After a series of ups and downs in the regular session that at various times promised River Place a way out of its scheduled Dec. 15 annexation into the city of Austin, it appears the soon-to-be-annexed city's window of opportunity is closing. On Friday, the Texas House debated Senate Bill 6, sponsored by state Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, that would require voter approval before an unincorporated area is annexed into a city. River Place has been slated for annexation for several years, per its strategic partnership agreement, which was initially formed in 2009. State Rep. Paul Workman, R-Austin, worked in the regular session to tack an amendment onto the related bill (Senate Bill 715) that would have exempted River Place from annexation. The amendment was approved at the time, but the bill died in a Senate filibuster before an important deadline. Workman again tried to exempt River Place through an amendment on Friday, requiring the same voter approval in any regular area undergoing annexation to occur in SPAs. This time around, however, the amendment failed in a 120-12 vote.  The House sponsor of the bill, state Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Houston, voted against the amendment. The overall bill is still begin debated on the House floor. If approved, the version will return to the Senate for members of the upper chamber to either approve or negotiate changes the House made. Should the chambers reach agreement on the bill, it will proceed to the governor's desk. Learn more about the bill and how it would have affected River Place’s scheduled annexation here. Explore the bill’s steps during the special session at Texas Legislature Online.