Abbott wants 14 priorities in special session, possibly keeping lawmakers in Austin for months
(The Center Square) – In an unprecedented action and within hours of the regular legislative session closing on Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott announced a special legislative session would begin at 9 pm on Monday.
He issued a proclamation calling the special legislative session to order and listed 14 priority legislative items the legislature must pass, saying, “I will soon be signing laws that advance our state and the future of all Texans.”
He then listed the agenda, including laws that:
End COVID restrictions and mandates; Provide more than $5.1 billion to secure the border and fund the Texas National Guard, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the border wall; Designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations; Prosecute fentanyl deaths as murder; Protect women’s sports and female collegiate athletes; Focus community colleges on preparing Texas students for high skill careers; Increase electric power generation to secure the Texas power grid; Hold rogue district attorneys accountable; Protect children from life-altering gender mutilation; Ban illegal DEI hiring practices in our colleges and universities; Add $1.4 billion to make Texas schools safer; Require armed security at all schools; Provide access to mental healthcare for students at all schools; and Require regular safety checks of school buildings.
He said these bills are “critical items that must be passed” because “more must be done for the people of Texas.”
In order to pass this legislation, he said, “Several special sessions will be required. To ensure that each priority receives the time and attention it deserves to pass into law, only a few will be added each session.”
The first special session will focus solely on cutting property taxes and “cracking down on illegal human smuggling.”
“We must cut property taxes. During the regular session, we added $17.6 billion to cut property taxes,” he said, but the Republican-led legislature “could not agree on how to allocate funds to accomplish this goal.”
“Texans want and need a path towards eliminating property taxes,” he added. “The best way to do that is to direct property tax reduction dollars to cut school property tax rates.”
The first special legislative session he said would prioritize property taxes and border security.
Abbott’s plan to cut property taxes is to solely reduce the school district maximum compressed tax rate, he said, referring to reducing the recapture payments school districts are required to send to Austin. However, this doesn’t address the appraisal cap or homestead exemptions the House and Senate proposed. Neither of their plans relies solely on reducing the recapture amount.
Abbott’s border security plan may present the opportunity to include sweeping border security measures included in a Senate omnibus bill that passed the Senate but died in the House.
Special legislative sessions last for 30 days and can run concurrently. With this many legislative agenda items, the legislature could be in session for months.