Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas on Tuesday referred to as a particular session of the Texas Legislature that can start on July 8, a transfer that revives Republicans’ effort to enact what are anticipated to be a number of the most far-reaching voting restrictions within the nation.
Mr. Abbott, a Republican, was pressured to name for a particular session after Democratic lawmakers staged an eleventh-hour walkout final month that quickly foiled the Republican effort to overtake the state’s election programs and delayed different G.O.P. legislative priorities.
Now the brand new session restarts the clock.
Republicans should begin the method from scratch, however it’s attainable they may merely use the ultimate model of the invoice that didn’t go in Could as a place to begin. On condition that the social gathering has management of each chambers of the Legislature, its management might go a brand new invoice alongside social gathering traces.
Mr. Abbott didn’t specify on Tuesday what proposals the particular session would tackle, however a Texas Republican legislative workers member confirmed that the session would tackle the state’s voting legal guidelines. Texas Republicans can also pursue different legislative targets, together with an overhaul of the state’s bail system.
The preliminary voting invoice, generally known as S.B. 7, contained new restrictions on absentee voting; granted broad new autonomy and authority to partisan ballot watchers; escalated punishments for errors or offenses by election officers; and banned each drive-through voting and 24-hour voting, which had been used for the primary time throughout the 2020 election in Harris County, dwelling to Houston and a rising variety of the state’s Democratic voters.
The walkout by Democrats, which left Republicans in need of the 100-member threshold obligatory for a quorum to proceed enterprise, infuriated G.O.P. leaders within the state, who forged blame throughout the State Capitol for failing to go one in every of Mr. Abbott’s — and one in every of former President Donald J. Trump’s — legislative priorities.
Final week, the Texas Democrats who organized the walkout made a pilgrimage to Washington in a last-ditch effort to influence recalcitrant senators to go federal voting reforms that had been headed to sure failure on Tuesday.
“We knew he would name us again to go the voter suppression invoice,” State Consultant Gina Hinojosa mentioned on Tuesday after Mr. Abbott’s announcement. “That’s why we flew to Washington to plead our case to the U.S. Senate. Because the minority social gathering, we are able to solely block the G.O.P. assault on democracy for therefore lengthy.”
Whereas the Democrats had been capable of halt the passage of the voting invoice by the late-night exodus, it was constructed upon months of opposition and legislative maneuvering in opposition to the invoice that helped result in its demise, holding prolonged question-and-answer intervals and in depth debates to pressure late-night votes and delays within the course of.
However voting is not going to be the only merchandise on the agenda in Texas. Mr. Abbott signaled that he wished a number of priorities addressed earlier than the Legislature returns in September for what’s more likely to be a contentious battle over redistricting.
The governor has indicated he desires a invoice handed to overtake the state’s bail system, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, additionally a Republican, has referred to as on the Legislature to go a invoice limiting transgender athletes from competing in class sports activities and one other invoice looking for censorship of social media firms.
The Texas Legislature shifted sharply to the right throughout the newest legislative session, passing aggressive measures that included a near-ban on abortion and a invoice permitting the carrying of handguns without permits.
Reid J. Epstein contributed reporting.
