Gov. Greg Abbott calls special session to pass property tax cuts, says other sessions will follow

Once again, a tumultuous Texas legislative session has shuddered to a close. And, once again, Gov. Greg Abbott has resuscitated it in a bid to see his priorities get to the finish line.

On Monday night, Abbott called on lawmakers to begin an immediate special session, saying they hadn’t passed key bills he’d identified as priorities. In a statement, the Republican governor said cutting property taxes and increasing penalties for human smuggling will be the focus on a special session that kicked off at 9 p.m. that night.

School vouchers — the priority on which Abbott spent the most political capital this session — were notably absent from that list. However, the governor also stated that he expects to require multiple special sessions to address “critical items” that didn’t make it to the finish line.

At the start of the session Abbott and other GOP lawmakers were unified in their desire to carve out a substantial part of Texas’ $32.7 billion budget surplus to cut property taxes. However, House and Senate leadership disagreed on what approach to take, and the session closed Monday without an agreement.

“Texans want and need a path towards eliminating property taxes,” Abbott said in his statement. “The best way to do that is to direct property tax reduction dollars to cut school property tax rates.”

Abbott also said he expects lawmakers to pass legislation targeting human smuggling by “increasing or enhancing the penalties for certain criminal conduct involving the smuggling of persons or the operation of a stash house.”

Under Texas law, only the governor can call a special session — something Abbott did three times during the end of the 2021 legislative session. During a special session, legislators can only pass bills tied to the governor’s agenda.

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This article appears in May 17-30, 2023.