With the Texas House still frozen by Democrats’ absence from the state, Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday called a second special session to begin less than two hours after the Legislature gaveled out the first overtime round.
The second session is set to consider virtually the same agenda that stalled in the first, with redistricting and disaster response at the top of the governor’s priorities. As in the first session, Abbott called on lawmakers to also tackle stricter regulations on consumable hemp products, property tax relief and eliminating the STAAR test, along with a host of socially conservative measures.
“Delinquent House Democrats ran away from their responsibility to pass crucial legislation to benefit the lives of Texans,” Abbott said in a statement. “We will not back down from this fight. That’s why I am calling them back today to finish the job. I will continue to use all necessary tools to ensure Texas delivers results for Texans.”
Democrats had not yet returned to Austin on Friday, again denying the House the quorum needed to conduct business on the first day of the second session.
But Democrats indicated that they were likely to return soon, saying in a Thursday statement that they would come back to the state after the first special session adjourned and California introduced a new congressional map designed to offset the GOP gains built into Texas’ draft map.
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The governor, who controls the agenda for overtime legislative sessions, again directed lawmakers to take up legislation on flood warning systems, emergency communications, natural disaster preparation and relief funding for impacted areas. He added a new item — “legislation to ensure and enhance youth camp safety” — after lawmakers filed a number of bills during the first special session that touched on camper disaster drills, improving camp emergency plans and providing life jackets in cabins, among other measures. The victims of the July 4 floods included 27 campers and counselors at storied Camp Mystic along the banks of the Guadalupe River.
On Friday, Democrats continued to call on Abbott to send the remaining $70 million in the state’s disaster fund to areas of the Hill Country and beyond affected by the floods.
“It’s past time the Governor focused on flood relief for families in need,” Rep. Ann Johnson, D-Houston, posted on social media. “He can sign the check today. He doesn’t need the legislature. Get it done.”
See here for the background. Not being there yesterday is fine, no one on the Republican side would have wanted to be there for anything more than a check-in so they could go home for the weekend. There will be enough of them there for Monday or Tuesday, whenever the actual start of the session will be – they don’t all need to be there for what will likely be a mostly ceremonial day, they just need to have enough of them there for a quorum. And then we move on.
To me, the main focus at this point is to hammer Abbott and the Republicans at every opportunity for prioritizing redistricting over flood issues. Remind everyone, especially our new pals around the country who have a platform, that we broke quorum in Session 1 in part because they were going to do redistricting before they ever even had a committee hearing on a flooding bill. If they do put flooding first in this session, say it’s because we shamed them into it. If they don’t, say they haven’t changed and still care more about placating Trump and rigging the 2026 election than they do about everyone who was harmed by the flooding.
They’re going to pass a new map eventually, one way or another. They have the numbers; they can do it. The goal of the quorum busting was to raise the political price for doing it. That was a success, but it doesn’t end here. The mantra about redistricting from here through next November is that they cared about doing that more than they cared about anything else, and their actions showed it. There are plenty of other things to hit them on, but they’re all of a piece about fealty to Trump and not doing what the people actually want. Do not let up for a minute about that. KUT has more.