Texas Representatives react to Governor Greg Abbott's veto of SB3, the THC ban bill, and call for a special session
The author of 365bet官方网站 Bill 3, which banned THC products in Texas, still believes in the integrity of the legislation despite Governor Greg Abbott's veto. The Governor rejected the bill last Sunday night, with less than 40 minutes before the midnight deadline, and he called for a special session beginning July 21 for lawmakers to pass another bill that will regulate the Hemp industry in Texas.
In an interview Tuesday for Eye On Politics, Republican State Senator Charles Perry of Lubbock told CBS News Texas, "He raised some legitimate concerns in his proclamation as to why he got to where he did. I have all the confidence in the world that we will alleviate and address those concerns in a special session in fairly short order. SB 3 is on solid ground. My prediction would be we'll have something fairly close to what SB 3 did."
Gov. Abbott's legal concerns
In his proclamation, Abbott said he vetoed the measure because of legal concerns. "If I were to allow 365bet官方网站 Bill 3 to become law, its enforcement would be enjoined for years, leaving existing abuses unaddressed. Texas cannot afford to wait. Knowing that it faces a lengthy battle that will render it dead on arrival in court-would hinder rather than help us solve the public safety issues the bill seeks to contain." The Governor's veto comes even though all Republicans in the State 365bet官方网站 and all but two Republicans in the State House voted for SB 3.
Representative Brian Harrison of Midlothian was one of the two Republicans who voted against the bill. In an interview for Eye On Politics, Harrison told CBS News Texas, "I believe I was the only Republican in the legislature to call on the Governor to veto SB 3 and I did that three weeks ago. It was unfortunate that the legislature passed a bill that, in my opinion, was massively a government overreach. It was marching us in the direction of California-style nanny-stateism, and it was going to force adults to make a horrible choice. These are patriotic, freedom-loving Texans who either want or rely on these products. It was a bill that needed to be vetoed."
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick "puzzled" by veto
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, who pushed for this bill during the regular legislative session, held a news conference Monday and didn't hold back about the Governor's veto. "One can only come to this conclusion, which surprises me. The governor of the state of Texas wants to legalize recreational marijuana in Texas."
In response to the Lt. Governor's news conference, the Governor's Press Secretary Andrew Mahaleris, issued a statement that said in part, "Governor Abbott has always shared the Lieutenant Governor's desire to ensure that THC products are not sold to our children, and that the dangerous synthetic drugs that we have seen recently are banned."
In his veto proclamation, the Governor also cited a similar Arkansas law that was challenged in the courts and had been held up. But last week, a federal appeals court overturned a lower court's ruling that blocked the Arkansas legislation banning THC. In a post on the social media platform "X", the Lt. Governor cited the ruling, saying, "All we have to do is pass SB 3, just like we passed during the regular session."
The Governor responded on "X", "Even though the Arkansas law was not plagued with the same legal defects as the Texas bill, it still was unenforced for two years and will be further tied up in court for years to come."
A poll by the Texas Politics Project at UT Austin shows that overall, 53% oppose the ban on THC products, and 31% support it. Among Republicans, a much closer margin, with 46% in support of the ban, while 39% oppose it.
