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The Blast - July 7, 2025 [1]
['The Texas Tribune']
Date: 2025-07
PATRICK NAMES SIREN INSTALLATIONS AS POTENTIAL SESSION ITEM
Texas is still reeling from the floods in Kerr County and the Hill Country, but with a special session only two weeks away, Austin is beginning to think about ways to prevent another tragedy.
The Legislature will return on July 21 for a special session about THC regulation and other topics, but Gov. Greg Abbott could add flood-related issues to the call.
Speaking on Fox News this afternoon, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick mentioned the upcoming special session and said he had spoken with the governor.
“It’s going to take time, obviously, to look back and do a total analysis of everything, but one thing that stood out to me and the governor was I think it was the mayor or the county judge that said the voters didn’t want sirens here,” Patrick said. “Well, the governor suggested — and I said we’ll be all in in the Senate, and I’m sure the House will — then the state needs to step up and pay for these.”
“If the city can’t afford it,” he continued, “then the state will step up, and we need to have these in place by the next summer.”
Abbott didn’t get into specifics about expanding the special session call during a press conference yesterday but said it “is going to be a topic for the special session.”
“It’s going to be something that will be looked at,” Abbott said. “The reality also is this, and that is, what’s needed in that river basin at that location could be far different than what is needed in some other river basin across the state.”
One emergency-related bill with some newfound attention is House Bill 13, filed by House State Affairs and former Panhandle Wildfires Investigative Committee Chair Ken King, R-Canadian. The bill would have created the Texas Interoperability Council, tasked with developing a statewide strategic plan on emergency communication equipment, like warning sirens.
All of King’s bills stalled in the Senate during the regular session, when several of Patrick’s priorities were stuck in the House State Affairs Committee. While many of King’s bills eventually passed the Senate, HB 13 was one that never moved again.
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