Special Session - Election Bill

SPECIAL SESSION

What happened: May 31st was Sine Die, a Latin phrase literally meaning “without day,” but in this context meaning something like “adjourning without setting a return date.” It was the last day of the constitutionally mandated 140 days of the biannual state legislature. It was the last day for any last minute bills to squeeze past the last ruffle of the closing curtain. Except it wasn’t.

Enter the “special session”: Despite the dramatic walk-out of Democrats from the Texas House, casting themselves as 300 Spartans holding up the passage of election bill SB7 and breaking legislative quorum (imagine if one baseball team just walked off the field at the top of the 9th inning), the Persian Empire-esk Republican force in Texas cannot be stopped, only delayed. As previously predicted, Governor Greg Abbott will call for a special session to finish the conservative clobber that has been the 87th legislative session.

What does it mean: A special session is, effectively, legislative overtime. Unlike a regular session though, the governor sets the bills on the agenda and there are only 30 days. When Abbott inevitably places SB7 on the agenda, the bill will ultimately pass. The best Democrats can hope to do is whittle away at a few specific features, like picking off a few elephants from Xerxes army before it storms Athens (more on the “storm” later).

What’s next: In a recent radio interview, Abbott mentioned there would be two special sessions: one either in September or October to address redistricting and COVID relief, and the other before that time to address the loose-ends of the regular session, principally the election bill. 

Look out for more GOP infighting: Before the session begins, each Republican leader—Abbott, Patrick, and Phelan—will attempt to frame the debate.

SPOTLIGHT

Lt. Col. (Ret.) Allen West is resigning as Texas GOP Chair after 11 months of service. West moved to Texas after losing his 2012 Congressional re-election race in Florida, where his one-term stint caught country-wide attention from fellow Tea Party conservatives and Fox News pundits. To say West’s brief reign has been controversial would be putting it mildly. He started his tenure by lambasting Abbott; then attempted to sue Abbott; then he went after Speaker of the House Dade Phelan, calling him a “traitor”; then he sparred with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick; then he resigned the role with about $342,000 less money in GOP