LEGE in the TIME of CORONAVA VIRUS

BY THE TIME TEXAS LAWMAKERS MEET FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE PANDEMIC STARTED, MORE THAN 23,000 OF THEIR CONSTITUENTS WILL HAVE DIED OF COVID-19.

MORE THAN 1.3 MILLION WILL HAVE BEEN INFECTED. ROUGHLY 4 MILLION WILL HAVE FILED UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS, AT TIMES NEARLY CRASHING THE STATE’S OUTDATED AND UNPREPARED SYSTEM. HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS WILL HAVE LOST THEIR HEALTH INSURANCE. THOUSANDS OF BUSINESSES WILL HAVE SHUTTERED.

For the past 10 months, Governor Greg Abbott has used his vast emergency powers to almost single-handedly lead Texas’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic as it has wreaked havoc across the state. The Legislature, which meets every two years, is one of just three in the country that has not convened since March. While other states have held special sessions to deal with the public health emergency and economic crisis, Abbott resisted calls to do the same in Texas.

Now, as state lawmakers head back to work in January, the challenges they face are immense. The pandemic has thrown Texas’ finances into chaos. In November, Glenn Hegar, the state comptroller, revised his July estimate of a $4.6 billion revenue shortfall for the current biennium that lawmakers will have to fill, saying the deficit is “not nearly as dire” as expected. But he didn’t provide a new figure, and warned of uncertainty about the state’s fiscal future. The forecast for the next two years could be even worse when the revenue estimate for the upcoming budget cycle is released in January. That’s as Texans are still trying to stay afloat in the middle of an unprecedented economic emergency.

The pandemic-induced financial crisis has set the stage for a legislative session that will be akin to a medical triage unit. Questions