Gov. Abbott calls Texas Lege back for an unprecedented fourth special session

Apparently, Gov. Greg Abbott isn’t having much luck ramming through his agenda, even with both chambers of the Texas Legislature controlled by the GOP.

As widely expected, Texas’ Republican governor has called the Lege back for a fourth special session. The prior 30-day special session sputtered to a close Tuesday with little to show but a high-profile pissing match between House Speaker Dade Phelan and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who controls the Senate.

Predictably, school vouchers are on Abbott’s new agenda. The governor has staked enormous amounts political capital on pushing vouchers but has faced consistent and bipartisan pushback in the Texas House. Polling also shows Texas voters don’t consider vouchers a top educational concern.

On his latest priorities list, Abbott ties passage of vouchers to boosting school funding. He also said he wants lawmakers to pass stiff penalties for people crossing the Texas-Mexico border without documents and allocate more money for border security operations.

Abbott’s demand for a fourth special session marks the first time a governor has done so in the Lege’s 176-year-history, according to the Texas Tribune, which described the mood inside the state capitol as “dour.”

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This article appears in Nov 1-14, 2023.