There's just one week in the current Texas legislative session. KUT's Ben Philpott has this guide to what's coming up as lawmakers rush to complete their work.
In the final week…we have the final round of deadlines. Here are the big ones.
Tuesday is the final day the House can take a preliminary vote on a Senate Bill. And all senate bills must be finally passed by the end of the day Wednesday.
By Friday, the House has to finish up with any bills that have come back from the Senate with amendments. And by the end of the day Sunday…the House and Senate must finish up with all the conference committees that where working to reconcile differences between versions of a bill.
So what needs to get done? Well most of the big stuff is either on the governor’s desk…or heading that direction. The budget, border security, pre-k education, transportation funding…the priorities for Greg Abbott should be settled before the session ends.
One final GOP priority to watch this week is gun legislation. A bill to allow permitted gun owners to openly carry their handgun has passed the House and Senate…but the House must either agree with Senate amendments – or negotiate in a conference committee…before it goes to the governor. A bill that would allow people with a concealed carry permit to bring their gun onto a college campus has passed the Senate…and over the weekend, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick said the House promised to pass it out this week. We’ll see if that promise is kept.
Oh and there’s one final deadline -- a week from today. June 1st is the final day of the session. The only thing lawmakers can do on that day…is make technical corrections to a bill.
