On Friday morning, House Speaker Dustin Burrows gaveled in the Texas House and only 95 members were present.
No quorum was reached and the Texas House and Senate adjourned the first special session sine die.
Not soon after, Gov. Greg Abbott called a second special session announcing an expanded agenda and called the second special session to begin at noon on Friday.
“Delinquent House Democrats ran away from their responsibility to pass crucial legislation to benefit the lives of Texans,” Gov. Abbott said. “Because of their dereliction of duty, Texas families and communities impacted by the catastrophic Fourth of July flooding have been delayed critical resources for relief and recovery. Numerous other bills to cut property taxes, support human trafficking survivors, eliminate the STAAR test, establish commonsense THC regulations, and many others have all been brought to a halt because Democrats refuse to show up for work. We will not back down from this fight. That’s why I am calling them back today to finish the job. I will continue to use all necessary tools to ensure Texas delivers results for Texans.”
The Special Session proclamation first prioritizes Hill Country flood relief and reforms. Bills include ensuring and enhancing youth camp safety; improving early warning systems and other preparedness infrastructure and strengthening emergency communications and other response infrastructure in flood-prone areas statewide; providing relief funding in response to the July 4th flood disaster, including local match funding for jurisdictions eligible for FEMA public assistance; and streamlining rules and regulations related to disaster preparedness and recovery efforts.
This relief package passed in the Texas Senate and passed a House committee during the first special session, The Center Square reported. The relief package was blocked from passing in the full House due to more than 50 House Democrats absconding to prevent a quorum from being reached.
House Democrats left in protest of a redistricting bill introduced by Republicans.
They initially demanded that flood relief be prioritized as a condition of their return, however, they were absent on Tuesday when the relief package was scheduled for a House floor vote, The Center Square reported.
Other legislation on the call includes eliminating the STAAR Test and replacing it with different tests to assess public school student progress and school district accountability.
Also on the call is an additional measure to reduce property taxes as well as imposing spending limits on local taxing authorities that impose property taxes, like county governments.
Gov. Abbott also repeated his directive from the first special session to regulate THC after vetoing a ban passed with bipartisan support in the regular session. In the first special session, the Senate passed the same bill it did during the regular session to ban THC in Texas in opposition to Abbott’s directive.
Abbott’s call also directed the legislature to pass a bill to make it illegal to provide hemp-derived products to anyone under age 21 and to implement comprehensive regulations of hemp-derived products.
The Texas Republican Party, Texas Primary voters, Texas Republican state lawmakers and law enforcement statewide, overwhelmingly oppose this plan.
Gov. Abbott also added to the call legislation to ban abortion pills by mail and to protect women’s privacy in sex-segregated spaces.
He also added legislation to ban taxpayer funded lobbying; to strengthen the authority of the Office of Attorney General to investigate and prosecute state election crimes; and to streamline the operation and administration of the Judicial Department of state government.
Also on the call is legislation to expand protections for victims of human trafficking from criminal liability for non-violent acts tied to their victimization; to protect law enforcement officers from public disclosure of unsubstantiated complaints in personnel files; to strengthen protections against title theft and deed fraud; and to authorize political subdivisions to reduce impact fees for builders who include water conservation and efficiency measures.
Towards the end of the proclamation is the call for legislation to provide a congressional redistricting plan—the very legislation House Democrats fled the state to prevent from passing. The Texas Senate passed its redistricting plan in the first special session. A House committee passed its and the next day House Democrats left the state to block a vote from happening.
House Democrats have said they would return after the first special session ended and would make every effort to block a redistricting bill from passing.
