Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s call for a special legislative session on July 8 sets the gathering months before it was expected and before funding is cut off for the legislature.
Abbott vetoed a section of the state budget that provides funding for the legislature to punish Democrats for blocking passage of a bill that adds restrictions to voting in the state.
The funding cutoff would begin Sept. 1, the beginning of the state’s fiscal year. Abbott had been expected to call the legislature into special session in the fall. By then, there would be no funding for legislative staff, research teams or committees that manage state business.
Abbott has not announced what subjects he will allow the legislature to consider, but he is expected to call for passage of the restrictions on voting and redistricting.
Texas’ crackdown on voting began after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a key section of the federal Voting Rights Act designed to prevent racial discrimination in voting in 2013. Texas and other Republican-controlled states in the South began requiring driver’s licenses, state-issued identification or other documentation to vote.
In 2017, an African-American woman named Crystal Mason was sentenced to five years in prison for voting, even though she voted for a Republican in 2016. Texas officials said she was disqualified from casting a provisional ballot because of a criminal conviction. Mason claimed she did not know she was disqualified from voting and that was why her ballot was provisional.
In the regular session, Republicans sought to pass Senate Bill 7 over Democratic objections. The bill would limit early voting hours, curtail local voting options and further tighten voting by mail, place restrictions on how local officials run elections, and allow partisan poll watchers to take part in monitoring voters.
The bill also added a new ID requirement for mail-in ballots.
The bill failed when Democrats walked out on May 31, the last day of the session, denying Republicans a quorum.
After that, Abbott vowed to veto funding for the state legislature as punishment for the Democrats.
True to his word, Abbott vetoed the funding, a move that raised questions about constitutionality.
“Funding should not be provided for those who quit their job early, leaving their state with unfinished business and exposing taxpayers to higher costs for an additional legislative session,” Abbott said in his veto statement. “I therefore object to and disapprove of these appropriations.”
Texas Democrats have sought help from Congress in passing a voting rights bill that would supersede state law. But Republicans and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia have blocked passage.
Abbott also said he was seeking further legislation in the special session to restrict how public school teachers talk about the state’s and nation’s history and racism.
Abbott has already signed House Bill 3979, banning discussion of Critical Race Theory, an academic discipline that views race as a social construct that has affected U.S. history.
"House Bill 3979 is a strong move to abolish critical race theory in Texas, but more must be done," Abbott said in the statement. "The issue will be added to a special session agenda."
