AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst says he believes Gov. Rick Perry will call the Legislature back into another special session if the current one ends without several key bills passed.
Dewhurst wouldn’t say which bills he was talking about, but made his remarks Sunday night as the House debated a bill with tough new restrictions on abortion.
Dewhurst wouldn’t predict when a second special session might start.
Other bills facing a midnight Tuesday deadline and a possible filibuster by Democrats include a major transportation funding bill and one to create new punishments for 17-year-olds convicted of capital murder.
Dewhurst suggested House members could remove a provision that bans abortion after 20 weeks and send the bill straight to Perry to sign into law. The Senate passed the bill without that provision.