Scorecard: How Gov. Greg Abbott's Special Session Agenda Fared

AUSTIN — It appeared late Tuesday that Texas' legislative special session would end a day earlier than expected with only nine of Gov. Greg Abbott's priorities having passed both the House and the Senate and made it to the governor's desk. Abbott ordered the special session in part to pass legislation that would keep open several state agencies, including the Texas Medical Board, which licenses doctors. Abbott named the so-called sunset bill the first order of business during the special session, after which legislators could consider other items chosen but the governor. Abbott's grab-bag list of 20 items included many issues that appealed to social conservatives, such as the so-called "bathroom bill, which would regulate transgender Texan's bathroom usage. Here's a scorecard of how Abbott's priorities fared during the special session.Passed1. Sunset legislation to keep alive state agencies2. Limiting local tree regulations3. Restricting cities' ability to annex property4. Increasing Abortion complication reporting requirements5. Prohibiting abortion coverage under primary health insurance plans6. Extending a study of the causes of maternal mortality7. Cracking down on mail-in ballot fraud8. Strengthening patient protections relating to do-not-resuscitate orders9. Public school finance reform Failed 10. Teacher pay increase *A measure increasing funds for retired teachers' health care did pass11. School vouchers for special-needs children12. Limiting growth of local property taxes *as of press time not expected to pass13. Caps on local government spending14. Caps on state government spending15. Speeding up local government permitting process16. Preventing local rule changes midway through construction projects17. Pre-empting local restrictions on mobile devices in automobiles18. Restricting transgender Texans from using the bathroom of their choice19. Prohibiting public employers from collecting union dues20. Prohibiting local governments from sending tax dollars to Planned Parenthood  Continue reading...