Texas special session week 1: THC, redistricting, flood response
The first week of the Texas Legislature's special session is in the books. Lawmakers held hearings in Austin on some of the highest-profile items on the agenda, including flood response, redistricting and regulating THC.
Texas lawmakers scrutinize state's response to catastrophic floods
On Wednesday, select committees of the House and Senate assigned to scrutinize the state's emergency response convened for the first time in a joint hearing. Republican Sen. Charles Perry, the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Disaster Preparedness and Flooding, said they do not seek to assign blame for more than 100 deaths that occurred over the July 4th weekend in Hill Country.
"Our select committee will not armchair quarterback," Perry said, adding it sought to draw lessons on flood prevention and preparedness.
Nim Kidd, the head of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, testified at the hearing, offering lawmakers suggestions to mitigate a similar catastrophe, including ways to strengthen emergency communications. But some Democrats cast doubt on the agency's response and whether it was doing enough to boost flood infrastructure in rural towns.
"We can mitigate or eliminate the possibility this could happen in the future," Democratic state Rep. Joe Moody said. "And that's not a blame game, that's accountability."
Local officials have faced scrutiny over why more warnings weren't sent to residents in harm's way along the hard-hit Guadalupe River. Gov. Greg Abbott has said assigning blame for the disaster is "the word choice of losers."
Lawmakers have filed bills to improve early warning systems and emergency communications and to provide relief funding. Legislators are scheduled to visit Kerrville on July 31 to hear from residents.
Texas Democrats slam the GOP's unusual push to redraw the state's House maps
Texas Democrats on Thursday laid into Republicans for racing to create before the 2026 elections in the first public hearing by lawmakers as they undertake a rare summer redrawing of the congressional maps at the urging of President Donald Trump.
No proposals of what Texas' new congressional districts might look like were unveiled at the state Capitol, where three Democratic members of Congress joined more than 100 members of the public in rallying outside the building before waiting hours to testify before a special legislative committee.
"You all are being used," Democratic U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro told the panel, saying it would confuse voters and motivate other states to rush to redraw their own maps.
He and other Democrats blasted the justification for the unusually timed redrawing, which typically happens only once every 10 years to coincide with demographic shifts from the U.S. census. No Republicans on the 21-member panel made remarks before testimony began other than the committee chairman, Rep. Cody Vasut, who said he had not been in talks with the White House about the redrawing.
"Whether or not I think there needs to be mid-cycle redistricting is a matter of opinion," said Vasut, when asked whether he believed it was appropriate to redraw maps in the middle of the decade.
Other public hearings are planned around Texas in the coming days as the GOP has only a few weeks to vote through new maps in the 30-day special legislative session.
Texas Senate committee advances new THC ban during special legislative session
Just weeks after Gov. Abbott vetoed a bill banning products containing THC, state senators revived it in the special session, filing nearly identical legislation and passing it unanimously out of committee with a 10-0 vote on Tuesday.
Abbott explicitly asked lawmakers to regulate, not ban, hemp products. Senators argued on Tuesday that it's not going to work.
"We'll regulate it," said Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood. "We'll regulate it by banning it. Because we already tried regulating it."
Allen police chief Steve Dye, who has led raids of hemp stores and warehouses, testified at the hearing and argued regulation would be too difficult and costly to be effective.
"Regulation would likely be seen by the industry as carte blanche legalization," Dye said.
Advocates argue a ban would close hundreds of businesses, costing Texans tens of thousands of jobs. They also argue it hurt Texans who use the products, like veterans who use them as alternative to alcohol and opioids.
Abbott was quoted by Impact News on Tuesday, saying he does want to ban intoxicating consumable THC products, which he views as those with more than 3 milligrams of THC. That's still more than what the Senate seems to want to allow, but it may be a sign he's willing to compromise.
Senate Bill 5 now heads to the full Senate.
