Texas lawmaker seeks special session to limit governor’s emergency powers

State Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, said he gathered about 15,000 petition signatures and delivered them to Gov. Greg Abbott’s office Nov. 12, urging Abbott to call a special session to limit the governor’s emergency powers before Democrat Gina Hinojosa takes office in January. 

Harrison and a coalition of conservative groups want lawmakers to bar governors from suspending or modifying state statutes and require legislative approval for emergency orders to continue beyond 30 days. They also want to prevent governors from reissuing orders lawmakers reject and give courts a faster way to hear challenges. Harrison said at the press conference that no other state lawmakers had joined his coalition, according to Texas Scorecard. 

Rep. Wes Virdell, R-Brady, supported limiting the governor’s emergency powers but said calling a special session now would be counterproductive, according to Texas Scorecard. 

The Texas Disaster Act of 1975 is a state law codified in Chapter 418 of the Texas Government Code. Section 418.014 allows a disaster declaration to continue beyond 30 days if the governor renews it and gives the Legislature authority to end a declaration by law. Section 418.016 allows the governor to suspend certain statutes governing state procedures and certain agency rules or orders when compliance would hinder disaster response. 

Abbott has invoked the act during a number of natural disasters, including severe storms and flooding in March 2025 and heightened wildfire risk beginning in August 2025. In a proclamation released Nov. 2, 2026, he renewed the wildfire-risk declaration after state emergency officials confirmed that the conditions persisted in some counties. The renewal authorized state agencies to waive contracting and procurement requirements when those rules would impede emergency action needed to protect life or property. 

Abbott made a more obscure use of the act in 2019, when the Legislature failed to pass a bill to continue the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners during the Sunset Commission process. He invoked the still-active Hurricane Harvey disaster declaration to keep the board operating without calling a special session, citing the need for licensed plumbers in the recovery. Lawmakers passed a bill in 2021 to continue the board and the Plumbing License Law through Sept. 1, 2027. 

Abbott also used the act during the COVID-19 pandemic to limit in-person activity and require face coverings with exceptions. He later lifted statewide business capacity limits and the mask requirement. In May 2021, he invoked the act to declare a border disaster and direct the use of state resources. 

What lawmakers proposed in 2025 

Proposals filed during the 2025 regular session ranged from spending disclosures to limits on the governor’s ability to renew a disaster declaration or suspend state law. None of these measures passed both chambers. 

• HB 1165, Rep. Gina Hinojosa. Would have required the governor to report no-bid contract spending and federal disaster aid to lawmakers within 30 days of each declaration or renewal. The report would also have identified which agencies or programs received federal funds and any required state match. The bill stopped after referral to House Delivery of Government Efficiency. 
• HB 523, Rep. Brian Harrison. Would have required lawmakers to pass a law to extend any state disaster declaration beyond 30 days, removed the governor’s authority under the Disaster Act to suspend certain statutes, and expedited court challenges to disaster orders. It stopped after referral to House State Affairs. 
• SB 871 and SJR 40, Sen. Brian Birdwell. Would have required legislative approval to extend most qualifying large-scale disasters or emergencies beyond 30 days and reserved business restrictions by category or region to lawmakers. The bill also would have barred governors from suspending a law or rule under the Texas Sunset Act to keep an agency operating past its statutory abolition date. Both measures passed the Senate unanimously and cleared House State Affairs before stalling in House Calendars. 
• HB 5464, Rep. Shelley Luther. Would have required legislative approval to extend most qualifying large-scale disasters beyond 30 days, barred state and local officials from restricting business operations or occupancy under the Disaster Act, and limited mask mandates. It stopped after referral to House State Affairs. 
• SB 951, Sen. Nathan Johnson. Would have required a public hearing and a law approving any disaster renewal beyond 90 days, with lawmakers setting the maximum extension. It stopped after referral to Senate State Affairs. 
• SB 950, Sen. Nathan Johnson. Would have limited disaster orders to the specific needs of the declared disaster, required weekly public updates on those orders, and mandated public hearings on certain proposals to change state appropriations. It stopped after referral to Senate Finance. 
• HB 2702, Rep. Richard Raymond. Would have exempted qualifying veterans’ nonprofits from certain gubernatorial restrictions on businesses that sell alcohol, with an exception for natural disasters. It passed the House 136-0 and was left pending in Senate State Affairs. 

Harrison served as chief of staff to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar during President Donald Trump’s first administration, including during the federal response to COVID-19. He joined the Texas House in October 2021 after winning a special election runoff for District 10. He called for a special session the day after Hinojosa won the governor’s race. 

As of Nov. 13, there was no confirmed special session call on emergency powers. Article IV, Section 8 of the Texas Constitution gives the governor authority to convene a special session, and Article III, Section 40 limits it to 30 days and restricts lawmakers to subjects the governor submits. The regular session begins Jan. 12, with Democrats set to control the House and Republicans retaining their Senate majority. 

Photo courtesy of State Rep. Brian Harrison