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Tensions Flare As Texas Legislature Adjourns…For Now

Local Audio Posts 7

In Austin today, both the Texas Senate and the Texas House adjourned, bringing the 85 th legislative session to a close. That was expected since the state constitution gives the Legislature exactly 140 days to run a regular session. What wasn’t totally expected was the drama that ramped up as the session was winding down. Lawmakers launched a war of words between the two chambers over the past few days, engaging in a tit-for-tat killing of bills the other side wanted passed. And amid those rising tensions, right at the very end, a scuffle broke out on the House Floor just before the House adjourned. KERA’s Justin Martin talked with politics reporter Christopher Connelly about the last day of the legislative session, the kerfuffle, and the specter of a special session. What was the scuffle about? As the House was nearing adjournment, dozens of immigrant rights advocates who had gathered by the hundreds in the Capitol rotunda spilled into the gallery of the lower chamber. They were there