Gov. Greg Abbott orders special legislative session after vetoing 26 bills

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

---

Gov. Greg Abbott called a special session early Monday, ordering state legislators back to the Capitol to tackle six bills that he vetoed shortly before the deadline late Sunday. Among them is Senate Bill 3, which would have banned the sale of hemp products containing THC in Texas.

Abbott, who said the 30-day special session will begin July 21, can still add items to the call list. In a press release, he described that list as “initial.” He has faced pressure from President Donald Trump to ask lawmakers to redraw some of Texas’ 38 U.S. House districts ahead of the 2026 midterms, but that request was not on the list release Monday.

The state constitution only allows lawmakers to pass bills during special sessions on issues selected by the governor.

The other bills that lawmakers will reconsider during the special session are:

* SB 648: Relating to recording requirements for certain instruments concerning real property

* SB 1253: Relating to impact and production fees for certain water projects and to the regulation of certain wells; authorizing a fee.

* SB 1278: Relating to an affirmative defense to prosecution for victims of trafficking of persons or compelling prostitution.

* SB 1758: Relating to the operation of a cement kiln and the production of aggregates near a semiconductor wafer manufacturing facility.

* SB 2878: Relating to the operation and administration of and practices and procedures related to proceedings in the judicial branch of state government.

Abbott released statements explaining his rationale for the vetoes. He also vetoed 18 other bills late Sunday that he did not add to the call for the special session.

Those measures ranged from changes to the criminal justice system to water rights management that lawmakers had passed during the recently completed legislative session.

Abbott had already vetoed two bills by the time the session closed on June 2.

Among the bills Abbott vetoed was House Bill 413, which would have ensured that no defendant could be held in custody before trial for longer than the punishment they would receive if convicted. That bill, which was co-authored by a bipartisan group of five lawmakers from around the state, passed the House 126-10 and the Senate 30-1.

When promoting the bill on KCEN news before its passage in May, co-author Rep. Pat Curry, R-Waco, said, “if there’s a penalty that requires two years in prison and you’ve spent two years waiting to go to trial, you need to be released.”

Abbott vetoed the bill against the backdrop of sweeping changes to bail laws that he championed this past legislative session that sought to keep violent repeat offenders behind bars.

Abbott also vetoed Senate Bill 974, which would have allowed public school teachers to serve on residential appraisal review boards. Supporters of the bill, like Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie, had argued that the bill was necessary because "many smaller rural counties have difficulty filling their appraisal review boards during the summer months."

However, the bill became a target of conservative activists who argued that the harms of letting teachers sit on these boards statewide outweighed the benefits to rural counties. Andrew McVeigh, president of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, wrote in a letter to Abbot that he should veto the bill because appraisal review boards have the ability to influence property tax valuations, which help fund school districts.

“Letting teachers sit on these boards undermines the objectivity of the appraisal process and threatens public trust,” McVeigh wrote.

The other bills Abbott that vetoed this session include:

* HB 305: Relating to the time period for conducting pretrial hearings after a criminal defendant has been restored to competency.

* HB 353: Relating to creating the criminal offense of trespass on or near school or day-care center property.

* HB 449: Relating to the unlawful production or distribution of sexually explicit media using deep fake technology.

* HB 705: Relating to the Cosmetology Licensure Compact; authorizing fees.

* HB 1690: Relating to an application for a permit for the transfer of groundwater out of a groundwater conservation district.

* HB 2243: Relating to the creation of the Texas Commission on Teacher Job Satisfaction and Retention.

* HB 2520: Relating to the open meetings law.

* HB 3120: Relating to certain duties of the owner or operator of a residential child detention facility.

* HB 4530: Relating to water rights placed in the Texas Water Trust and the Texas Water Bank.

* HB 4885: Relating to the disclosure of confidential juvenile records to a managed assigned counsel program.

* HB 5671: Relating to the election of directors for and the authority to issue bonds of the Johnson County Special Utility District.

* SB 268: Relating to the procedure for certain complaints against health care practitioners.

* SB 378: Relating to certain prohibited practices by a barber or cosmetologist.

* SB 614: Relating to the authority of the Texas Forensic Science Commission to review and refer certain cases to the office of capital and forensic writs.

* SB 1032: Relating to the eligibility of postsecondary educational institutions to participate in the governor's university research initiative.

* SB 1838: Relating to the appointment of attorneys ad litem and the compensation of certain attorneys ad litem in suits affecting the parent-child relationship filed by a governmental entity.

* SB 1937: Relating to the testing of evidence containing biological materials in capital cases.

* SB 2111: Relating to legal representation of indigent persons in this state and to proceedings before a magistrate including the appointment of counsel for an indigent defendant.

* SB 2501: Relating to selection of an attorney by an indigent parent as attorney ad litem for the parent in certain suits affecting the parent-child relationship.

---

Big news: 20 more speakers join the TribFest lineup! New additions include Margaret Spellings, former U.S. secretary of education and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center; Michael Curry, former presiding bishop and primate of The Episcopal Church; Beto O’Rourke, former U.S. Representative, D-El Paso; Joe Lonsdale, entrepreneur, founder and managing partner at 8VC; and Katie Phang, journalist and trial lawyer.

Get tickets.

TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.