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Gov. Greg Abbott has set a special session of the Texas Legislature starting July 8, his office announced Tuesday.
Abbott’s office did not specify what legislative priorities will be included on the special session agenda and said in an advisory that such items “will be announced prior to the convening of the special session.”
Abbott has already said that he plans to ask state lawmakers to work on two priority elections and bail bills that died in the final hours of the regular legislative session after House Democrats walked out of the chamber.
More recently, Abbott has said the agenda for the Legislature’s overtime round will also include further restricting in schools the teaching of critical race theory, which refers to an academic discipline that explores the role racism plays in institutions and structures of governance. And during a teletownhall with supporters Tuesday evening, Abbott said he would add a call for legislation that would prevent certain social media companies from blocking or banning users based on their viewpoints. Legislation that sought to do so died during the regular session.
The GOP priority elections bill, known during the regular session as Senate Bill 7, was a sweeping piece of legislation that would have created new limitations to early voting hours and curbed local voting options like drive-thru voting, among other things.
Key terms:
- special session
- governor
- legislature
- quorum
- elections
- bail reform
- federal funds
- state budget
- line-item veto
- lieutenant governor
- speaker of the house
- ballot
