AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is facing some pushback from Republican leadership over his call to increase penalties for illegal voting. He added the issue to the third and current special session agenda Thursday, saying the provision for stiffer penalties was removed from the controversial election overhaul bill he signed into law in September. 

What You Need To Know

  • Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday added an agenda item to the current special session of the Texas Legislature that calls on lawmakers to increase the penalty for illegal voting

  • A provision in the elections bill Abbott signed in September reduced the penalty for illegal voting from a second-degree felony to a Class A misdemeanor 

  • Not all Republicans are on board with the agenda item. House Speaker Dade Plelan, R-Beaumont, tweeted that "now is not the time to re-litigate"

  • The Texas Senate is slated to take up the  issue beginning on Monday 

And less than 24 hours after the governor added increased penalties for illegal voting to the special session agenda, a bill to do so was filed in the Senate. But it could stall in the lower chamber, where the speaker of the House indicated he doesn’t support revisiting the issue. 

In a message to the Senate, Abbott wrote, “The State of Texas has made tremendous progress in upholding the integrity of our elections. By increasing penalties for illegal voting, we will send an even clearer message that voter fraud will not be tolerated in Texas."

“These are very serious offenses; they should have the very serious mark of a felony," said Chad Ennis, senior fellow with the Election Protection Project at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. 

PREVIOUS: Gov. Greg Abbott calls on lawmakers to increase penalty for illegal voting

The House voted to lower the offense from a second-degree felony to a Class A misdemeanor in an amendment that also changed the charge, so only people who "knowingly" or "intentionally" vote illegally can be charged with the offense. 

"We very much like the changes that were made to the elements of the offense to protect those people who kind of unknowingly were caught up in illegal voting. So there's a lot of good there. But again, the penalty reduction, once you fix the elements of the offense so it's not catching people kind of unwittingly, then the penalty should stay the same at a felony because illegal voting is a serious thing," said Ennis. ​

All Republican Senators then signed off on the final bill. But Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick tweeted Thursday night that the change was “added last minute and went under the radar,” saying it needs to be corrected. 

“We still support SB one and everything in it…but there's always with one of these big omnibus bills, some tweaking that needs to be done. The Texas AG noticed this issue, some others did, and brought it to our attention and the governor's attention. And, you know, it's an easy fix. And so now's the time to fix it," said Ennis. 

But the move is facing resistance from Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, who tweeted, “now is not the time to re-litigate. Instead the House will remain focused on its constitutional obligation to pass redistricting maps.” 

“Having to deal with the House maps, and then having to deal with SB one again?? said Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas House District 100. "I think that the speaker is being savvy about this, and really just wants to finally kind of end the session that won't end. And he’s not looking at anything other than being efficient and effective, whereas the governor and the lieutenant governor, are just looking for rhetoric for them to spin in their elections."

“It was just the highest priority bill in the entire session, certainly had a lot of scrutiny, and was the most debated bill, this entire year I would say…It’s got to stop somewhere," said Cinde Weatherby, voting rights and election law issue chair with the League of Women Voters of Texas. "We need to move on. We're all tired.”

A controversial new law that’s now creating a rift among Republicans. The governor and speaker did not respond to Capital Tonight’s request for comment. The Senate is moving swiftly to take up this issue — with a hearing scheduled for Monday on legislation to increase the penalty for illegal voting.