87th Texas Legislative Session gets underway

AUSTIN, Texas - The Legislative Session is officially underway at the Texas Capitol and it's expected to be a very busy several months. COVID-19 is set to dominate both politics and logistics and there are security concerns after the recent riots at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

DPS is adding patrols and resources following a new warning from the FBI about potential armed protests at state capitols ahead of Inauguration Day.

The pandemic is also forcing the swearing-in ceremony to be shorter and with limited attendance as well as required COVID testing. As the session goes on, capacity will be monitored, social distancing and mask enforcing will be enforced, and deep cleaning will be done each weekend.

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As for the politics, there's a lot of attention on a bill to reign in Governor Abbott's powers during the pandemic. Some rural businesses are complaining surges in urban areas have dictated whether they can stay open. They'd like their smaller communities to be able to make that call and officials in cities like Austin would like more power to add restrictions like capacity limits and curfews for restaurants.

There's also an impending budget battle with an existing shortfall of several billion dollars largely thanks to the economic damage from COVID.

Congressional redistricting also looks to be a contentious battle but that may not happen during the regular session.

Voting and police reform are also expected to be discussed.