As the clock struck midnight on Tuesday, it meant the end of the legislative journey for several priorities that were subjected to parliamentary delay tactics and obfuscation by Democrat lawmakers wholly enabled by Republican leadership.
Of the priorities that died as a result of the deadline and delays were three priorities of Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick in Senate Bill 10, the ban on taxpayer-funded lobbying focused on local jurisdictions; Senate Bill 12, the bill relating to protections for free speech on social media platforms; and Senate Bill 29, related to fair sports for girls.
Early Wednesday morning, Patrick took to Twitter to convey his request that Gov. Greg Abbott call a June special session to address some of his legislative priorities that died in the House of Representatives last night.
A few hours later, Abbott released a statement indicating that “there’s still time remaining for the House and Senate to work together to get important conservative legislation to my desk. Members in both chambers need to be spending every minute of every day to accomplish that mission.”
Texas Scorecard reached out to all Republican House lawmakers to request their position on a special legislative session for the purposes ascribed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
The following Republican House lawmakers have since publicly stated their support for a special legislative session:
State Rep. Mayes Middleton (Galveston)
State Rep. Matt Schaefer (Tyler)
State Rep. Briscoe Cain (Deer Park)
State Rep. Matt Krause (Haslet)
State Rep. Matt Shaheen (Plano)
State Rep. Valoree Swanson (Spring)
State Rep. Steve Toth (The Woodlands)
State Rep. Cody Vasut (Angleton)
State Rep. James White (Hillister)
State Rep. Bryan Slaton (Royse City)
State Rep. Jeff Cason (Bedford)
State Rep. Jeff Leach (Allen)
State Rep. Tony Tinderholt (Arlington)
State Rep. Kyle Biedermann (Fredericksburg)
State Rep. Scott Sanford (McKinney)