AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ A special session of the Texas Legislature is in full swing.
Lawmakers convened the special session Wednesday and immediately took steps to extend the life of several key state agencies.
Lawmakers want to wrap up the special session before the July 4 holiday weekend.
Republican Gov. Rick Perry called the Legislature back to Austin to address three issues: preventing the agencies from expiring in 2010, authorizing $2 billion in bonds for road building and the transportation contracts. Lawmakers failed to approve those items in the regular session that ended June 1.
The Senate quickly passed the bill extending the Department of Transportation, the Department of Insurance and three other smaller agencies until Sept. 1, 2011. A House committee has passed the bill and the full chamber is expected to vote as early as Thursday.
Those agencies were supposed to be part of the normal renew and review process under Texas law during the regular session. But they got shoved aside when partisan bickering over a voter identification bill and a standoff on transportation funding stalled bills in the final days before lawmakers left town.
The road bonds issue also is expected to get easy approval on Thursday. The bonds were already approved by voters statewide in 2007.