Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has announced noon Saturday will be when the next special session of the state Legislature starts.
In a press release Thursday, Abbott reiterated his promise to “call special session after special session” until his agenda items are accomplished.
The session's agenda includes items both old and new. Bail reform and election integrity are at the top, as they were in July. Texas House Democrats fled to Washington, D.C. last month to break quorum and prevent passage of a bill tightening rules around voting, empowering partisan poll watchers, and further criminalizing voting errors.
Abbott again wants legislation to boost law enforcement at the Texas-Mexico border, restrict abortion-inducing drugs and appropriate money to the legislative branch. He vetoed these “Article X” funds earlier this year as retribution against Democrats for breaking quorum at the end of the regular session.
New items include appropriating unspent money for COVID-19 relief. The governor also has an agenda item to alter “the filing periods and related election dates, including any runoffs, for primary elections held in Texas in 2022."
After this second special session, lawmakers will have at least one more to redraw legislative district boundaries. The U.S. Census Bureau said it will release detailed demographic data used in that process on August 12.
Rep. David Cook (R-Mansfield) said he was hoping Abbott would wait until Monday to call the session, so he could travel home from Austin to see his family. But he wasn't surprised at the announcement.
"I totally understand why he's fulfilling his prior commitment," Cook said. "It's exactly what I expected the governor to do."
Compromise with the House Democrats is unlikely. Abbott is up for reelection next year and has two far right primary challengers.
Minutes before Abbott’s release, state House Democrats announced a Friday press conference coinciding with the end of the first special session to celebrate what they called a “victory” in stopping the voting bill.
But with a new session starting Saturday and a voting bill again on the agenda, it’s unclear how long Democratic members can remain away from their homes and regular jobs in their bid to stop it.
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