The Texas Legislature worked diligently during the 140 day Regular Legislative Session, but was not able to complete all the essential legislation required to assist in balancing the state’s budget. As a result, on May 30th Governor Rick Perry called a Special Session of the 82nd Legislature which began promptly the following day on May 31st.
Special sessions are different in many ways from the Regular Session established by the Texas Constitution. The Constitution requires the legislature to meet every two years for a 140 days beginning on the second Tuesday in January. In contrast, a special session can only be called by the Governor and is to only last a maximum of 30 days. When a special session is called, the Governor is tasked with designating the itinerary to be addressed by the Texas Legislature. To date the call by the Governor includes:
• Legislation relating to fiscal matters which are necessary for the application of House Bill No. 1 as passed by the 82nd Legislature (biannual budget), Regular Session, and the call includes measures that will allow school districts to operate more efficiently.
• Legislation relating to healthcare cost control, access to services through managed care, and the creation of economic and structural incentives to improve the quality of Medicaid services.
• Congressional Redistricting; every ten years the United States Census takes a count of each states population and reapportions the appropriate number of Congressional seats to each state. In the 2010 census Texas received four new Congressional seats as a result of the state’s substantial population growth, taking the state from 32 seats to 36 seats. As a result of the shifts in population the Texas Legislature is tasked with redrawing the state’s Congressional map.
• Legislation pertaining to the operation of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA).
There are a number of important rule changes in the Texas House to be acquainted with because of the compressed nature of the special session. One of the key rules to keep in mind is that the posting rule or notice to the public goes from 5 days during the regular session to 24 hours for a special session. Because of this rule change, it is important to check the committee schedules on regular basis. An additional key rule change to be aware of is the decrease in time required for a calendar to layout. During a regular session, House rules require that a calendar of bills for voting layout 36 hours prior to the bills being considered on the House floor. In a special session, the layout period decreases to 24 hours. These rule changes are necessary to allow for the adequate flow of legislation to be handled through the special session.
Though the legislature is limited by the Governor’s call for any bills which may be addressed, the Governor’s call does not prevent the Texas House from taking up House Resolutions (HR) or House Concurrent Resolutions (HCR). The HRs are most often used to recognize individuals or groups for an achievement or to memorialize an individual, and HCRs are filed generally to create joint interim committees. It is because of the limited nature of these types of legislation that prevents them from being required in the Governors’ call.
If you would like to follow any of the bills which have been filed for the special legislative session, these websites are a great resource:
• The Texas Legislature .
• The Texas House of Representatives .
• The Texas Senate .
If you have questions or comments regarding any of the information provided in this article, please do not hesitate to call my Capitol or District Office. As always, my offices are available at any time to assist with questions, concerns or comments (Capitol Office, 512-463-0672; District Office, 361-949-4603).
