(C) Texas Tribune This story was originally published by Texas Tribune and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Blast: Lawmakers ain’t had enough yet [1] [] Date: 2023-06 150 DAYS SOUNDS BETTER THAN 140 ANYWAY Here we are on the eve of sine die, with the House and Senate all but set to meet for a special session that could start as soon as Tuesday. There’s no official word, but the chatter in the Capitol is that Gov. Greg Abbott will call a 10-day special session, which should give the Legislature enough time to tie up their loose ends — except for matters like school choice. Vacations and family plans will have to wait. During his state of the state address, Abbott listed seven emergency items: cutting property taxes, ending COVID-19 restrictions, school vouchers, school safety, bail reform, border security and combating fentanyl. Of those seven, only COVID-19 mandate bans, fentanyl and school safety crossed the regular session’s finish line. Lawmakers also seemed to settle on a partial win on power grid legislation. Lawmakers were taking late action on major bills today, so that narrative has shifted some, but many sounded resigned to working overtime. Some lawmakers took the likelihood of a session detention in stride. While discussing Senate Bill 17, the bill restricting DEI in higher ed, Senate Education Committee Chair Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, joked with Dallas Democratic Sen. Royce West that the pair could discuss concerns about the representation of students of color in higher ed with stakeholders “in the interim, if we have one.” “Let me explore this a little further. Why would we have an interim?” West asked, to crickets from Creighton. In the House, there were more antics from Rep. Terry Canales, an Edinburg Democrat who dropped multiple sarcastic comments during the Ken Paxton proceedings over the past week. “Mr. Speaker, will I be recognized for a motion to sine die myself?” Canales asked Rep. Craig Goldman in the middle of the items eligible calendar. There were grumblings from other members who weren’t as pleased about running into overtime. Rep. Tony Tinderholt — an outspoken Arlington Republican who repeatedly protested the House’s early adjournments and long weekends in the first weeks of the session — said, in a way, I told you so. “We should be going home. People should be with their families, with their constituents. We were going home early all the time,” Tinderholt told The Blast. “It’s disappointing, very disappointing. It’s too easy to come here for 140 days and get work done. It’s just easy.” So what’s the verdict? Did the sine surprise impeachment kill some priority measures? The consensus seems to be, no, not really. As of this afternoon, it sounds like lawmakers were close to deals on several topics, but far apart on other key measures. The grid and property taxes look like good candidates for next week’s special session. Still, the House began its day yesterday with four hours of impeachment proceedings, and the Senate adjourned before the House had taken its vote — possibly avoiding having to answer questions about a Paxton trial. Grid bills, property taxes and the Chapter 313 replacement all appeared to die at midnight when lawmakers failed to deliver conference reports. With that said, lawmakers this evening have reached an apparent deal on House Bill 5, the replacement to economic incentives from Chapter 313, and Senate Bill 2627, the grid bill that was in question as recently as this afternoon. [END] --- [1] Url: https://mailchi.mp/texastribune/the-blast-lawmakers-aint-had-enough-yet Published and (C) by Texas Tribune Content appears here under this condition or license: Used with Permission: https://www.texastribune.org/republishing-guidelines/. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/texastribune/