AUSTIN, Texas — On Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law nine bills lawmakers passed during this year’s third special legislative session.

What You Need To Know

  • Gov. Greg Abbott approved nine bills, including the student-athlete transgender bill and the new voting map 

  • The maps that were drawn are to ensure Republicans have majority power over the next 10 years

  • Civil rights groups requests a court-blocking of the maps

  • The student-athlete transgender bill will be in effect Jan. 18

He approved Texas' redrawn voting maps for the state's congressional, legislative and State Board of Education districts. The maps were drawn to keep Republicans in power for the next decade. Democrats say they disenfranchise voters of color who drove the state's population growth. Civil rights groups are asking courts to block the maps before they can be used in the 2022 midterm elections.

Abbott also signed a bill restricting transgender student athletes from playing on school sports teams that align with their gender identity. The controversial measure is set to go into effect January 18th. So is a measure Abbott vetoed previously, involving dog tethering in Texas. Monday, he signed into law a bill that makes the unlawful restraint of a dog a crime. Animal advocates repeatedly called for the measure criticizing the existing statute's lack of enforcement.

Abbott also signed bills funding $3.3 billion for construction projects at higher education institutions through tuition revenue bonds and authorizing a ballot initiative that would raise the homestead exemption on schools’ property taxes to deliver savings to homeowners. Texas voters will decide in May whether to raise the exemption from $25,000 to $40,000, which would amount to about $176 in annual savings for homeowners, according to the bill's author Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston.

Abbott did not sign a bill yet that would allocate about $13 billion in federal coronavirus relief dollars toward state needs, like hospitals that have faced financial problems due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since it appropriates money, it first has to be certified by the Texas Comptroller. 

Lawmakers did not approve several of Abbott’s agenda items during the third special session, including banning COVID-19 vaccine mandates and increasing penalties for illegal voting.

While Abbott has faced pressure from his right to call another special session to address those items, a spokesperson for Abbott recently said “there is no need for another special session at this time.”