State law allows the governor to reconvene the Legislature for special or extended sessions that can last up to 30 days. There is no limit to the number of special sessions the Legislature can have, and only the governor can dictate what topics must be addressed.
On June 5, the governor called for a special session to start Tuesday, July 18, 2017 with the priority of passing the sunset safety-net bill, which will keep five state agencies open, including the Texas Medical Review Board. The Texas Medical Review Board issues licenses to doctors. Abbott said once the Senate passes the sunset bill, the Legislature can tackle a long list of other issues he’s laid out, including a commission on school finance, vouchers for special needs students, and bathroom legislation.
The Legislature will have up to 30 days to finish its work. Gov. Abbott said if he is going to call the legislators back at taxpayers’ expense, he wants to “make it count.” He said that if the Legislature cannot get everything done, it will not be because they “lacked time,” but because they “lacked the will” to get it done.
Several topics on the Governor’s special session agenda impact public education:
- Giving teachers a $1,000 pay raise without spending any additional money
- Changing laws to retain good teachers and fire ineffective ones
- Creating a Commission on Texas School Finance Reform
- Vouchers for special needs kids
- Bathroom or privacy legislation, like HB 2899
- Prohibiting automatic payroll deductions for union dues
- SB 2 “or better” property tax relief legislation that includes a rollback provision (Note: this bill caps cities and counties tax rates)
Other topics to be covered during the special session can be found here. HISD’s Government Relations team will return to Austin to fight for the district during the special session.