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Texas Legislature wraps 2nd special session. What passed?

Governor Abbott called the second special session after lawmakers failed to address some of his priority legislation in the previous two sessions.

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Legislature finally called it quits after a regular season and two special sessions. Governor Greg Abbott called the second special session after lawmakers failed to address some of his priority legislation in the previous two sessions. Here’s what got done.

Election reform

You’ve heard all about the passage of Senate Bill 1, which addresses election reform. It bans drive-thru and 24-hour voting, extends some early voting hours and gives more power to poll watchers.

Bond reform

Some criminal defendants will have to pony up cash to get out of jail as a result of Senate Bill 6. Personal bond cannot be granted if the suspect is charged with a violent crime or if the suspect is charged while out on bail.

The bill also creates a searchable public safety report system to keep track of defendants, their criminal history and any bail set.

Border security

Border security was another hot topic for Gov. Abbott. Lawmakers addressed that by passing House Bill 9, which added another $1.88 billion to help beef up security efforts along the border, including building a wall. They’d already ponied up $1.05 billion in the regular season.

Social media censorship

Your political viewpoints are protected on social media, courtesy of House Bill 20. It bans social media platforms from censoring political views and requires those sites to create a complaint system. 

Abortion pills

On top of the Texas Heartbeat Act taking effect this week, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 4, further limiting access to abortion-inducing pills. Doctors cannot prescribe them for women who are more than 7 weeks pregnant.

Legislative funding

House Bill 5 overrules Gov. Abbott’s veto of Article X, which pays for things like the Legislative Reference Library and staff salaries and benefits. Those funds were slated to run out at the end of the month.

Virtual learning

More Texas students will have access to virtual learning -- as long as they passed their STAAR exam. That’s in Senate Bill 15

It provides funding for virtual classes for the next two years.

Nuclear waste

Spent fuel rods from nuclear power plants are not allowed in Texas, thanks to House Bill 7. That’s the legislative response to a company that wanted to store the nuclear waste -- which can stay radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years -- here.

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