TX SPECIAL SESSION? - Democratic lawmakers held press conferences throughout Texas yesterday, calling for Governor Greg Abbott to hold an emergency legislative session on gun violence. This comes after 29 people were killed during two mass shootings last month in El Paso and Odessa/Midland. State Senator Jose Rodriguez represents El Paso. He says without the special session, lawmakers won’t be able to take action until 2021.
"And then even if we pass some laws that can make a difference, before they get implemented that's almost another year gone by," explained Rodriguez. "I don't think Texas and Texans want to wait, you know, almost three years before we get any action here."
More than 60 members of the Texas House Democratic Caucus also sent a letter to Abbott. The governor declined to call a special session after the massacre in El Paso, instead holding roundtable discussions with various groups throughout the state. Representative Mary Gonzalez is part of the El Paso delegation. She says those discussions were important but more needs to be done.
"But from those roundtables we actually have great foundation to get something done now," Gonzalez said. "So what did we- did we have roundtables for nothing or did we have roundtables because we wanted to come up with solutions that then we can enact sooner rather than later to save peoples lives?"
Representative Gonzalez spoke at a press conference in El Paso. Other events were held in Dallas, Austin, Houston, and San Antonio.
