From the Texas Minute daily E-Newsletter.
Submitted by John Miterko
Special Session Ending, and Starting, Today
- Even though the 30-day clock is not set to expire until Tuesday, the House and Senate are expected to adjourn out of the special session today.
- The Senate has completed the work set forth by the governor in the call of the special session. In contrast, nothing was accomplished in the House because Democrats—rather than fight—fled out of state to disrupt the quorum requirements for conducting legislative business.
- The governor will be calling the chambers back into an immediate special session with the same agenda, including congressional redistricting. Speaking at an event in Williamson County yesterday, State Sen. Charles Schwertner said he expects his chamber to move quickly to re-file and pass all the legislation again within the first few days.
- The Texas House Democrat Caucus issued two demands yesterday as “conditions” for their return. One demand, that the House adjourn today, had been announced earlier in the week. The second demand was that California promise to gerrymander itself further by reducing the number of Republican congressional seats there. Currently, more than 40 percent of the statewide vote there goes to the GOP, while less than 20 percent of the congressional districts can be won by Republicans.