Overview

• Gov. Greg Abbott added three items to the special-session agenda, including legislation to punish lawmakers who willfully leave to deny quorum.
• Abbott said the penalties are needed to ensure that lawmakers cannot halt the Legislature’s work by fleeing the state.
• The announcement followed the Texas House’s passage of a new GOP congressional map after most Democrats who left the state returned on Monday.
• Republican leaders have already pursued fines, civil arrest warrants and efforts to vacate absent members’ seats in response to the quorum break.
• Abbott also asked lawmakers to consider allowing pharmacy sales of ivermectin and authorizing a groundwater study of East Texas aquifers.