Special session few care about

The Texas Legislature will meet in a special session July 8, according to an announcement by Gov. Greg Abbott.

Though no agenda has been released yet, it is a no-brainer that Abbott will call up new election restrictions that were sidetracked when the Democrats left town before a final vote could be cast.

And it is anybody’s guess if the Dems will pull that trick out of their hat in July, maybe even go on vacation out of state.

Abbott already cut off budget funding for the Legislature in retaliation, an unprecedented move that may find its way to the courts.

Other conservative priorities might also find new life in the special session, including a bill restricting participation of transgender student athletes in school sports ... legislation that would ban what is called taxpayer-funded lobbying ... restricting schools in teaching critical race theory ... and preventing certain social media companies from blocking users based on their viewpoints.

In my personal opinion, none of the above rates above two tomatoes in importance, with five necessary to make a proper plate of delicious BLTs.

It’s not like the Legislature failed to get a lot of stuff passed in regular session – 1,073 bills made their way to the governor’s desk.

He vetoed 20 of them, 13 bills authored by Democrates, seven by Republicans.

One was legislation that would have banned tethering dogs outside with heavy chains, and another a bill requiring students to be taught the perils of domestic violence.

Another vetoed bill would have protected and expanded access in rural Texas.

Where Abbott and the Legislature failed during the regular session, in my opinion, was not taking dramatic and necessary steps towards making our electric grid more reliable, and expanding health care services.

On another subject, COVID-19 cases continue to drop, though not completely, and a new variant that originated in India is now becoming the dominant strain. For now, some 40-percent of Texans have been fully vaccinated, and Wichita County is at about that percentage.

We still need more people vaccinated. We have seen in the past when numbers of infections dropped dramatically, only to resurface with a vengeance.

I, like many of you, have enjoyed finally being able to eat inside at a restaurant, not wear a mask when shopping at the grocery store, and sitting in a crowded stadium to watch sports.

I hope and pray that it stays that way.

Have a great week, and keep cool!