Is the Texas legislator headed for a yet another special session?

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Our is this loophole enough to forgo that possibility for once?

Today, the last day of the legislative session, is supposed to be only for technical corrections to bills. The House just made what sponsors called a technical correction to a bill authorizing state agencies to receive federal stimulus dollars.

Agencies have to be open in order to get stimulus dollars, said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jim Pitts. So the House corrected the stimulus bills to say that the departments at risk would stay open.

But some lawmakers said that by keeping open agencies that were set to close, the House was not making a technical correction, but rather a law. And they’re not supposed to make laws on the last day of the session.

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/politics/entries/2009/06/01/house_votes_to_keep_txdot_aliv.html

Could this be enough for Texas to actually avoid a special session this round? I'm a bit skeptical over the chances to avoid one since the Republicans are chomping at the bit to give their Voter ID bill one more shot.

[sonias]

1. Nope

At least not right away. Perry has enough authority to "re-authorize" the safety net agencies if he has to keep them going.

Postcards blog 6/2/09
Perry not calling an immediate special session, if any
(snip)
“It’s way too early,” Perry said, to be committing to a special session.

“I never rule out the option of a special session,” Perry said. ” Governors have always had that authority and I suspect they always will. And it’s there. It’s a tool. And I don’t think anybody is just dying to come back into Austin to do the work that should have been done during the 140-day session. But it’s an option that’s there.”

He said, though, the agencies at risk will stay open.

“We’re going to keep building roads and maintaining the highways,” he said. “We’re going to continue to have an insurance industry that’s regulated… We’re going to make sure that Texans are taken care of and those employees in those agencies are going to continue to go to work every day.”

He may call one next year in 2010 after the Republican primary. He wants to get around to the business of running for Governor again.

Our biggest fear however is that SCOTUS comes out with their decision this June on the Austin MUD VRA section 5 case and rules that Section 5 is unconstitutional. Then we're screwed. The Rs will be frothing at the mouth for a special session to ram through photo ID while the flood gates are open. A whole mess of free for all voting rights rollbacks will become "emergencies" all over the southern states covered by section 5 VRA.

:scared:


Sonia