Around 1 a.m. Sept. 4, the Texas Legislature gaveled out of its second special session of the year. On the heels of a two-week Democratic walkout that stymied bills during a previous legislative overtime, lawmakers moved quickly to pass 16 of Gov. Greg Abbott’s 24 priorities in under three weeks.

At a glance

A long-debated plan to ban or restrict sales of hemp-derived THC and a measure aimed at reining in local property tax growth were among the proposals that did not make the cut.

When Abbott originally called a special session months earlier, regulating THC was the lone item on his agenda. He later added more than one dozen other items, including improving local flood warning systems and redrawing Texas’ congressional districts, before lawmakers convened in mid-July.

Lawmakers also did not reach agreements on bills intended to improve emergency preparedness and communications in the wake of the deadly July 4-5 floods; shield certain law enforcement files from public disclosure; and bar local governments from hiring outside lobbyists.


The governor can call a special session at any time; however, legislative leaders indicated they did not expect to return to Austin to tackle the remaining agenda items. As the Texas Senate adjourned, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told senators he hoped they would not be back in the chamber “until January [20]27,” when Texas’ 90th biennial legislative session is scheduled to begin.

“I’m proud of all of you,” Patrick said early Sept. 4. “I know we didn’t always agree on every issue—between parties or within a party—but everyone always was respectful to the other members on the floor.”

What you need to know

Texas’ multibillion-dollar consumable hemp industry once again avoided shutdown as the special session came to a close. Lawmakers voted to ban all hemp-derived THC products in May, but Abbott vetoed that bill one month later, citing “undeniable” legal defects in the legislation.


In July, Abbott told Community Impact that he wanted lawmakers to tighten regulations on Texas' hemp industry and outlaw all “intoxicating” products with more than a 0.3% concentration of THC, or three milligrams per each gram of product.

State senators advanced a complete THC ban in both special sessions, although the measure did not reach the House floor. Patrick, who made banning THC one of his top priorities this year, announced Sept. 3 that he, Abbott and House Speaker Dustin Burrows were unable to reach an agreement after “hours of discussion.”

“My position remains unchanged; the Senate and I are for a total THC ban,” Patrick wrote on social media.Patrick and Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, who authored the proposed ban, have said that a legal THC market isn't practical due to testing and public safety challenges.

“The ability to regulate this is not doable, and the experts that have to be charged with the task of doing it have no enforcement. There is no way to stay ahead of the chemist and there’s no way, from a dollar standpoint, to pay for that," Perry told senators in July. "Regulation is decriminalization. Whether you admit it or not, the practicality of enforcement effectively does decriminalize.”


Critics of a THC ban have said outlawing the psychoactive substance would force thousands of local businesses to close and harm some veterans who use THC to treat mental health conditions.

In a video posted to X on Sept. 4, the Texas Hemp Business Council celebrated that a THC ban did not pass while reminding retailers to only sell their products to people who are at least 21 years old, avoid marketing products to minors and follow “proper testing standards.”

“Thank you to the legislators who stood with us and to the Texans who made their voices heard,” the post reads. “The message is clear: Texans want hemp. And we’re not going down without a fight.”More details

A plan to tighten limits on local property tax growth also fell apart in the final days of the special session after House and Senate lawmakers could not agree on the specifics of the proposal.


The Senate’s version of the measure would have required cities and counties with over 75,000 residents to seek voter approval before raising property tax rates by more than 2.5%. House lawmakers, meanwhile, sought to apply a 1% threshold to all cities and counties, regardless of size, with exemptions for public safety expenditures.

Under existing law, cities and counties can increase taxes by up to 3.5% annually before going to local voters.

Behind closed doors, a conference committee reverted the legislation to its original form, which would have enacted a 2.5% limit based on population. House lawmakers voted the measure down, with some Republicans arguing that many Texans would not see the benefits of the legislation if it were restricted to larger communities.

Bill author Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, reprimanded House lawmakers for killing the bill.

“Unfortunately, not a single House member who voted No contacted me as Senate Author to get information before the vote,” Bettencourt said in a Sept. 2 statement. “The Senate cannot accept the House amendments on [Senate Bill] 10 that basically uncapped truth-in-taxation, allowing an unlimited property tax revenue increase on public safety expenditures.”

Rep. Tony Tinderholt, an Arlington Republican who supported the House’s proposal, argued that “conservatives in the House made the small property tax relief package better by ensuring it applies to all Texans.”

“Our team asked the bill author to support any of the [three] pro-taxpayer reforms we added to the bill. He is refusing to budge,” Tinderholt wrote in a Sept. 2 social media post. “We need a stronger bill.”

Also of note

Two bills aimed at helping communities better prepare for and respond to future natural disasters also did not reach the governor’s desk.

House Bill 3, which would have established a state interoperability council to improve communication among first responders, passed the House with a 136-1 vote Aug. 21 but was not heard in the Senate. Senate Bill 2, an omnibus bill that would have created licensing requirements for local emergency management coordinators and created a mass fatality training program for justices of the peace, died after lawmakers did not reach an agreement in a closed-door conference committee.

Abbott is scheduled to sign other flood-related legislation, including two bills that would tighten regulations on summer camps located in floodplains, into law Sept. 5.