Following week two of the special session, the Senate is speeding through the agenda, while the House is just passing the priority legislation. Here is what is going on in the two chambers:
Senate reaches a “milestone” with 18 bills in one week
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, president of the Senate, tweeted a news release, acknowledging the hard work of the Senate and highlighted three bills he found most important.
“In the past week, they have logged almost 57 hours in committee hearings and over 33 hours on the Senate Floor to pass 18 bills on the Special Session call,” Patrick said, calling the week a “milestone.”
Patrick also tweeted a list of bills passed in the Senate chamber this week. Of the 18 passed, the most controversial bills on the agenda was the “bathroom bill.”
Following the week, the Senate took a recess Thursday, but continued work on Friday.
House of Representatives clears second “sunset legislation” bill
The House passed House Bill 1 and House Bill 2, the two bills which would fund The Texas Sunset Advisory Commission. The Senate passed this measure two days into the special session, which has allowed them to advance on all the other items on the governor’s list.
Lawmakers are starting to notice the difference in speeds of the two chambers. While the Senate is almost done, the House is just starting.
On July 24, Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington, challenged House Speaker Joe Straus, from the back mic.
“The gov. has 19 or 20 items, and we are mucking up the system,” Tinderholt said. “We have 21 days.”
Tinderholt, as well as other Representatives, are confused at the speaker’s scheduling and speed on the timely issues. The criticism comes from the piling bills that have yet to be referred to its proper committees.
What’s left?
The House will be passing its own legislation on the issues Gov. Greg Abbott has listed. The Senate has passed bills referring to almost all the items on that list, however there are still legislation to vote on.
The House Calendars and the Senate calendars can be found on the capitol’s website and are updated with daily logs to see what bills are voted on.
With three weeks left, the opportunity to complete all 20 items is still possible.
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Week two of the special session wraps up
July 31, 2017
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