The House and Senate have adjourned for their last day to pass bills. Tomorrow is Sine Die, the last day of the 87th Regular Session. Only corrections in the House and Senate are anticipated.
As the midnight deadline approached for the House and Senate to either concur on amendments or adopt conference committee reports, the House adjourned abruptly when quorum was lost as the House was deliberating on the CCR of SB 7 (Hughes/Cain).
House Speaker Dade Phelan issued this statement on the events:
“Today, on the second to last day of session, a number of members have chosen to disrupt the legislative process by abandoning the legislative chamber before our work was done,” Phelan said in a statement. “In doing so, these members killed a number of strong, consequential bills with broad bipartisan support including legislation to ban no-knock warrants, reform our bail system, and invest in the mental health of Texans – items that their colleagues and countless advocates have worked hard to get to this point. Texans shouldn’t have to pay the consequences of these members’ actions — or in this case, inaction — especially at a time when a majority of Texans have exhibited clear and express support for making our elections stronger and more secure.”
Texas House Democratic Caucus Chris Turner issued the following statement:
“The 67 members of the House Democratic Caucus have been fighting SB7 — the Republican anti-voter legislation — all year long. Tonight, we finished that fight.
“Ahead of a midnight deadline to pass legislation, dozens of Democratic Members were prepared to give speeches against this measure, which is designed to disenfranchise and discriminate against Texans. We were determined to run out the clock. It became obvious Republicans were going to cut off debate to ram through their vote suppression legislation. At that point, we had no choice but to take extraordinary measures to protect our constituents and their right to vote.
“Republicans have only themselves to blame for the way this Session is ending.”
Governor Greg Abbott issued the following statement:
“I declared Election Integrity and Bail Reform to be must-pass emergency items for this legislative session. It is deeply disappointing and concerning for Texans that neither will reach my desk. Ensuring the integrity of our elections and reforming a broken bail system remain emergencies in Texas. They will be added to the special session agenda. Legislators will be expected to have worked out the details when they arrive at the Capitol for the special session.”
The Texas Legislative Statistics show at this point that out of 6,927 House and Senate bills filed, 994 House and Senate bills have passed (this number may increase slightly). Last session at a similar point statistics showed 1,365 had passed which increased to 1,429.
Details on final statistics, including a spotlight on legislation passed out of the 87th Regular Session, and an update on bill signings will be published in the following days and weeks.
- The House will reconvene tomorrow at 10:00 a.m.
- The Senate will reconvene tomorrow at 10:30 a.m.