motion asked the Senate to "grant the request of the House for a conference committee" for a specific House bill; the chair announced the appointed conferees after each motion.

Why it matters: Conference committees resolve differences between House and Senate versions of bills. Appointing conferees moves those bills into a joint negotiation phase and can determine final statutory language.

Most motions were handled under the routine process with no recorded objections when the chair asked if any senator objected. For example, Senator Hall moved to grant the request for the conference committee on "House Bill 29 63," and the chair proceeded to name the chair and members of that committee. Similar motions by Senator Hughes were made for House Bill 40 and House Bill 119; Senator Zaffirini moved for House Bill 3909 and House Bill 705; Senator Parker moved for House Bill 1545; and Senator Hagenboo moved for House Bill 2017. In each case the chair announced the appointed conferees immediately following the motion.

The Senate record lists the conferees announced for the items taken up during this period. Examples from the record include:
- Conference committee on House Bill 29 63: Chair, Senator Hall; members Senators Perry, Middleton, Sparks and Nichols.
- Conference committee on House Bill 40: Chair, Senator Hughes; members Senators King, Creighton, Huffman and Parker.
- Conference committee on House Bill 3909: Chair, Senator Zaffirini; members Senators Hughes, Hall, Alvarado and Bergwel.
- Conference committee on House Bill 119: Chair, Senator Hughes; members Senators Betancourt, Parker, Kolkhorst and Hinojosa of Nueces.
- Conference committee on House Bill 36 42: Chair, Senator Hughes; members Senators Nichols, Parker, Paxton and Inosa of Hidalgo.
- Conference committee on House Bill 15 45: Chair, Senator Parker; members Senators Blanco, Middleton, Paxton and Sparks.
- Conference committee on House Bill 705: Chair, Senator Zaffirini; members Senators Blanco, Campbell, Nichols and King.
- Conference committee on House Bill 20 17: Chair, Senator Heigenbaum; members Senators King, Parker, Flores and Hancock.

Each of these committee announcements was presented as a formal motion in writing and moved by the senator identified in the record; when the chair asked whether there was any objection, the chair "heard none" or proceeded with the appointments. The transcript does not record roll-call vote tallies for these specific motions; the record shows the chair treated them as noncontroversial and ordered the appointments following the motions.

Procedural context: Conference committees are a standard mechanism for reconciling House and Senate differences on the same bill. The transcript indicates multiple House requests were filed and the Senate promptly appointed conferees to each, which begins the interchamber negotiation process for those measures.

What the record does not show: The transcript excerpts provided do not include the substantive text of the underlying House bills, any debate on policy content during the motions, or subsequent actions taken by the named conferees. The motions recorded here are procedural appointments and do not themselves enact policy.