III. Continual Continuances

By the time the continuance-disclosure reform took effect on September 1, 2003, Governor Perry already had extended the 2003 legislative-continuance season by convening two special sessions on redistricting that year. Two weeks after the reform took effect the governor convened yet another special session to promote Tom DeLay’s congressional redistricting agenda. Indeed, during the three and a half years from January 2003 through mid 2006, Governor Perry called an extraordinary seven special sessions that lasted an average of 29 days each. Nine additional months during this period were consumed by two regular sessions.

Yet the continuance season ran considerably longer. Legislator-lawyers can block court proceedings from up to one month before a session starts to up to one month after it ends. All told, court blackout days consumed 26 out of the 42 months from January 2003 through mid-2006.⁹ In other words, legislators could tie up court proceedings for more than two years worth of this three-and-a-half-year period! Perpetual special sessions have created a virtual open season for legislative continuances.