The third called special session of the 88th Texas Legislature has one week remaining. Governor Abbott put border security, immigration reform, prohibiting mandatory Covid vaccine requirements by private employers, and school choice in the form of education savings accounts on the call for this special session.
With one week left, the legislature has passed bills giving the Governor wins on all of his agenda items except for school choice. There are conflicting reports as to whether a deal has been made, and even if so, if legislation has time to pass before the end of this special session. If not, the Governor may re-convene the legislature again for a fourth special session.
As always, the ARAWC government relations team is keeping a close eye on potential legislation that could affect our member companies. For those of you wondering how the Covid vaccine mandate legislation could affect your company, please review the enrolled version of SB 7.
We continue to monitor state agency activity, even while the legislature continues its deliberations. Of note, on October 30th, the Division of Workers’ Compensation announced that their Research and Evaluation Group has adopted its research agenda for 2024. What that agenda entails will be released on November 10th. Once we have that information we will pass it along to you. Please keep an eye out for it in the next member update.
