Senate Adjourns 4th Special Session

Last Friday, Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst announced that more time was needed to craft a viable school finance reform plan. Today, the Senate adjourned sine die, ending the 4th called special session. In a joint press conference with Governor Rick Perry and Speaker Tom Craddick, Dewhurst praised the Senate for its hard work over the last 30 days and announced plans for the interim. Dewhurst said that he and Speaker Craddick had agreed to create two working groups, each comprised of six Senators and six Representatives, to work on the revenue and reform aspects of school finance reform. The Lieutenant Governor reiterated the difficulty of the school funding issue. "I am reminded that the problem of school finance has never been solved in a single session," said Dewhurst, " This last session is no different." He emphasized that any school finance reform bill must have a source of new revenue.

Governor Rick Perry addressed the likelihood of calling another special session. Perry said he wants to call the legislature back in the "very near future" so that any issues entailing a constitutional amendment could appear on the November elections ballots. Perry said that this session was valuable in that it allowed the major issues surrounding the school finance question to be debated and clarified.

The Senate has adjourned sine die and will continue work in interim committees and in the two working groups that will be formed to deal with school finance reform.

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