AUSTIN, Texas – Tuesday marked the start of a 30-day special session in the Texas Legislature. It will tackle Gov. Greg Abbott’s priority items, which include school finance and the controversial “bathroom bill."
To get to the 20 items in 30 days, state lawmakers will have to first find some level of cooperation. Disagreements that have built up continued on day one of the special session.
San Antonio state Rep. Ina Minjarez, D-District 124, is among a group of representatives who plan to spend the next month backing a push to repeal something not currently on the agenda: the already-passed sanctuary cities ban.
“It’s a bad bill for Texas,” Minjarez said. “It’s a bad bill for business.”
“Things that are not on the call are less on my radar screen right now,” said state Rep. Larry Gonzales, R-District 52.
Gonzales chairs the Sunset Commission. Item No. 1 for both chambers of the Legislature is passing sunset legislation to keep five separate state agencies in existence. It’s something the Legislature failed to do during the regular session.
“The purpose for which we've been called is the sunset bill, and that is my 100 percent focus right now,” Gonzales said.
Opponents of the sanctuary cities ban have the ambitious hope of getting the repeal effort to the full House and Senate within the next month.
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