Halfway Through: A Stalled Special Session in the Texas House

Estimated Time to Read: 6 minutes

As of today, we’ve officially reached the halfway point (Day 15) of the maximum 30-day window allotted for the ongoing special legislative session in Texas. While the Texas Senate has been somewhat active in moving some legislation through the legislative process and holding committee hearings, the Texas House of Representatives has yet to consider any legislation on the floor. The inaction has become particularly pronounced following today’s denial of quorum by a majority of House Democrats, a move designed to prevent a vote on House Bill 4, the proposed mid-decade congressional redistricting plan.

So, where do all of the items on Governor Greg Abbott’s (R) special session agenda stand, and what does the inaction mean for the second half of the special session?

Governor Abbott’s Special Session Agenda

Agenda Item	Passed Senate	Passed House
Flood Preparedness	❌	❌
Emergency Communication	❌	❌
Disaster Relief Funding	❌	❌
Streamlining Disaster Regulations	❌	❌
Education Reform	❌	❌
Property Tax Relief	🚧	❌
Hemp Product Age Limit	✔️	❌
Comprehensive Hemp Regulation	✔️	❌
Abortion Pill Enforcement	❌	❌
Ban on Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying	✔️	❌
Anti-Trafficking Protections	❌	❌
Law Enforcement Privacy	🚧	❌
Sex-Segregated Spaces	🚧	❌
Election Integrity Amendment	✔️	❌
Congressional Redistricting	❌	🚧
Deed Fraud Protections	🚧	❌
Water-Efficient Development Incentives	❌	❌
Judicial Branch Administration	❌	❌

A House Without Action

Despite Governor Abbott’s special session agenda containing multiple legislative priorities, the Texas House has not debated or passed a single bill. In fact, only one item on the Governor’s call has been scheduled for floor consideration, the mid-decade Congressional redistricting effort, which was thwarted today by a lack of quorum or attendance from several House lawmakers themselves.

To date:

• Only one piece of legislation (related to congressional redistricting) has been considered in any House committees.
• The only other House committee activity has come in the form of joint hearings between the House Select Committee on Disaster Preparedness and Flooding and its Senate counterpart. These two joint meetings did not consider any pending legislation.

Today’s walkout by Democrat members made that inaction even more visible. By fleeing the state, some to Illinois and others to New York, House Democrats successfully broke quorum and blocked a scheduled debate on House Bill 4, the mid-decade redistricting proposal. The political maneuver echoes past tactics used to stall contentious legislation, most notably in 2021 when Democrats left the state to delay voting on election integrity-related legislation.

House Quorum Denied

The following 57 Democrat House lawmakers were shown not present when the House attempted to convene on Monday:

Names highlighted in yellow are either Chairmen or Vice-Chairmen of both Committees and Subcommittees of the Texas House of Representatives.
* State Rep. Sergio Muñoz Jr. (D-Mission) was reportedly present but did not record a vote while attendance was recorded

Various motions of procedure were entertained by Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock), and as a result, a “Call of the House” was implemented, and civil arrest warrants are set to be issued for lawmakers not present or without an excused absence.

The House is scheduled to attempt to convene again on Tuesday, August 5th, pending a quorum.

What Has the Senate Done?

In contrast to the inactivity in the House, the Texas Senate has done what it typically does: move fairly quickly and efficiently on a handful of items. They have already passed three bills out of the upper chamber completely:

• Senate Bill 5: Regulations on THC derived from hemp
• Senate Bill 11: Expanded prosecutorial authorities for the Attorney General
• Senate Bill 12: Ban on Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying

The Senate Special Committee on Redistricting has held a few Austin-based hearings, but has thus far not considered the congressional redistricting bill. The Senate Committee on Local Government passed Senate Bill 9, relating to the calculation of the voter-approval tax rate, and the Senate Business and Commerce Committee passed Senate Bill 15, relating to the recording requirements for certain documents concerning real property. The Senate State Affairs Committee considered Senate Bill 7, relating to the designation and use of certain spaces and facilities according to biological sex, and Senate Bill 14, relating to certain files maintained by a law enforcement agency, on Monday. None of these bills has been considered by the overall Senate.

The Clock is Ticking

With just 15 days remaining, the House faces mounting pressure to act. If leadership and committee chairs fail to convene, conduct hearings, and move legislation to the floor, the session could end with virtually no progress on the Governor’s stated priorities.

The legislative process, even at its most efficient, takes time: notice requirements, public testimony, amendments, and floor debate. Barring any extraordinary procedural maneuvers, the window to move legislation through both chambers is quickly narrowing.

If House Democrats continue to deny quorum and House leadership declines to pivot to other parts of the agenda, it’s likely we’ll reach August 20 with little more than a few committee hearings to show for a month-long session. Whether or not Governor Abbott continues to call special sessions afterward remains to be seen.

Final Thoughts: So Far, All Hat, No Cattle

At the halfway point, this special session has largely produced more headlines than results. The Texas Senate is doing its part, moving priority legislation and holding hearings. The House, however, has not held a single vote on the floor nor considered bills in committee. With today’s denial of quorum by House Democrats, the session’s prospects have only grown dimmer.

For those hoping to see real legislative outcomes, whether in the form of redistricting, tax reform, or restoring public trust in government, the current trajectory is disappointing.

Texans deserve a Legislature that shows up and does the work.

Let’s see if the second half of this session can turn things around, but with the clock ticking, it’s going to take more than political theater to produce meaningful results.

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