Gridlock in the Texas Legislature prevented Gov. Greg Abbott from signing most of the items on his “20-for-20” agenda. | Wikimedia Commons
With just days remaining in the first-called special session, the Texas Legislature is working on several measures that Gov. Greg Abbott wants to pass: property tax legislation, funding for public schools and retired teacher insurance, according to the Texas Tribune.
On Friday, Abbott signed his first bills of the special session, which began July 18 after the Legislature failed to send to his office must-pass legislation that would continue to provide funding for the Texas Medical Board, according to the Texas Tribune’s coverage.
Abbott also signed a measure that requires a signature verification process for early ballots and punishes mail-in voter fraud with up to 10 years in prison, according to the Austin American-Statesman.
The bills are two out of his “20-for-20” agenda he announced at the beginning of the special session, which Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick pushed Abbott to call in order to vote on the controversial bathroom bill. That measure, which would regulate what bathrooms transgender Texans can use, appears to be dead, according to Reuters.
The Austin-American Statesman’s coverage reported that two other bills are heading to Abbott for consideration are H.B. 13, which requires emergency health care providers to report complications from abortions and call for the Health and Human Services Commission to publish the data
H.B. 214 would ban abortion coverage through the Affordable Care Act and allow private insurers to offer such coverage.
Abbott would not rule out calling a second special session if the Legislature failed to pass further statutes, according to WFAA.
