Texas lawmakers will return to Austin for a July special session

Texas Lawmakers will head back to Austin on July 8 for a special session of the state Legislature.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced the special session, which is expected to be one of at least two, on Tuesday. He did not say what items lawmakers will take up when they return to the Texas Capitol.

“Agenda items will be announced prior to the convening of the special session,” Abbott’s office said in a statement.

While Abbott didn’t lay out the agenda, he has previously announced some items he wants lawmakers to consider, including legislation dealing with bail and Texas elections — two of his emergency items that failed to pass before lawmakers adjourned in May. Abbott has also said lawmakers will be called back for redistricting and the allocation of federal COVID-19 relief dollars.

In a June 3 interview on Lubbock radio station KFYO, Abbott said he’d call a special session in September or October for redistricting and the distribution of the COVID-19 relief dollars. Before that, lawmakers would address “some of these issues that did not get across the finish line” in a separate special session, Abbott said on “The Chad Hasty Show.”

“I had publicly talked about two that will be on there automatically,” Abbott said. “That was two of my emergency items. One is election integrity reform, and the other is bail reform.”

The bills Abbott was referring to were killed in the session’s final day when House Democrats walked off the floor and broke quorum to block Senate Bill 7, an election bill that opponents would suppress voters. Supporters said it was needed for election integrity. Election officials have said there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.

Abbott has also said he’ll ask lawmakers to further address critical race theory. Abbott signed House Bill 3797, which deals with how educators teach current events, history and race, last week.

“House Bill 3979 is a strong move to abolish critical race theory in Texas, but more must be done,” Abbott said in a statement. “The issue will be added to a special session agenda.”

The regular legislative session ended May 31.

“Let’s get to work,” House Speaker Dade Phelan, a Beaumont Republican, said in a tweet.