Second Special Session Begins ... Without a Quorum. Will They Return?

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00:00 / 00:09:14

Second Called Special Legislative Session Begins

The second special session began (Saturday, 8/7) and, once again, the Texas House of Representatives did not have a quorum (the attendance necessary to conduct legislative business).
In contrast, the Texas Senate had all of its members present and moved immediately to refer bills to committees and suspend certain rules to allow those bills to be considered in committee over the weekend. By the end of the weekend, the Senate committees have already considered 12 bills relating to issues on Gov. Greg Abbott’s special session agenda.
Expect this week that the Senate will continue with that fast pace.

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Prospects for a Quorum Grow in the Texas House

When the House attempted to convene on the first day of the second special session (Saturday, 8/7), they still lacked a quorum. Notably, a few Democrat lawmakers who had previously helped bust quorum in the last special session were present this time.
One of those lawmakers, State Rep. Eddie Lucio III (D–Brownsville), indicated that he believed several of his Democrat colleagues would return within the week, and there would be a quorum again.
This correlates with reports that at least 22 of the absent Democrat lawmakers will be remaining in Washington, D.C., to continue to lobby the U.S. Congress and Senate for their consideration of federal legislation relating to elections.
In the event a quorum is re-established in the House of Representatives, it’s likely that the politics will be precarious and that the order by which the House considers policy issues on Gov. Greg Abbott’s agenda will be important (so Democrats do not attempt to break quorum again).

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