Gavel to Gavel 89th Legislative Session - May 2, 2025
With the passage of SB 31, providing legal clarity for life-saving abortions, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick announced on Tuesday that all 40 of the Texas Senate's priority bills have been passed to engrossment and sent to the Texas House. In a statement accessible here, Lt. Governor Patrick encouraged the Texas House to immediately begin moving SB 4 on property tax relief and noted that the Senate has now passed 631 bills, while the House is at 182. While the Lt. Governor recently concurred with House changes on SB 2 (private school savings accounts), other Senate priorities face more dramatic changes from the larger chamber. The House Committee on State Affairs passed SB 3 out of committee on Thursday with a committee substitute that significantly alters the original total ban on THC products to now allow delta-9 to be grown by permit and sanctions the sale of low-dosage edibles.
On Saturday, Governor Greg Abbott will hold a ceremony at the Governor's Mansion to sign SB 2 into law. Alongside bill author Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe), the Governor will finally pass the policy that threw the 88th legislative session into disarray, rife with gubernatorial vetoes and three special sessions, and risked a special session in June. The Governor is now pivoting attention to bail reform, the topic of a press conference held on Wednesday to prod the House into fast-tracking several Senate bail reform bills, including SJR 5, amending the constitution to allow denial of bail in certain cases.
House Democrats' threat to withhold key votes on joint resolutions that require a 2/3 supermajority passage seemingly broke down on Monday as several Republican joint resolutions were passed by a bipartisan coalition. While Democrat votes on joint resolutions make key constitutional amendments possible again, if more Local and Consent Calendars are shot down by a conservative uprising this will certainly clog future House calendars. Facing quickly-approaching deadlines, the House Calendars Committee Chairman Todd Hunter (R – Corpus Christi) announced that House members should expect the session's first Saturday calendar on May 10 to manage the increasing load of daily business. The Senate also announced a calendar for May 10.
In other news around the state, the Texas Lottery investigative saga continued this week as the Lottery Commission voted on Tuesday to ban the sale of lottery tickets via online courier services, a move that already faces a legal challenge from Lotto.com to continue selling Texas tickets. Additionally, former U.S. Attorney John Bash dropped out of the race for attorney general on Wednesday, leaving only Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) campaigning to replace AG Ken Paxton, who is running for U.S. Senate. Bash, once counsel for Elon Musk, cited family health concerns for ending his under-a-month-long run.
The Senate and House adjourned until 11:00 AM on Monday.