Gov. Greg Abbott apparently really meant it when he said last week he will not call a special session of the Legislature.
In an interview with San Antonio’s WOAI-AM on Monday, Abbott said calls for a session on same-sex marriage haven’t changed his mind about bringing back the lawmakers who left town last week.
“I do not anticipate any special session,” he said. “They got their job done on time and don’t require any overtime.”
He said as much a week ago, as lawmakers brought their 140-day regular session to a close. But in a letter after the regular session ended, several groups wrote a public request to the governor to call lawmakers back to consider legislation that would prohibit county clerks in the state from issuing same-sex marriage licenses.
See here and here for the background. They are pushing for yet another revival of the Cecil Bell bill, which would certainly pass if it came to the floor but which some unknown and deeply closeted group of Republicans really don’t want to have to vote on. It’s a conundrum, isn’t it? I doubt Abbott is denying these people their “victory” out of the goodness of his heart, but whatever the case it’s good to know that we won’t go down that path. Don’t worry, though, there will be plenty of other opportunities for everyone to shake their fists at clouds after the SCOTUS ruling comes down. Texas Leftist has more.
If a need arises for a special session on another issue, for example education funding, there will be significant pressure on the Governor to add the marriage topic to the call for the special session.