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June 30th marks the opening day of the first called special session of the 78th Legislature. On June 21st, the governor signed the proclamation calling members of the legislature back to Austin for the purpose of considering legislation relating to congressional redistricting.
This special session will be the first of at least two for the 78th Legislature. Another will be called late this fall or early next spring to address public school finance in an effort to develop a new funding mechanism for our schools and to bring relief to local property taxpayers. The Select Committee on Public School Finance has already begun meeting and taking input from citizens and experts in order to formulate recommendations.
Although prior to 1992, special sessions were fairly common, this will be the first called special session since the 4th called special session of the 72nd Legislature, which convened November 10, 1992. Due to the rarity of the occasion in recent years, I would like to take this opportunity to discuss some of the history and parameters of these sessions.
The first special session ever called in Texas occurred following the 3rd regular session and lasted 26 days, beginning August 12, 1850 and ending September 6 of the same year. It was followed 73 days later by a second called special session. The Texas Constitution does not limit the number of special sessions the governor may call. In fact, following the 71st Legislature in 1989, there were six special sessions.
The Texas Constitution places no limitation on the number of topics the governor can designate in a special session proclamation. Although legislation considered during the special session is limited to the topics listed in the proclamation, the governor may expand the call to include additional topics at any time. Legislation was allowed on 153 topics during the 1st called special session of the 43rd Legislature and 72 topics during the 2nd Called Session of the 72nd Legislature.
The Constitution limits special sessions to a maximum of thirty days but does not limit the minimum amount of time the legislature must be in session. The 1st called session of the 38th Legislature met for only one hour and no legislation was enacted.
I encourage you to contact me during the special session with your comments and suggestions or if I may be of assistance with any issues dealing with state agencies. You can reach me by writing to P.O. Box 2910, Austin, TX 78768-2910 or by e-mailing me at larry.phillips@house.state.tx.us.
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