Just because Texas governors have the power to call the Legislature into a special session on any topic at any time doesn’t mean they should. But Gov. Greg Abbott is again threatening to hold lawmakers hostage in Austin to force them to pass his personal agenda, including an unpopular private school voucher bill that failed during the legislature’s regular session.
“Many critical items remain that must be passed,” Abbott said Monday as he called lawmakers back into special session just hours after they adjourned. “Several special sessions will be required.”
One of Abbott’s “critical items”—a proposal to allow families to take taxpayer money to pay for private school tuition—rated just 8% support among Texans polled about their top priority for K-12 education in February. That is not an urgent mandate to act. Many rural Republican lawmakers oppose vouchers, contributing to its failure during the regular session.