Texas Tribune by Jolie McCullough May 27, 2021
Texas Senate didn’t pass critical bill needed to keep key state agency alive, potentially forcing a special session
By neglecting to pass a bill that extends the life of state agencies, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick essentially signed a death warrant for the regulating agency for Texas law enforcement. On Wednesday, he said he wanted a special legislative session to revive failed Republican bills.
By failing to hear a critical bill before a Senate deadline to pass certain legislation, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick may force lawmakers to come back for a special legislative session this summer.
Only Gov. Greg Abbott can call a special session, but by neglecting to pass a bill that extends the life of state agencies, Patrick essentially signed a death warrant for the regulating agency for Texas law enforcement. That is, unless Abbott is able to find a creative way to push back the agency’s abolition date on his own or calls lawmakers back to fix it.
If they get Patrick’s blessing, legislators could also tweak another bill this week to allow for the agency’s survival.
Patrick and Abbott, who are both Republicans, have made bills to “back the blue” priorities this year. But on Wednesday, Patrick had asked Abbott to call a June special session so the Legislature could reconsider three conservative measures that failed after missing a House deadline. The regular five-month session ends Monday.
And if Abbott is forced to bring lawmakers back to Austin to save a state agency, it would be easier to ask them also to hear again Patrick’s priorities to ban transgender students from playing on sports teams based on their gender identity, prohibit local governments from using taxpayer funds to pay for lobbyists and punish social media companies for "censoring" Texans based on their political viewpoints.
More:
https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/27/texas-special-session-legislature-senate/
