The Texas State Legislature's upcoming third special session, expected to begin Sept. 20, is shaping up to be a partial re-do of the previous two.
Gov. Greg Abbott's five-point agenda for the third special session includes asking the legislature to consider whether transgender students should be allowed to play on teams based on their gender identity, and student safety — or lack thereof — during the age of COVID-19, according to the Texas Tribune. These agenda items are similar to items considered during the first two special sessions.
The state legislature also is being asked to consider items surrounding redrawing Texas' political maps for the next 10 years and how $16 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funds should be allocated.
"The Texas Legislature now has the opportunity to redraw legislative and congressional districts in accordance with the new census numbers," Abbott said in a statement issued Sept. 7. "In addition to redistricting, there are still issues remaining that are critical to building a stronger and brighter future for all Texans."
The statement also outlined the session's five-point agenda.
The third called, or "special," session is scheduled to begin almost three weeks after the end of the second. The second special session ended on Sept. 2, four days earlier than expected, after passing — mostly along party lines — controversial legislation about elections reform and reinstating legislative branch funding.
In the upcoming special session, Abbott is asking lawmakers to reconsider Senate Bill 29, which would prevent transgender public school students from participating in athletic competitions based on their gender identity, rather than the one assigned to them at or near birth. SB 29 made it out of the state Senate during last spring's regular session but never came up for a House vote.
Abbott also want state legislators to have another go at state and local governments' rights to issue COVID-19 vaccine mandates "and, if so, what exemptions should apply to such mandates."
Legislators also are to consider every-decade apportionment of the state's districts and how to spend American Rescue Plan Act funds from the federal government.
The final item on the third special session's agenda is legislation similar to an animal cruelty bill, Senate Bill 474, which would ban tying dogs outside with heavy chains. SB 474 passed the House and Senate in regular session last May but was vetoed by the governor on June 16. The updated legislation "addresses the concerns expressed in the governor’s veto statement."