Good Sunday morning. The images coming out of Israel are quite harrowing. Hard to miss that the attack began on Shabbat during Sukkot on the 50th Anniversary of the start of the Yom Kippur War. My Christian friends may know Sukkot better as the Feast of Booths or the Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:33-43).

In other words, it’s an obvious attack on Jewish people.

Meanwhile, in Texas, we’re enjoying some of the year’s most beautiful weather along with perhaps the best sports weekend all year. And in our family, we’re dedicating our youngest son at church and hosting a family brunch.

So it’s a good Sunday to count our blessings while praying for peace and justice.

Quotable

Prevailing Themes: Setting the stage for the fourth legislative session—not counting impeachment—of the year.

Two important things happened Thursday.

First, Comptroller (don’t ask me how to pronounce it) Glenn Hegar released the Certification Revenue Estimate for fiscal year 2024-25. Basically, the CRE tells Legislators how much money they have to work with in the upcoming special session.

The takeaway: Legislators have an extra $2.5 billion to work with.

This is a roughly 24% increase since the spring. Lots of reasons for the increase, but it invites only one question: who will get it?

Second, Gov. Abbott released the call for the upcoming special session.

We’ll get to talking about the issues eventually as bills are filed and proceed through committees.

But let’s talk for a second about the political calculation a Governor makes when calling a special session.

It’s really not something we think about much. We just assume the Governor has the power to convene the Legislature, he uses it, and that’s it. A pretty one-dimensional exercise of power.

But consider this. The Legislature is, by design, the most powerful branch of government. So when the Governor convenes the Legislature, he is activating a more powerful branch of government than his own.

Well, sure, but that’s why the Governor gets to set the agenda!

Not exactly. The Legislature has pretty much full immunity to pass whatever legislation it wants, even if it’s completely and totally unrelated to the Governor’s call.

This is due to the Enrolled Bill Rule.

The rule originates largely from a 1932 Texas Supreme Court case styled Jackson v. Walker and states that when a bill is properly enrolled—when both chambers pass and certify the bill—the bill cannot “be impeached by a resort to the proclamation of the Governor or to the journals of the Legislature.”

In other words, once a bill is passed out of each chamber, that’s it. We’re just going to assume the rules were followed.

Even where the Governor vetoes and the Legislature overrides the veto by a 2/3 majority, the Enrolled Bill Rule will apply.

But here’s the key: the Legislature can only override a veto when it’s in session, and may not override a previous veto in a future session.

So the real power of the Governor in a special session is not in setting the call, but in having the ability to veto bills after adjournment.

The political calculation question then becomes: is the Governor willing to veto bills not related to his call at the risk of agitating Legislators?

There is no shortage—already—of bills filed unrelated to the Governor’s call. Some are more viable than others.

The dance begins.

The Back Nine

Thursday, October 5

• ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas said he believes future summers will be less stressful that this year’s. Vegas said the weatherization process has been the most impactful thing ERCOT has done since Winter Storm Ur.

• State Rep. Vickie Goodwin, an Austin Democrat, is considering a run for Lt. Gov.

• The Biden Administration quietly waived 26 federal laws in South Texas to allow for border wall construction. This contradicts Biden’s longtime statements that “building a wall is not a serious policy solution.” But later in the day, Secretary Mayorkas said his comments were taken out of context.

• State Rep. James Talarico, an Austin-area Democrat, posted an informative thread on Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks’ network of political influence. The criticism of both men has intensified since the impeachment trial.

• Texas Democrats react to Gov. Abbott’s special session agenda.

• The Senate Finance Committee and Senate Education Committee set hearings for the first and second days of the special, respectively.

Friday, October 6

• Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick released a long, scathing statement against the House.

• The group of House Republicans who voted against impeachment are now calling for an accounting of the cost of the impeachment investigation.

• Meanwhile, Attorney General Ken Paxton released his endorsements in House races. He is, of course, targeting House leadership that led the impeachment effort against him.

Saturday, October 7

• Gov. Abbott commissioned a poll on voter support of school choice in 21 key Republican-held House districts. The poll was conducted in April, but the results were just released.

• Special session protests and Capitol rallies are in full swing.

Thanks for reading! Any thoughts or comments? Would love to hear. Just reply to this email.

By day, I’m an attorney and lobbyist running my own firm and specializing in public law & litigation.

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