Gov. Abbott Should Have Blamed Lawmakers for a Disaster, But Instead He Blamed Hurricane Harvey

Gov. Greg Abbott pulled a fast one the other day, and it was so fast that you might not have noticed. He took power away from state lawmakers, and they let him do it.He expanded his powers over the Texas Legislature with a cheesy move that must not go unmentioned.The Great Embarrassment of the recent 2019 legislative session in Austin was that lawmakers left town without authorizing the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners to continue licensing and regulating plumbers.How come? They couldn't agree on whether the plumbing board, which has fallen behind in its work, should be killed off and its duties placed under the purview of another state agency.When they ran out of time to figure this out, they left town knowing the plumbing board now had to close.The solution, according to precedent, is that the governor calls lawmakers back into an overtime situation called a special session. That's happened more than a hundred times in the past.Abbott knows this. He called a special session two years ago when lawmakers failed to reauthorize the Texas Medical Board, which licenses doctors. Same situation.But this month, Abbott announced there would be no special session.  Continue reading...