Texas special session: SMU expert expects 'gamesmanship' for preventing quorum break
SMU expert on redistricting effect on special session
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DALLAS - Texas lawmakers will hold their first joint committee meeting next Wednesday to start to discuss ways to prevent another deadly flood disaster.
The Disaster Preparedness and Flooding Committee will be part of the special session. So far, nine senators and nine representatives have been placed on the panel.
The committee will visit Kerrville at the end of the month to get input from residents affected by the flood. That special session in Austin starts next Monday.
Texas special session issues
While the response to the flood is a major focus, a big fight is brewing over other issues. Before the historic flood, the only summer scuffle expected was over consumable THC in Texas.
Now, Gov. Greg Abbott has a packed special session agenda, including redistricting, which could have national implications.
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FOX 4 spoke with SMU political science expert Dr. Matthew Wilson about what can be expected in the coming session.
What they're saying:
"Obviously, the floods in Central Texas now have to be dealt with. And then also the pressure from Washington to do redistricting. So those were two things that were kind of dropped in the lap of the Texas legislature that they didn't initially anticipate that are gonna make this special session a bigger production than we may have initially thought," Wilson said.
The response to the flood is expected to be the easiest part of the 30-day session, but it will be quickly followed by the THC fight, which is likely to be more challenging. Abbott vetoed SB 3, which would have banned almost all THC in the state, instead opting for regulation at the last moment.
"He clearly wants some restrictions, but restrictions on a smaller scope than what the lieutenant governor envisions. And so I think that's what's going to have to be hashed out. Is there going to be a kind of comprehensive, strict restriction and regulation of these products, or is it going to a much looser, more permissive regulation regime? And the lieutenant governor clearly favors a much stricter, broader set of restrictions. The governor wants something more modest," Wilson said.
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Other topics on the special session agenda include property tax cuts, abortion restrictions and eliminating the STAAR test, but by far the biggest fight will be over redistricting.
Districts have already been redrawn in Texas, and it's not illegal to do a redraw at the present moment, but Wilson says the move coming outside typical redistricting times could hint at Washington’s apprehension ahead of the midterm elections.
"I think it definitely signals that the White House and the Republican leadership on Capitol Hill are nervous about the midterms. And why wouldn't they be? I mean, they have a tiny majority. We know that the president's party typically doesn't do well in midterm elections. So they're at real risk of losing their majority on Capitol Hill. And if they can squeeze a few more seats out of places like Texas and Ohio, that might make the difference between a small Republican majority versus a small Democratic majority," Wilson said.
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Recent reporting suggests that some Democratic leaders have urged Texas Democrats to attempt a quorum break - a rare move in which members of a party walk out of a session to reduce the quorum to a number too low to pass legislation. The question is, with the emotional flood disaster response and the controversial THC fight, is such a move feasible just for the redistricting portion of the session?
"Depends on what order they consider these things in. I mean, that's a strategic calculus. If I were the Republican leadership in Austin, I would put redistricting first, because if you have the flood relief stuff out of the way, then Democrats will feel like, well, we took care of that, we can leave, right? We can have more luxury to do a sort of quorum break. Whereas if you put redistricting up front and Democrats break quorum, then Republicans can say, look, Democrats won't let us get to the flood relief. Because they fled to wherever, Oklahoma and New Mexico. So there'll be some gamesmanship involved with how things are sequenced and scheduled in the legislature," Wilson said.
What's next:
Wilson says it is possible lawmakers won't pass everything the governor wants in the 30-day limit on a special session, prompting a possible second special session.
The Source: Information in this article came from Matthew Wilson and previous FOX 4 reporting.