Gov. Abbott announced a special legislative session, on a wide range of issues, that will convene on July 18, 2017.  Below is a statement from Rep. Chris Paddie (R-Marshall) on the upcoming special legislative session:

 

"While I am disappointed that we have to come back for a special session, there are unresolved issues that still face the state of Texas.  I am glad to see that Gov. Abbott included reforming school finance as the first item that he will add to the call of the special session.  

 

While the House made several attempts to begin reforming our broken school finance system, the Senate failed to take realistic actions on that legislation.  As a result of that inaction, there are hundreds of rural school districts that are facing financial ruin, leaving large portions of the state uncertain as to the immediate future of their local school districts.  We must address this looming crisis in the special session.

 

While I agree with Gov. Abbott that we need to address increasing property taxes, we must also address the fact that the main cause of property tax growth is decreasing state funding for our public schools and the overall byzantine school property tax system.  I look forward to working with my fellow representatives, the Senate, and the Governor to address this looming crisis later this summer.

 

While the Governor has indicated that he will add bathroom and privacy legislation to the call of the special session, I remain disappointed that the Senate did not act on my amendment to SB 2078 which addressed the root cause of this issue: bathrooms and locker rooms in schools.  My amendment was a thoughtful approach which respected the privacy and dignity of all of our students while also ensuring that we do not have men in women's bathrooms, locker rooms, or showers.  My amendment would have allowed schools to find a workable solution that fits the unique facilities of each school district, while maintaining the intent of the legislation.  I welcome continued discussion on this issue to find a thoughtful solution."