Abbott adds additional bills to special session

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(The Center Square) – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday added three more bills to the second special session, which began August 15. The Texas Senate has already passed most of the bills on the legislative agenda. The Texas House is also passing bills at record speed.

Special sessions last for 30 days; legislative bills are put on the call by the governor and can be amended at any time. The first special session ended after more than 50 House Democrats absconded for more than two weeks, effectively killing the session.

After enough Democrats returned for the House to meet quorum, the House began hearing and passing bills on the agenda over the past week.

Abbott sent a message to the Texas legislature expanding the second special session agenda to include bills designed to improve public safety and election security.

He added legislation to prohibit same day voter registration in Texas; legislation authorizing contracts with sheriffs and constables for the provision of law enforcement services; and legislation related to appropriating or transferring funds to or from a law enforcement agency.

Late Tuesday night, he sent another message to the legislature to clarify additions to the bills he wants passed. This includes "legislation that protects law enforcement officers from public disclosure of unsubstantiated complaints and other information maintained in law enforcement agency files" and "legislation relating to election procedures regarding accepting a voter with a residence address that is not current and the immediate effect of a voter’s registration after the registrar’s receipt of certain change of address notices."

This is in addition to three other bills he added to the second special session six days ago, including a bill to impose penalties or punishments for legislators who are willfully absent during a legislative session, The Center Square reported.

“We need to ensure that rogue lawmakers cannot hijack the important business of Texans during a legislative session by fleeing the state,” Abbott said.

He also added a bill that House Speaker Dustin Burrows identified as a priority for the special session, HB 25, filed by state Rep. Joanne Shofner, R-Nacogdoches. It would legalize the sale of over-the-counter Ivermectin, The Center Square reported.

“Texans should have increased access to the benefits of Ivermectin,” Abbott said.

He also added legislation to the call related to a Texas Water Development Board groundwater study of East Texas aquifers. The Texas House already passed this bill to implement new safeguards for groundwater availability.

It also passed another bill related to flood control management and infrastructure.

It also already passed a judicial omnibus bill that establishes new courts, modernizes judicial administration and operations, and delivers additional resources to address judicial workloads. It also passed two property tax reform measures with mostly Democratic opposition, The Center Square reported. 

It also passed two property tax relief measures.

After the bills passed, Burrows said, “The Texas House continues to work through the special session call by passing a range of priority legislation to make Texas a stronger, more prosperous, and fairer state.”

The property tax reform bills create a “system to better inform taxpayers and increase accountability for local governments when setting tax rates,” he said. The judicial omnibus bill establishes “much-needed new courts to handle increasing judicial workloads,” he added.