Texas Legislative Session Nears End: Bills Die, Priorities Remain

Legislative Session Deadlines

• ⏰ The Texas legislative session is approaching its end, marked by a major deadline where many House bills that hadn't reached the floor by Friday morning died.
• 💡 Despite bills dying, there's a possibility they could be amended onto other bills that are still alive.

Key Bills and Their Status

• 📚 Bills concerning punishments for bookstores selling obscene material, a ban on forever chemicals, and cuts to DART funding appear to be dead.
• 🏫 A bill preventing school districts from splitting, similar to Keller ISD, also died but could be amended onto a Senate education bill.

Vouchers and School Funding

• 💰 Vouchers, a top priority, passed weeks ago, but school funding remains uncertain in the Senate.
• 🤝 Columnist Bud Kennedy predicts school funding will be held by Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick as collateral until he gets his demands met by the House.

Potential Special Session

• 🗓️ The Texas Constitution limits regular legislative sessions to 140 days, with the current session ending on June 2nd.
• 📢 Governor Abbott has the sole authority to call a special session, which he might do if his key priorities do not pass by the end of the regular session.