Gov. Greg Abbott didn’t get everything he wanted in the special session. Will he call lawmakers back for more?
After nine months of the most conservative lawmaking Texas has seen in recent memory, legislators were confronting a daunting question Tuesday: Will Gov. Greg Abbott push them to go even further still?
Early Tuesday morning, both the House and Senate adjourned the third special session of the year, capping a grueling stretch that featured a weekslong Democratic walkout over the GOP’s priority elections bill and a series of proposals to build on what was already a triumphant regular session for conservatives.
But the latest special session ended without lawmakers passing two of Abbott’s priorities — legislation to increase an illegal-voting penalty and to ban vaccine mandates by any entity in Texas.
In each of the previous three legislative sessions this year, Abbott was firm that he would keep calling lawmakers back to Austin until they addressed the legislation he required of them — most notably the GOP elections bill and changes to the bail system targeting violent offenders. He placed a bill targeting transgender student athletes on each of the three special session agendas until it was finally passed in the most recent session.
On Monday night, as the chambers were nearing sine die, Abbott declined to say whether a fourth special session would be necessary. He also did not say anything Tuesday about the possibility, but he did issue a statement applauding lawmakers for their work in the third special session that suggested he was satisfied with what they had gotten done.
“These dynamic achievements would not have been possible without the men and women of the Texas House and Senate who worked tirelessly through the third Special Session to ensure these priorities made it across the finish line,” he said. “Because of their efforts, the future of Texas is stronger, safer, and freer.”
But the unfinished bills are fraught with intraparty politics and could expose Abbott to attacks from his right, which he has been increasingly attuned to as he prepares for his 2022 reelection campaign.
Some lawmakers expect there to be a fourth special session, but not in the short term — and maybe closer to primary season.
“We didn’t get all the governor’s mandates done,” state Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, said during a news conference Tuesday morning at the Capitol. “We did not get the elections bill on voting penalties, did not make it out, and then the grassroots have a couple other things that we didn’t do either … and so there are things that are a possibility. I don’t think [another special session] will be immediate. I agree there will probably be some time in there for leadership to hear from the grassroots on how much they really want this.”
Abbott had ordered lawmakers to increase the penalty for illegal voting after the elections bill he signed into law last month lowered it, which Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick blamed on a last-minute House change that went under the radar. Abbott had also asked lawmakers to pass legislation codifying his executive order earlier this month outlawing COVID-19 vaccine requirements by any entity in Texas, including private businesses.
But both agenda items quickly ran into high-powered opposition, with House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, balking at revisiting the elections bill and business groups rallying against the vaccine legislation.





