The Texas Legislature re-convened yesterday to begin a 30-day special session in the middle of summer. Governor Dan Patrick―who introduced the failed Senate bill back in April―held hostage a must-pass bill needed to keep several Texas agencies operating. There are other bills legislators have put off for the session too, including one aimed at restricting abortion coverage under private plans for health insurance, but the main event is the trans bathroom bill. But that wasn’t enough for Patrick and other extremists, who voted it down and pushed for the special session to get the more broad-based bill passed attacking all transgender people statewide. For a Texas Republican in the current climate, those were remarkably strong words.

Source: Huffington Post July 19, 2017 14:02 UTC