Gov. Greg Abbott is calling for a rare, mid-decade round of congressional redistricting as part of a packed agenda for the Texas Legislature’s special session, set to begin July 21.
The move comes following heavy pressure from President Donald Trump to shore up the Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In his Wednesday proclamation outlining his goals for the special session, Abbott cited a letter from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division identifying four Texas congressional districts as “unconstitutional racial gerrymanders.” All four districts currently contain non-white majorities, and three of them are in Houston.
Houston’s Congressional District 9 is represented by U.S. Rep. Al Green, a Black Democrat and vocal critic of Trump who has filed articles of impeachment against the president multiple times. Houston’s Congressional District 18, currently vacant, was represented for more than 50 years by a succession of Black Democrats, most recently the late U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner. Houston’s Congressional District 29 is represented by Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia, a Latina Democrat. And Fort Worth’s Congressional District 33 is represented by Marc Veasey, a Black Democrat.
“This is about politics,” said Anthony Gutierrez, executive director of the voting rights organization Common Cause Texas. “This is just about the president knowing that he’s going to be taking some embarrassing losses in the midterms and his administration trying to protect them from that by breaking up a bunch of Black and brown communities in Texas to try to pick up a few seats.”
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The reaction from Democratic elected leaders was swift and fierce. U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) issued a statement condemning Abbott for issuing the call for redistricting when Texas is still reeling from the shock of last week’s deadly flash flood in the Hill Country.
“There are real questions about Governor Greg Abbott’s failed leadership, lack of preparation and the reckless decision not to bolster the early warning infrastructure in flood prone communities,” Jeffries said. “Instead of aggressively addressing the failures of his administration, Governor Abbott and shameless extremists are conspiring with Donald Trump and House Republicans to try to rig the election and disenfranchise millions of voters.”
Texas House Minority Leader Gene Wu (D-Houston) struck a similar note in a statement to Houston Public Media.
“In the face of this unimaginable tragedy, with nearly 200 Texans still missing, Governor Abbott’s response to this crisis is a stunning betrayal,” Wu said. “House Democrats welcome the opportunity to pass meaningful flood relief. But we will not allow this tragedy to be used as political cover for an extreme agenda that does nothing to help families get back on their feet.”
Flood warnings and response, in light of the catastrophe in Central Texas, along with natural disaster preparedness, property taxes and hemp regulation also are among the 18 items Abbott cited as priorities for the upcoming special session.
He directed lawmakers to work toward legislation improving flood warning systems and emergency communications in flood-prone areas, evaluate regulations relating to natural disaster preparation and recovery and to provide relief funding for Texas Hill Country flood victims. More than 100 people died in floods that have devastated Central Texas in recent days, including more than 15 people from the Houston area.
“We delivered on historic legislation in the 89th Regular Legislative Session that will benefit Texans for generations to come,” Abbott said in a news release. “There is more work to be done, particularly in the aftermath of the devastating floods in the Texas Hill Country. We must ensure better preparation for such events in the future.”
The governor also prioritized legislation that regulates hemp-derived products containing THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, without an outright ban, along with making it a crime to “provide hemp-derived products to children” under 21.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick pushed heavily for the passage of Senate Bill 3, outlawing all THC products in the state. The bill was passed by lawmakers during the regular session this year but was vetoed by Abbott in a decision that drew frustration from Patrick.
“If he’d have worked with us through the session, maybe we could have addressed some of his issues,” Patrick said after the veto. “But he made a decision to veto this bill very late, without even giving us the courtesy of a call.”
Other items Abbott wants addressed include cutting property taxes, banning taxpayer-funded lobbying and the elimination of the STAAR test for public school students. He also asked lawmakers to pass legislation “protecting unborn children and their mothers from the harm of abortion,” coming after a law was passed clarifying the state’s abortion ban for medical professionals. Another priority for Abbott is legislation that “protects women’s privacy in sex-segregated spaces,” adding to a slew of bills affecting transgender communities passed in Texas during the regular session.
Laws limiting public access to police complaints and allowing the state attorney general to prosecute state election crimes were also cited as priorities.
Finally, Abbott asked the legislature to review and redress bills proposed in the regular session that addressed human trafficking, water conservation incentives for builders, the state’s judicial department and its administration, and title theft and deed fraud.
The special session comes after the legislature passed 1,155 bills that were signed into law by the governor, including legislation establishing a school voucher program and bills funding major investments in water infrastructure across the state. Abbott also vetoed more than 25 bills and a line item from the appropriations budget cutting summer food program funding for children.
Abbott called four special sessions following the regular meeting of the legislature in 2023.
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