Following the regular session of the 85th Texas Legislature, Gov. Greg Abbott listed 20 priorities for the current special meeting of lawmakers.

But one item must be passed: sunset legislation. Here is an overview of the sunset legislation‚ the No. 1 priority for lawmakers this summer.

What is it?

This legislation extends the life of five state agencies until Sept. 1, 2019. Without an extension passed this special session, the Texas Medical Board, the Texas State Board of Social Worker Examiners, the Texas State Board of Examiners of Marriage and Family Therapists, the Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists and the Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors would cease to exist.

Even if approved, the five agencies would again go through the sunset review process during the 86th legislative session in the first half of 2019.

Why should I care?

According to a Senate analysis, the five agencies combine to regulate more than 200,000 Texas jobs. Without the Texas Medical Board, for example, no new doctors could be licensed. This could create undue pressure in certain areas of the state that are already experiencing doctor shortages.

How did we get here?

In the final days of the regular session, the Freedom Caucus, a conservative group of House lawmakers, blocked the passage of a “sunset safety net” House bill before an important deadline. This narrowed the path for the bill to advance—depending on compliance by the Senate.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the Senate president, used this bill as a bargaining chip to encourage the House to pass his priorities, including rollback tax rate limits and bathroom usage regulation. When the House failed to meet his demands, Patrick refused to pass the sunset bill, pushing Abbott to call a special session.

What Happened?

On Aug. 11, Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate bills 20 and 60 into law. The bills extend the life of agencies under sunset. At press time, three additional topics on the special session call have been sent to Abbott for his signature.

Number of special session issues and the outcomes

Issues that passed in house and senate

1. Sunset legislation to keep five state agencies alive

2. Giving school administrators flexibility in teacher hiring and retention (Lawmakers passed a bill that would provide further funding to TRS-Care, the retired teacher’s health care fund)

3. Commission to study state school finance reform (Lawmakers approved a commission to study school finance, and added funding for public schools, but did not reform the formula at this time.)

4. Prevent cities from regulating what property owners do with trees on private land

5. Municipal annexation reform

6. Requiring women to get separate insurance policies to cover non-emergency abortions

7. Increasing existing reporting requirements when complications arise during abortions

8. Strengthening patient protections relating to do-not-resuscitate orders

9. Cracking down on mail-in ballot fraud

10. Extending the state’s maternal mortality task force

Issues that failed to advance during special session

1. A teacher pay raise of $1,000

2. School choice for special-needs students

3. Rollback elections for property tax increase proposals

4. Caps on state and local spending

5. Preventing local governments from changing rules midway through construction projects

6. Speeding up local government permitting processes

7. Preventing local entities from passing their own texting-while-driving bans

8. Restrictions on school bathroom use for transgender students

9. Prohibiting the use of taxpayer dollars to collect union dues

10. Prohibiting use of tax subsidies to health providers that perform abortions