Governor Abbott calls July 21 Special Legislative Session

The Governor has called a Special Session to begin on July 21 to consider six bills he vetoed. The bills to be considered are:

• SB 3 - Relating to the regulation of products derived from hemp, including consumable hemp products and the hemp-derived cannabinoids contained in those products.
• SB 648 - Relating to recording requirements for certain instruments concerning real property.
• SB 1253 - Relating to impact and production fees for certain water projects and to the regulation of certain wells.
• SB 1278 - Relating to an affirmative defense to prosecution for victims of trafficking of persons or compelling prostitution.
• SB 1758 - Relating to the operation of a cement kiln and the production of aggregates near a semiconductor wafer manufacturing facility.
• SB 2878 - Relating to the operation and administration of a practices and procedures related to proceedings in the judicial branch of state government. 
• Gov. Abbott today unveiled an expanded agenda for the upcoming special legislative session, calling on lawmakers to redraw Texas’ congressional maps and address several unfinished conservative priorities from earlier this year. The governor, who controls the agenda for overtime legislative sessions, also included four items related to the deadly Hill Country floods over the July Fourth weekend, directing legislators to look at flood warning systems, emergency communications, natural disaster preparation and relief funding for impacted areas.

Abbott’s call also includes redrawing the state’s congressional districts following through on a demand from President Donald Trump’s advisers. 

Abbott also included several high-profile and controversial conservative priorities that didn’t pass during the regular session, including proposals to ban cities and counties from hiring lobbyists to advocate for them in Austin; require people to use bathrooms that align with the sex they were assigned at birth; and crack down on the manufacturing and distribution of abortion pills.

Abbott is also directing lawmakers to reconsider a proposal to allow the attorney general to prosecute state election crimes. Texas’ attorney general does not have authority to independently prosecute criminal offenses unless invited to do so by a local district attorney, which the state’s highest criminal court has repeatedly upheld. But after successfully unseating three members of the Court of Criminal Appeals in November, Attorney General  Paxon  pushed the Legislature to carve out an exception for allegations of election fraud. The Senate passed one such proposal, but it didn’t clear the House.  Abbott is asking lawmakers to reconsider the idea in the form of a constitutional amendment, which requires support from two-thirds of both chambers and voter approval in a statewide referendum.

Abbott did not spell out how far he wants lawmakers to go, calling broadly for legislation “reducing the property tax burden on Texans.” But he also included the option of “imposing spending limits on entities authorized to impose property taxes,” which includes cities, counties and school districts.