Time for the week that was in Texas politics with Emily Ramshaw, editor-in-chief of the Texas Tribune.
Week two of the legislative special session has ended and much of the power now rests with House Speaker Joe Straus. Ramshaw says embers of the House, unhappy about having to return to the Capitol for the special session, are “moving methodically” through each issue sent to them by the Senate.
First on the Senate’s agenda was the issue that prompted the special session to begin with: the sunset legislation, which reauthorizes several important state agencies. After moving swiftly through the Senate, it was sent to the House for quick action.
The Senate also passed most of the other items on the governor’s special session call, but Straus is in no hurry to pass most of these. The House has moved on anti-abortion and property tax items, but Ramshaw says that progress has stopped with the so-called “bathroom bills” favored by the governor and lieutenant governor.
The question now is whether Gov. Greg Abbott will call yet another special session to try and ram through items that don’t pass this time around. But Ramshaw says it’s unlikely Abbott would do so, if the bathroom bill was still on the table.
Listen to the full interview in the player above.
Written by Louise Rodriguez