North Texas Lawmakers weigh in on special session's trending topics
Lawmakers honor Texas flood victims in special session
As lawmakers remembered the victims in the Texas Hill Country flood, today was the starting bell for fights on other topics including THC and redistricting.
AUSTIN, Texas - As lawmakers remembered the victims in the Texas Hill Country flood, today was the starting bell for fights on other topics, including THC and redistricting.
What we know:
The late July special session is now underway as the victims of the 4th of July flood in Central Texas were top of mind.
Lawmakers wore green in memory of the victims from Camp Mystic.
FOX 4’s Steven Dial spoke to North Texas Republicans and Democrats about how the legislature might go about adding safety measures.
North Texas lawmakers on special session agenda
What they're saying:
State Rep. David Spiller of HD 68 in Jacksboro was asked if a siren system would be one of the best solutions in response to the flooding.
"I think it'll probably be a combination of several things, and they may apply not just to flooding, but to any natural disasters, whether it be tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, or anything of that sort. And I know from living in a rural community. We rely on that information and so it may be various ways that we increase and address those issues," said Spiller.
Rep. David Spiller
State Rep. Chris Turner of HD 101 in Arlington was more swayed by a siren system proposal.
"I hope it will be that, that we will have a meaningful response to the enormous tragedy that occurred in Central Texas, and that we will take steps to see that future tragedies do not cause that level of loss of life. But the truth is, Greg Abbott has the power as governor to provide immediate relief to the Texas Hill Country. He should have done that already. He has used his budget authority many times in the past to do just that," said Turner.
Rep. Chris Turner
Texas redistricting
Dig deeper:
Governor Abbott has the sole authority to set the agenda for a special session and, although the flood response has dominated the news cycle, congressional redistricting has the potential to shake up congress.
President Trump wants state lawmakers to redraw districts, in an effort to add as many as five republican seats.
"Well, what's happening is Greg Abbott is surrendering our state away to Donald Trump. Donald Trump has ordered the governor to redraw the Congressional districts because Trump wants to evade accountability for his actions as president," said Turner.
Congressional redistricting committee
Multiple North Texas lawmakers were appointed to the congressional redistricting committee, including Arlington’s Turner and Jacksboro’s Spiller. Both were asked about President Trump’s comments regarding wanting to add five more seats in Texas.
"I have no idea. We haven't looked at any of that data. I'm new on redistricting, and so we're going to look at all that and give it due consideration," said Spiller.
FOX 4 asked both representatives if redistricting is even a need for the state right now.
"I think we're going to determine that when we have these hearings. I know the governor put it on the call. That's why we're handling it. I think that we'll listen to a lot of testimony from a lot of folks, and we're going to have the opportunity to do that," said Spiller.
"The fact that he's asking the legislature to do the special session really is unfortunately window dressing for his real objective, which is to do what Donald Trump is telling him to do on congressional redistricting. And that is a real shame to use that tragedy for that purpose," said Turner.
What's next:
Gov. Abbott has lawmakers going back to the drawing board on consumable THC. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wants a total ban, and Gov. Abbott is calling for a ban on THC for people under 21 and more regulations.
The Source: Information in this article was provided from interviews conducted by FOX 4's Steven Dial.