Abbott calls for special session to begin July 18

Gov. Greg Abbott reignited one of the most divisive issues in Texas politics Tuesday, calling lawmakers back to the state Capitol for a special session of the Legislature in part to consider a bill that would reinforce the state’s effort to regulate bathroom use by transgender people in public buildings.

An attempt during the regular session by conservative lawmakers and pastors to pass legislation to regulate bathroom use had been unsuccessful by the time the session ended on Memorial Day. But Abbott, a Republican, ordered a 30-day special session starting in July and put on the agenda a bathroom bill that would prevent municipalities from passing anti-discrimination ordinances designed to protect transgender people. The special session agenda also includes bills that would limit property taxes and keep several state agencies operating.

Opponents of bathroom restrictions, including moderate Republicans, say such rules are discriminatory and would cause economic damage similar to that in North Carolina last year after the state passed transgender bathroom restrictions that spurred widespread boycotts and the cancellation of concerts and sporting events. Supporters say the restrictions protect public safety and privacy in public buildings. They believe the predicted economic fallout has been exaggerated.

“At a minimum, we need a law that protects the privacy of our children in our public schools,” Abbott told reporters at the Capitol in Austin.

Chuck Smith, the chief executive of the gay rights group Equality Texas, said Abbott’s decision would harm already vulnerable transgender people.

“This is a 100 percent political issue, and the only reason for it is to target, demonize and stigmatize transgender people,” Smith said.

Abbott’s announcement was one of his most closely watched and controversial decisions since he took office in 2015, and his move to order lawmakers back to Austin starting on July 18 represented a flexing of his political muscle. Because the Legislature failed to pass the bill during the regular session, it effectively died; its only chance for survival had been a special session, and only a governor has the authority to convene one.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who led the push for the bathroom restrictions, praised what he called the “big and bold special session agenda,” which he said “solidly reflects the priorities of the people of Texas.”

Here’s what the governor also wants tackled as the Legislature enters overtime for the first time since 2013:

Abortion

The governor wants to prohibit taxpayer dollars from being used to fund abortions and to bar some insurance plans from covering the procedure. He also wants to strengthen regulations mandating that clinics and other health facilities report to state authorities all complications arising after abortions are performed, even though such complications are rare.

School vouchers

Abbott revived a voucher proposal offering taxpayer funding so some special education students can attend private school. The bill passed during the regular session in the Senate, which for years has championed school vouchers, but stalled in the House. There, Democrats and rural Republicans, who represent small districts where private schools are scarce and public ones are social and cultural hubs, have long teamed up to oppose vouchers in any form.

Other education policies

Abbott endorsed legislation that would increase teacher pay statewide by $1,000 and proposals giving school administrators more flexibility in hiring and retaining teachers. He also wants Texas to create a commission to study ways to fix its troubled school finance system after a bill that would have begun an actual revamp died during the regular session amid a House-Senate battle over vouchers.

Voter fraud

Abbott wants lawmakers to take another try at cracking down on what he called “mail-in ballot fraud.”

Maternal mortality

The governor wants to revive a bill that seeks to extend a special task force on maternal mortality from 2019 to 2023. A recent University of Maryland-led study found that Texas’ maternal mortality rate doubled between 2010 and 2012 and remains the highest in the nation — though it offered few explanations as to why.

Property tax cuts

The governor wants reductions in property taxes statewide and backed a plan that would require local governments to put proposals for hefty tax increases to voters. That referendum proposal was so bitterly opposed by municipal leaders that it largely derailed a more comprehensive property tax reform bill during the regular legislative session.

Local limits

The Legislature should cap state and local spending, prevent cities from restricting tree-cutting practices on private land and bar local governments from modifying rules on construction projects once they’ve begun, Abbott said. He also wants to speed up local governmental permitting processes, limit cities’ ability to annex surrounding territory and expand an already approved statewide ban on texting while driving to supersede a “patchwork” of existing local prohibitions previously adopted around Texas.

Union dues

The governor is reviving an effort stalled during the regular session to end voluntary payroll deductions of union dues from state and public employee paychecks.

End of life care

Abbott wants to bring back a bill that failed to pass during the regular session seeking to restrict when do-not-resuscitate orders can be carried out on terminally ill patients.

Agency operations

Abbott said lawmakers can only beian working on all the other items he asked for after the Senate has approved a series of logistical bills allowing several state agencies to continue functioning. Those proposals passed the House but died in the Senate during the regular session. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who oversees the Senate, said as the regular session was ending that he was effectively forcing Abbott to call a special session by not passing them — now he’s gotten his wish.

This report includes information from The New York Times and The Associated Press.

This story was originally published June 7, 2017 at 10:03 AM with the headline "Abbott calls for special session to begin July 18."