Texas lawmakers begin special session in Austin

Texas Special Session begins in Austin

THC regulation, congressional boundaries and the so-called abortion pill. Now they are all priority issues in a special session of the Texas legislature, which kicked off Monday at high noon. FOX 26 Political Reporter Greg Groogan has the latest from Austin.

AUSTIN, Texas - After a seven-week breather, Texas lawmakers are back in business and expressing a profound commitment to preventing in the future the horrible loss of life suffered in the Hill Country during July 4 flash flooding.

Texas Special Session now underway

On the floor of the Texas House most lawmakers donned garments or ribbons of green - in painful remembrance of the young lives taken at the Christian Girl's enclave, known as Camp Mystic.

The horrific losses sustained in the flash flood have elevated the provision of warning systems to the under-protected a "must-do", bi-partisan, priority.

What they're saying:

"We are calling for an investigation of what really happened, and it’s falling on deaf ears. We need to know where the failures were so we don’t repeat them. We are talking about more than 100 people dead. It’s outrageous," said Representative Christina Morales, a Houston Democrat.

State Representative Mano DeAyala's West Houston District sustained a dozen casualties in the Hill Country. He's advocating "whatever it takes" to prevent a repeat.

"It's one of those things that's unthinkable. We owe it to these families, these communities to be reactive, but going forward, proactive in making sure this never happens again," said DeAyala, a Republican.

Houston State Senator Paul Bettencourt is leading the effort in the upper chamber and believes he's found a state-funded fix.

"The idea I had was to go back to civil defense sirens and use those like we do in tornado alley and combine the two with river gauges. Maybe we will automate this and have it in a package that comes out from the state, because it's important for these smaller counties that they get some help with this," said Bettencourt.

Bettencourt says Governor Greg Abbott is insisting new flash flood warning technology be in place next summer.

State lawmakers are addressing 18 issues in the 30-day session, including THC regulation, potential restrictions on the so-called "abortion pill", replacing the standardized test, known as STARR, and a potential ban on taxpayer-funded lobbying.