Governor Greg Abbott issued his 11 allowable topics for the first called special session of the legislature on July 7th. Members of the legislature filed 121 bills and resolutions that day. Today, which is day two of the filing period, an additional 92 bills and resolutions have been introduced.
The Senate assigned bills to committees this morning and committee chairs are already scheduling hearings on bills as quickly as the rules allow. The Senate has indicated they will be in session on Saturday and Sunday and look to have their versions of the Governor’s 11 issues passed and to the House early next week. The House is taking a more deliberate path, meeting for less than an hour today and adjourning until Friday.
By our count, of the 213 bills and resolutions introduced, 59 are the topics allowed by the Governor. That leaves 154 filed on topics that are technically not open for consideration during the special session. These additional topics cover a wide range of issues including windstorm insurance, ERCOT reliability, taxpayer funded lobbying, Medicaid expansion, permanent daylight savings time in Texas and extending the provisions of Chapter 313 for an additional two years.
Why do members of the Legislature prepare and introduce bills on subjects that can’t be considered? There is always the hope that the Governor may relent and allow consideration of another topic as the special session progresses. It is also important to members of the Legislature that they be able to say to their constituents they introduced a bill on a topic. It just didn’t get enough support to become law.
Your Chamber will continue to monitor the activity during the special session. If you are interested in keeping up with the action, look for us to provide regular updates.