TexasCHLforum.com

boomerang wrote:

Douva wrote:Plus, taxpayers must foot a seven-figure bill to call the legislators back to Austin for thirty days.

Over a million dollars flushed down the drain because of chubbing.

They need to get voted out!

It looks like Perry is going to try to keep the session very short, so they may actually keep the cost relatively low. Of course, that also means we won't see any gun bills in the special session. I guess we can keep our fingers crossed that he'll call another special session next spring, as some have suggested.

bpet wrote:I must admit I'm ignorant on what can be introduced in special session once convened.

Does the Governor's letter limit what is to be considered or can addition agenda items be introduced?

B

Section 40 of Article 3 of the state constitution reads in applicable part:

When the Legislature shall be convened in special session, there
shall be no legislation upon subjects other than those designated in
the proclamation of the Governor calling such session, or presented to
them by the Governor.

During a called session, the governor can present the legislature with additional issues not included in the proclamation calling the session.

I've only been in the politics game for about two years, so hopefully Charles or someone else who's seen a few special sessions come and go can give better insight into this, but in my opinion, it would have been a very poor political move for Governor Perry to include ANY other issues in the proclamation.

Nobody in the legislature is happy about the special session. They're losing income by not being at their day jobs, and their giving up their 4th of July vacations. Plus, taxpayers must foot a seven-figure bill to call the legislators back to Austin for thirty days.

If Perry were to include anything superfluous in the proclamation, his critics would attack him for wasting taxpayer money and prioritizing his own issues ahead of more pressing concerns. If, on the other hand, he lets the legislature attack the sunset bills and highway bond bills first, he can then present the legislature with a handful of unrelated issues and hopefully catch a lot less flack from his opponents and the media.

I may be off-base, but that's my analysis.