Texas lawmakers approved one of the most restrictive abortion bills in the country this session. All were priorities for Patrick, who leads the Senate.Ībbott has also touted House Bill 2622, which bars local officials from enforcing federal gun control regulations. Several other gun measures were approved this session, including: Senate Bill 19, limiting state contracts with corporations that decline to work with the firearm industry Senate Bill 20, permitting hotel guests to bring guns into their rooms and House Bill 1500, allowing firearm retailers to stay open during a declared disaster. The big win for gun-rights advocates this legislative session was House Bill 1927, the “constitutional carry” measure that would allow Texans age 21 and over to openly carry a handgun in public without a license.īoth chambers gave the final OK to an amended version of the legislation last week, and it was sent to the governor for his signature on Friday. Without a quorum of 100 members present, the House couldn’t pass any legislation.

After stalling the proceedings with several attempts to kill the bill, Democrats walked out of the chamber with less than 90 minutes to go before the midnight deadline to pass legislation. The House began considering the bill about 12 hours later. They stayed up all night and voted along party lines to advance SB 7 at roughly 6 a.m. The Senate bypassed its normal rules on Saturday in a rush to approve the measure. TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox It would have removed restrictions on partisan poll watchers, prevented local governments from sending out absentee ballot applications that hadn’t been asked for, and made it easier to overturn elections. The final version of the bill, released Saturday afternoon, would have cut back on a number of new voting methods, including drive-thru voting and 24/7 polling places. Amended versions of the measure passed the Senate in April and the House in May, and members agreed to create a conference committee to work out their differences. The Legislature considered two major elections bills this session: House Bill 6 and Senate Bill 7, later combined into one. Abbott must sign any bills that have passed the Legislature before they can take effect. Dan Patrick, and House Speaker Dade Phelan. Here’s a roundup of several key priorities set by Abbott, Lt. Other bills missed key deadlines, including one that would make it harder for those accused of committing violent crimes to bail out of jail, and another that would ban transgender student-athletes from playing on teams aligning with their gender identity. Democrats tanked a massive voting restrictions bill late Sunday after staging a dramatic walkout in the Texas House. Abbott threatens to veto legislative salaries in response to Democrats' walkoutīut as the session wound down, some priorities didn’t make it across the finish line.

Lawmakers also approved the so-called “constitutional carry” bill allowing Texans to carry handguns in public without a permit, and they shielded businesses from COVID-related lawsuits. Greg Abbott signed the measure about two weeks ago. They included an anti-abortion bill banning the procedure as early as six weeks into pregnancy, now law in Texas after Gov. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File) Eric Gay, STF / Associated Pressĭespite a last-minute showstopper by Democrats, the Republican-dominated Texas Legislature is closing out the legislative session with many of its conservative priorities heading to the governor’s desk. The Republican-dominated Legislature approved the measure Monday, sending it to Gov. Texas lawmakers have given final approval to allowing people carry handguns without a license, and the background check and training that go with it. Greg Abbott gives his State of the State Address in the House Chamber in Austin, Texas.

Texas legislative session