Gov. Abbott sets special session date for July 8

(The Center Square) – Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday said he will convene a special legislative session to begin July 8. Agenda items will be announced prior to the convening of the session.

At the close of the last legislative session, Abbott said of priority bills that didn’t get passed, “I’m not going to engage in Monday morning quarterbacking, but I’ll treat this as halftime. We didn’t get this done in the first half, but we’ll get there in the second half.”

Abbott’s already said the legislature will convene to pass bail reform and election integrity legislation, two priority items the House failed to address after passing in the Senate.

Abbott said these two bills must pass before any other legislative item on the agenda. He also said last week when he signed HB 3979, a ban on the teaching of critical race theory in public schools, that it was “a strong move to abolish critical race theory in Texas, but more must be done. The issue will be added to a special session agenda.”

Other bills that could be added to the special session include those Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has asked to be added: SB10 to end taxpayer-funded lobbying, SB12 to regulate social media outlets, and SB29 regarding transgender participation in girls’ sports.

“The Texas House killed these conservative bills that majority of Texans in both parties support,” Patrick said when he asked Abbott to call a special session.

Abbott said those bills might be added to the session but did not specify in a news conference he held last month.

Lawmakers and other officials also called on Abbott to add border security to the special session. At a recent border wall news conference, House Speaker Dade Phelan said the House would be holding hearings on border security issues at the next legislative session, indicating border security could be on the agenda.

As to which bills would be added, Abbott said last month, “Not only am I the one with the authority to call a special session, I get to decide when and I get to decide what will be on that special session. And here’s what I would do, if anybody tries to force this, it’s not going to be like it has been in the past, where we’ll have 40 items on a special session or whatever, to make sure bills that I want passed, get passed.”

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