Texas Legislature Ends Second Overtime Session
AUSTIN — The second overtime session of the 89th Texas Legislature ended with a majority of Gov. Greg Abbott’s demands for lawmakers reaching his desk. Among the biggest priorities for the governor were passing a new congressional map, at the request of President Donald Trump, that could net Republicans five seats in the 2026 midterm elections. Lawmakers also sent Abbott several measures in response to the catastrophic Hill Country floods over the July 4 weekend and other bills long-desired by conservatives.
However, not all the bills reached Abbott’s desk before lawmakers in the House and Senate adjourned the second special session. In total, Abbott requested lawmakers send him bills for 24 agenda items and 16 reached his desk. Here is a list of some of the bills that lawmakers approved or that ultimately died.
Congressional Redistricting
The decision to redraw the congressional districts in Texas led to a revolt from Democrats in Texas – and across the country. It led to dozens of Texas Democrats fleeing the state to deny the House a quorum and freeze all legislative activity for two weeks. Democrats accused the map drawers of “cracking and packing” non-white voters to dilute their voting power.
The map accomplished what Trump wanted: the chance at gaining five Republican seats in next-year’s midterm elections, increasing the odds Republicans will maintain control of the U.S. House for the final two years of Trump’s term. State Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, authored House Bill 4, which contained the map, and he was able to accomplish what Republicans foresee as a the five-seat shift in part by redistributing Black and Hispanic eligible voters presumed to vote for Democrats into either strong Democratic districts or into strong Republican districts.
Republicans denied repeatedly they took race into account when redrawing the map. The quorum break by House Democrats did not stop the map from reaching Abbott’s desk. As a result of the quorum break, Republicans introduced measures to have harsher penalties for lawmakers to try and prevent lawmakers from halting legislative action in the future.
Flooding Bills
Following the deadly floods, which killed at least 137 people, including 27 campers and staffers from Camp Mystic, the governor asked for numerous measures, including warning systems and legislation addressing camp safety. The four bills that passed include new safety requirements and floodplain regulations for youth camps and other riverside tourist areas, funding for outdoor emergency flood sirens, emergency appropriations for disaster response projects and pulling money from the state’s rainy day fund for disaster relief.
STAAR Test
House Bill 8, by Rep. Brad Buckley, R-Salado, accomplished the goal of ending the mandatory Texas STAAR test for public school students in two years. A measure seeking to end the annual test for students failed during the regular session. The STAAR test, which is for students in third through eighth grades and covers multiple subjects, would be replaced by three smaller exams throughout the school year, starting in the 2027-28 school year.
Abortion Pill
State Republicans were successful in their efforts to further limit the avenues for Texans who are seeking abortions by limiting the use of abortion pills. House Bill 7, by Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Allen, would allow citizens to have a hand in the enforcement of the abortion ban, under the same framework that was used in Texas’ 2021 abortion ban.
The bill targeted an abortion pathway that anti-abortion advocates and lawmakers have so far struggled to close. It is already illegal to ship abortion pills into Texas because state law prohibits nearly all abortions. However, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has found it difficult to stop pills from crossing into state lines.
Bathroom Ban
Senate Bill 8, by Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, would prohibit government entities such as cities, counties, school districts and universities from adopting policies that would allow transgender people to use bathroom facilities of the gender they identify as. The bill also extends to facilities in state agencies and state correctional facilities.
The bill does not lay out any instructions for law enforcement agencies in Texas. The bill empowers Texas residents to file a complaint with the Texas attorney general’s office to investigate the agency or municipality. The measure does not create a new state crime or affect private businesses or entities.
Quorum Break Measures
Seeking to prevent future quorum breaks, Republicans increased the punishments for lawmakers who break quorum and also prevented them from fundraising while actively breaking quorum. House Bill 18, by Rep. Matt Shaheen, R-Prosper, would ban any state lawmaker absent for the purposes of impeding legislative action from accepting campaign contributions greater than $221 — the amount senators and representatives receive as a daily per diem during a regular or special session.
THC Regulations
Among Abbott’s top priorities and one of the issues that triggered the special sessions was the the burgeoning unregulated hemp-derived THC market – which has thrived for years with no uniform testing requirements, no age limits on purchase, and no packaging or marketing restrictions. Two items on his list addressed the issue.
One was for lawmakers to craft a regulatory framework similar to that the state uses to regulate alcohol – with limits on who can sell, as well as when and where they can sell, age limits, packaging and testing requirements, open-container laws and more. The other, apparently offered as an alternative, was a simple 21-and-up limit on who could buy and possess low-dose THC items.
