(C) Texas Tribune This story was originally published by Texas Tribune and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Blast - July 9, 2025 [1] ['The Texas Tribune'] Date: 2025-07 6 days until the TEC and FEC filing deadlines 12 days until the first special session ABBOTT ISSUES HEFTY SPECIAL SESSION CALL Gov. Greg Abbott has set 18 items for the special session, including flood response, regulating THC — and congressional redistricting. The governor’s proclamation, formally issued today, sets a sweeping agenda for the 89(1) session, which begins July 21. There are several bipartisan topics on the call, but from a purely political perspective, putting flood response and redistricting means the chances of a quorum break just dropped. It’s a tough conversation as the wounds from the holiday weekend floods are still so fresh. More than 100 people are dead across the state, with more still missing. Before the flood, there were questions about how Abbott could lure enough Democrats back to the capitol to keep quorum for something as politically repugnant to them as trying to draw more GOP congressional seats. Now Democrats will be pressured to show up, lest they be accused of stifling efforts to address the flood recovery. House Democratic Leader Gene Wu of Houston criticized Abbott for politicizing the special session, which he said should be focused on floods. “House Democrats welcome the opportunity to pass meaningful flood relief,” Wu said. “But we will not allow this tragedy to be used as political cover for an extreme agenda that does nothing to help families get back on their feet.” Democrats aren’t just worried about redistricting. The call includes additional abortion crackdowns and banning taxpayer-funded lobbying. Plus, multiple Capitol observers point out that 18 items makes for an ambitious list to complete in 30 days. But even before the floods, House Democrats were having a hard time corralling enough members to break quorum given the additional penalties for playing hooky added after their 2021 quorum breaks. House rules added in 2023 penalize absent members with a daily fine and cuts to office funding. It would take 51 of the 62 House Democrats to break quorum. In the Senate, all 11 Democrats would have to stay united. Democrat lawmakers don’t have a plan yet, but some have privately floated a few possibilities, like having Senate Democrats take the lead or trading off which chamber breaks quorum from special session to special session. In theory, Democrats only need to punt on redistricting until the candidate filing deadline. But a quorum break might not even be the play this time. U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is paying attention, as is California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom who is potentially eyeing his own redistricting play. [END] --- [1] Url: https://thetexastribune.beehiiv.com/p/the-blast-july-9-2025-b8acbc191206e7f4 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/