The third special session of the year has officially started, with the Texas House and Texas Senate both convening this afternoon.
Tensions between the two chambers and members of leadership are high after a strained regular session, two special sessions, and a failed impeachment and conviction attempt of the Texas attorney general by Speaker Phelan and members of House leadership (not to mention the apparent wasting of millions in taxpayer dollars).
Tensions continued and even increased into the first day of the special, with Speaker Phelan and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick trading jabs on social media, with Patrick going so far as to call on Phelan to resign the Speakership before the House gaveled in.
Governor Abbott called the third special session last week, charging the legislature to pass legislation providing Education Savings Accounts for “all” Texas school children, along with a host of border-security-related concerns and a (long overdue)ban on COVID-19 vaccine mandates for businesses; all issues that the legislature failed to pass during the regular session earlier this year.
In a statement, Abbott said that Texas would help its school children “by empowering parents to choose the best education option for their child,”. Abbott also stated Texas “will pass laws to mirror the federal immigration laws President Joe Biden refuses to enforce.”
Several bills to address these issues have already been filed in the Texas Legislature, including SB 28 by Senator Angela Paxton (R-McKinney), which would establish Education Savings Accounts.
The Senate has also scheduled several public committee hearings to consider legislation to fulfill Abbott’s charges.
No House committee meetings had been scheduled as of the time of writing. The House convened Monday afternoon and then adjourned until 10:00 am Thursday.
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