Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will continue to call “special session after special session” in efforts to force fleeing democrats to return home and consider voting legislation.
“By leaving the state, Democrats walked out on Texans and critical issues in the special session agenda to provide property tax relief, fund out retired teachers, protect our foster children, and secure our southern border,” Renae Eze, the governor’s press secretary, told Fox News. “If they didn’t want to do their job to debate and vote on the issues, they shouldn’t have run for office.”
“Governor Abbott will continue working with the members in Austin and fighting for the future of our state, calling special session after special session to ensure this critical legislation is passed,” she added.
As reported by Human Events News, at least 59 Texas House democrats left the state last month to deny the republican-controlled legislature the quorum needed to pass voting legislation.
The democrats flew out on two chartered planes to Washington D.C, and will have to remain out of state until the end of the week to avoid voting during the 30-day special legislative session, which is set to expire on August 6. However, lawmakers are already planning to extend their stay in Washington.
“Many of us are willing to extend our time in D.C. and away from Austin,” state Rep. Ron Reynolds told Fox News. “The biggest concern is many of us have spouses and children. We would be away from our families for a longer period of time. We have businesses, or work to earn a living to be able to work as state legislators.”
The agenda for the special session includes 11 bills from the previous session, including a bill which seeks to “reduce the likelihood of fraud in the conduct of elections.”
Similar to the one passed in Georgia, the Texas election law would ban curbside voting, limit dropbox usage and create new requirements for early voting. Additionally, it would ban unsolicited vote-by-mail applications and ballot harvesting.
Other bills include concerns on whether schools can teach critical race theory, and one that would prohibit people from providing “abortion-inducing drugs by mail or delivery service.”
