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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 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.
“Democrats fought back ferociously and took the fight to Trump across America,” Rep. Gene Wu of Houston, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said Thursday. “We will return to the House floor and to the courthouse with a clear message: the fight to protect voting rights has only just begun.”
Democrats presented their walkout as a success for sinking the first special session and prompting blue states across the country to consider retaliatory redistricting. And they lambasted Abbott for continuing to pursue the unusual mid-decade redistricting plan, arguing that Republicans were prioritizing the effort to pad the GOP’s slim majority in the U.S. House — as demanded by President Donald Trump — over victims of the July 4 floods.
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.”
Abbott’s office has said that the $70 million total, in addition to the $150 million set to go into that fund Sept. 1, must be stretched across the next two years, adding that only the Legislature may appropriate new funds for disaster relief.
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