Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas on Wednesday kicked off a high-stakes political fight over the state\u2019s future, formally announcing a special session of the Legislature in which he and fellow Republicans will try to push Texas further to the right on issues like elections and voting, transgender rights and how racism is taught in schools.<\/p>\n
The special session, set to begin on Thursday, follows an already ultraconservative legislative session this spring, when the Republican-dominated Legislature passed a near-ban on abortion and a law permitting the carrying of handguns without permits, running roughshod over protests from Democrats, business coalitions and civil rights groups in an often strictly party-line manner.<\/p>\n
But the Legislature failed to pass one of the governor\u2019s signature priorities for the session \u2014 a sweeping election overhaul bill that would have been one of the most restrictive voting laws in the country \u2014 when Democratic state lawmakers staged a dramatic late-night walkout that deprived the House of a quorum and temporarily killed the bill.<\/p>\n
Republicans\u2019 new election overhaul bill in Texas, a state which already has some of the nation\u2019s strictest voting rules, will be the first to come before a state legislature since the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling last week to uphold two voting restrictions in Arizona. That decision significantly elevated the threshold for whether a voting measure constitutes a violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits discriminatory voting practices.<\/p>\n
While the second attempt to pass voting measures will be perhaps the most closely watched legislative battle when the session convenes on Thursday, Mr. Abbott also called for the Legislature to take up measures combating perceived \u201ccensorship\u201d on social media platforms; banning the teaching of \u201ccritical race theory\u201d in public schools; further limiting abortions; putting in place new border security policies; and restricting transgender athletes from competing in school sports.<\/p>\n
Mr. Abbott is also seeking more dedicated funding for property tax relief and cybersecurity.<\/p>\n
The governor is up for re-election next year, when he will face a challenge from his right in the Republican primary race. He has also been seen in Texas as laying the groundwork for a potential presidential bid in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 87th Legislative Session was a monumental success for the people of Texas, but we have unfinished business to ensure that Texas remains the most exceptional state in America,\u201d Mr. Abbott said in a statement. \u201cTwo of my emergency items, along with other important legislation, did not make it to my desk during the regular session, and we have a responsibility to finish the job on behalf of all Texans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who also serves as president of the State Senate, pledged to complete Mr. Abbott\u2019s agenda, but he made clear that a voting bill would be his, and therefore the Senate\u2019s, top priority.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are ready to pass all of the legislation on @GovAbbott\u2019s Special Session call starting with #SB1 \u2014 Election Security,\u201d Mr. Patrick wrote on Twitter. \u201cHearings will begin Saturday.\u201d<\/p>\n
The agenda is sure to inflame Democratic state lawmakers who have already been angered by the Legislature\u2019s rightward turn this year. And even some Republicans remain miffed at the governor\u2019s decision last month to veto funding for the Legislature as a punishment for the Democrats\u2019 decision to flee the Capitol over the voting bill.<\/p>\n
While lawmakers, who receive only a token stipend for their role, are not particularly affected by Mr. Abbott\u2019s move, many staff members whose salaries are dependent on that money remain in limbo, with funding set to expire in September. The issue of funding the Legislature is also on the agenda for the special session.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we think he\u2019s done is definitely unconstitutional,\u201d said State Representative Rafael Anch\u00eda, a Democrat from the Dallas area. \u201cHe\u2019s trying to blackmail us to pass his agenda by defunding the legislative branch.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two Republican lawmakers, State Senator Brandon Creighton of Conroe and State Representative Travis Clardy of Nacogdoches, both said that they saw the inclusion of legislative funding on the agenda as an opening by the governor to reconsidering the issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s obviously bringing the Legislature into the fold of collaborating with them on the future of funding for state employees and the Legislature,\u201d Mr. Creighton said. \u201cThat\u2019s all I can take from it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Clardy described it as \u201can encouraging sign\u201d and an indication that the governor was \u201creceptive to walking that back.\u201d But neither lawmaker said he had discussed the issue with the governor\u2019s office, and both said they didn\u2019t know what Mr. Abbott would demand to restore the funding.<\/p>\n
State Representative Chris Turner, the chair of the House Democratic caucus in Texas, accused the governor of leveraging the legislative session for his own political gain.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe governor\u2019s agenda for the special session shows he is more concerned with pandering to die-hard Trump supporters and right-wing extremists than he is with serving everyday Texans,\u201d Mr. Turner said in a statement.<\/p>\n
For Democrats, the inclusion of more funding for a border wall was proof that Mr. Abbott was playing strictly to the Republican base, because he had already announced that he would set aside $250 million from the state\u2019s general revenue as a down payment for a border wall and asked online donors to foot the rest of the bill. A program manager would then determine the eventual size and total cost of the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people in Texas, they seem to think that there really isn\u2019t a real border at the U.S.-Mexico border, that people are just walking over,\u201d said State Senator Jos\u00e9 Men\u00e9ndez, a San Antonio Democrat. While crossings have increased to levels not seen in years, Mr. Men\u00e9ndez said, a wall would have little consequence as long as people continue to leave their homes in Central America to escape poverty, crime and corruption. \u201cHe\u2019s trying to win that Trump base.\u201d<\/p>\n
And that effort, Democrats said, came at the expense of other, more pressing issues in Texas.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m furious and I\u2019m embarrassed for the state,\u201d said State Representative Erin Zwiener, who argued that the governor was again trying to bar transgender student athletes from competing in sports while neglecting what she saw as needed reforms to health insurance or regulations to prevent another power grid failure, like the one that killed more than 100 Texans in February.<\/p>\n
\u201cNone are those are the issues we are focusing in on,\u201d she said. \u201cInstead we\u2019re talking about a bill that attacks some of our most vulnerable children to make a culture war point.\u201d<\/p>\n
After former President Donald J. Trump returned in recent months to making false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him,\u00a0Republican lawmakers in many states have marched ahead\u00a0to pass laws making it harder to vote and change how elections are run, frustrating Democrats and even some election officials in their own party.<\/p>\n