AUSTIN, Texas – Texas lawmakers are back in Austin for the 87th session of the Texas Legislature. Not only are they dealing with the safety concerns of a pandemic this session, they’re also dealing new security concerns following last week’s attack at the U.S. Capitol.

It was an unusual scene at the Texas Capitol on the opening day of the state’s legislative session. A giant tent is set up to administer rapid COVID-19 tests to those entering the building.

State troopers in riot gear were on standby in the wake of last week’s attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“We knew there’d be some setbacks as far as COVID and the restrictions from that and trying to get things squared away with all that’s going on nationwide and, you know, folks go right to DEFCON-2 right now, but we knew DPS would have this under control and they certainly did,” said Rep. Charles “Doc” Anderson, a Waco-area Republican.

The national tone during a pandemic and ongoing civil unrest will impact what state lawmakers do over the next 140 days.

“Now more than ever, Texans need you to succeed this session,” Gov. Greg Abbott told state senators in the state’s upper chamber.

The only thing lawmakers are required to do is balance the budget, but moving forward from the pandemic will also force lawmakers to consider how to best handle things like in-person learning at schools and vaccine distribution.

A group of Democratic lawmakers is already asking Gov. Abbott to make changes to how the vaccine is being rolled out and expanding who’s eligible for the shot.

“I think the people who have to go out to work and can’t work from home deserve to have some priority,” said Rep. Vikki Goodwin, an Austin-area Democrat.

Legislators are also expecting that less legislation will come to the floor and that some of their meetings will be virtual.

Safety upgrades have been made to stop the spread of the virus inside the Capitol. Lawmakers also used opening day to discuss COVID-19 guidelines in each chamber.