Good morning, 

Once again, the Texas Legislature is convening for a special session today.

Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Brandon Waltens 

Monday, September 20, 2021
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• Later today, the Texas House and the Texas Senate will convene at 10 a.m. for the beginning of the third special session of the year. 
   
• Special sessions in Texas can only be called by the governor. They last up to 30 days at a time, and the only legislation allowed to be considered are items on subjects the governor places on the agenda.
   
• Shortly after the regular session concluded on May 31, Gov. Greg Abbott announced he would be calling lawmakers back to address a slate of priorities left unaddressed. When Democrats were allowed to leave the Capitol and flee for Washington DC, the first special session gave way to a second special session.
   
• Democrats returned midway through the second special session, allowing lawmakers to address issues such as election integrity. But there was still work left to be done, causing Abbott to call a third special session.

• The following five items are currently on the agenda for the third special session:
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  • Redistricting: "Legislation relating to the apportionment of the State of Texas into districts used to elect members of the Texas House of Representatives, the Texas Senate, the State Board of Education, and the United States House of Representatives."
     

  • Federal COVID Relief Appropriations: "Legislation providing appropriations from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), Pub. L. No. 117-2."
     

  • Protecting Girls Sports: "Legislation identical to Senate Bill 29 as passed by the Texas Senate in the 87th Legislature, Regular Session, disallowing a student from competing in University Interscholastic League athletic competitions designated for the sex opposite to the student’s sex at birth."
     

  • ​Vaccine Mandates: "Legislation regarding whether any state or local governmental entities in Texas can mandate that an individual receive a COVID-19 vaccine and, if so, what exemptions should apply to such mandate."
     

  • Dog Tethering: "Legislation similar to Senate Bill 474 as passed by the 87th Legislature, Regular Session, but that addresses the concerns expressed in the governor’s veto statement." Interestingly, this new "priority" was on neither the first nor second special session agendas...

• Perhaps most notable is not which priorities are on the list, but rather which are missing. 
   
• A ban on school mask mandates—which Abbott had put on a previous agenda—is absent. Monument protection, banning taxpayer-funded lobbying, and ending gender mutilation procedures and chemical castration in children, for example, are also nowhere to be seen. 
   
• Also missing on the current agenda is property tax relief. However, that could change soon. Last week, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced his priority legislation for the Senate. Among those bills is one that would provide a one time estimated savings of $100 on property tax bills for homes with taxable values of at least $300,000.
   
• The governor has the ability to add items to the call until the special session’s conclusion.

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