Legislature Gets to Work in Fourth Special Session

The Texas Legislature, conceived as a parttime body to meet every other year for 140 days, is now in its record fifth session (counting the regular session). When the impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is included, legislators have been in Austin pretty much the entire year, as the Texas Tribune noted. While legislators are paid just $7,200 a year in salary, per diem payments – meant to cover their expenses while in Austin – have mounted. If the fourth special session goes a full 30 days, taxpayers will have spent $4.8 million keeping lawmakers in Austin.

The Senate quickly passed measures last week allocating $1.54 billion for segments of a border wall, a school finance bill that increases per-student funding, teacher retention bonuses for teachers and vouchers to parents who elect to send their children to private schools, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

Once again, the onus is on the House, which has been reluctant to pass a school choice bill. The measure, being strongly pushed by Gov. Greg Abbott, is largely opposed by Democratic members and rural Republican legislators. On Friday, the latest plan was approved by the House Select Committee.

Voter Turnout Was 14.4%

Voter turnout in the Nov. 7 election reached 14.4% of registered voters. The good news is that is the highest turnout for a constitutional amendment election since 2005, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s office. The bad news: well, it was just 14.4% of the electorate.

Voters approved all but one of the 14 propositions on the ballot, the lone loser being a bid to raise the mandatory retirement age for judges from 75 years to 79. Measures providing property tax relief and a boost in teacher retirement pay passed overwhelmingly. Also receiving approval was Proposition 5, which establishes a $3.9 billion permanent endowment for research in eligible universities. Those include Texas State University, the University of North Texas, Texas Tech University and the University of Houston.

“We feel like we won the Super Bowl,” Texas State University president Kelly Damphousse told the Statesman.