Legislative Tidbits: The End Of Session Chaos Has Begun

24 days left of drama, debates, and late-night votes.

We’ve skipped Texas Tidbits in the last few weeks, but it’s coming back soon, don’t worry. However, the Left in Texas Podcast wraps up when the Legislative session is over (in just a few weeks), but it will be back in January 2026, right on time for the Democratic primaries. There isn’t a podcast this week because our guest fell through. It’s the end of the session, and it’s getting harder to schedule time, but we have someone exciting for next week.

Today was the 116th day of the 140-Day Legislature. That means there are only 24 days left. It’s already been such a long year.

I want to tell you we’ve been through the worst, but that wouldn’t be true. There are a lot of bad bills and terrible legislation that harm people coming down the pipeline. On top of that, the Texas House is now meeting through the entire weekend (including Mother’s Day). They may be in session every day for the next 24 days. 😭

I also must admit that while I’ve intended to keep an equal eye on both chambers, I haven’t been watching the Senate as closely. First of all, some of the Democrats in the chamber have aggravated me to no end. Take SB17, for example, the bill we discussed yesterday. It’s hard to understate how awful this bill is. In the House, only one Democrat voted on it, and it’s the one Democrat most likely to switch parties. After publishing that article, someone asked me, “Did you see who voted for this bill in the Senate?”

Four Democrats:

We’ve discussed some of these so-called Democrats before, I’m not going to beat a dead horse… not until primary season officially kicks off in June.

But if you only ever watch one legislative video I post, let it be this one. Gene Wu (D-HD137) speaking directly to the AAPI community during the third reading of this bill today:

SB17 was a horrible bill, and it doesn’t make sense that ANY Democrat would vote in favor of it.

And the second reason I haven’t been watching the Senate as closely is that they’re boring. Over there, Republicans have the legislative majority, and even if all of our Democrats were voting to protect all marginalized people, they would still be steamrolled by Dan Patrick and his authoritarian rule over the chamber.

And we get so many entertaining moments from the House, like this one of Terry Canales (D-HD40) basically calling Brent Money (R-HD02) an idiot:

It is high-quality entertainment. Or this moment, from today, when Ann Johnson embarrassed the shit out of Daniel Alders (R-HD06) who couldn’t explain what masturbation was, even though he’s banning books that contain appropriate health-related development (like masturbation) for teenagers:

All bills eventually have to pass both chambers, so we won’t miss legislation and will be highly entertained in the process.

One more thing I want to note about Senate Democrats. After the last legislative session, I had meeting with one of them, and we talked about one of their votes on a major bill that pissed a lot of activists off. They told me that no one contacted their office to discuss that bill. So they had no clue they were voting wrong.

To the activists, if we want to ensure that the Democrats we elect are voting the way the populace wants, sometimes we must tell them. Which is why I have all of my elected officials saved on my phone. I suggest everyone do the same. Call them and tell them your opinion on everything.

Who is electing these people?

In the last session, Carrie Isaac (R-HD73) gave legislative comedians material for months when she couldn’t even answer basic questions about her bill. Today, she did it again.

Her bill says that anyone who served in special forces in the military can carry firearms into bars as a civilian. Her reasoning was in case they needed to shoot the cartel or sex traffickers. Her defense of it was hilarious… as in a “yikes” way.

She believes that “special forces people” are spending their free time, off the clock, chasing sex traffickers. Which was undoubtedly inspired by the right-wing movie Sound of Freedom, which The Nation referred to as a “QAnon Fever Dream.”

When Gene Wu questioned her about de-escalation training and training on Texas’ gun laws, Carrie Isaac’s argument was that these “special forces guys” can kill people really fast, so they don’t need de-escalation training when chasing bad guys on their free time into bars. All while the growing horde behind her whispered her lines to repeat.

Getting Carrie Isaac to speak has been a fun game that Democrats seem to enjoy playing this session:

You don’t have to be a genius to be a legislator. Plenty of Republicans are on the slow end. But at a bare minimum, you should be able to coherently explain the laws you’re trying to put on the books for millions of Texans. Unfortunately, Isaac struggles with that.

And she isn’t the only one.

Janis Holt (R-HD18) ran her entire campaign on the “Colony Ridge” conspiracy. The only problem is that in the 88th Legislative Session, both the House and the Senate held hearings regarding Colony Ridge, and both Republican-led chambers discovered that all of the conspiracies surrounding this development were just that: conspiracies and lies.

Well, what does a representative do when it’s time to answer to their voters about whether they solved the problems of the lies they ran on?

Add an unrelated amendment to an unrelated bill, that way you can tell your GOP base that you did something, even when you didn’t. It’s not like they’re going to check into it. And that’s just what Holt did yesterday, causing her Republican colleague to postpone his entire legislation:

Somewhere, in the backwoods of Texas, people are listening to Carrie Isaac and Janis Holt’s goals and campaign speeches and saying, “Yep, these are the people I want making decisions about my life.”

But our fellow rocket scientist Texans aren’t just trying to pass dumb bills based on conspiracies and “QAnon fever dreams,” they’re also killing excellent legislation.

Republicans come out as pro-STD and pro-cervical cancer today.

Donna Howard (D-HD48) gave an impassioned and informative speech on the House floor today regarding HB1787, which aims to educate Texas college students about HPV prevention, detection, and treatment.

She began by addressing the misinformation campaign that labelled her the “reigning queen of the tyranny squad” for advocating for public health.

HB 1787 focuses on empowering students with facts rather than forcing medical decisions. It instructs state agencies to create a plan for health education, public awareness, and community outreach about HPV and related cancers. Contrary to the rhetoric opposing it, the bill supports informed choice by providing comprehensive information on prevention methods, including vaccines, condoms, and abstinence.

Howard ended her speech by urging lawmakers not to let misinformation guide public health policy and to prioritize saving lives over political posturing. As she motioned to postpone further consideration of the bill until June 3rd, she expressed hope that no more lives would be lost to preventable disease.

And Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there.

In honor of Mother’s Day, Jeff Leach (R-HD67) introduced a bill allowing pregnant women to use the HOV lanes. If they get pulled over by the police, they won’t have to take a pregnancy test on the side of the road, but instead will have to prove they were pregnant in court.

There were even discussions of a third-reading amendment that may allow all women to use the HOV lane, because as Leach put it, “Women have to go to the grocery store.”

The “men’s rights” groups are going to love this.

We’ll see what happens. That bill will likely come up for third reading over the weekend.

With just 24 days left in the session, it feels like we’re in for a relentless grind of bad bills, chaotic debates, and late-night votes.

It’s 10:30 on a Friday night, and I’m publishing this while the Texas House is still in session. They’ve been at it all day, and they’ll be at it all weekend, including Mother’s Day. This marathon isn’t ending anytime soon. As exhausting as it is, I’ll keep covering it all because someone has to keep shining a light on the absurdity and the harm coming out of the Capitol.

If you’re as frustrated as I am, keep calling your representatives and keep showing up. We’re in the final stretch now, and it will be a long haul to the finish line. Stay tuned, stay loud, and take care of yourselves.

• June 2: The 89th Legislative Session ends.

• June 3: The beginning of the 2026 election season.

• Click here to find out what Legislative districts you’re in.

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