GOP Governor Vetoes THC Ban and Lets
Film Bill Become Law Without Signature
Capitol Inside
June 22, 2025
Governor Greg Abbott buried a THC prohibition with his veto pen late Sunday night in a move that could prompt a special summer session of the Texas Legislature to weigh a regulatory plan for a booming industry that Senate Bill 3 would have annihilated if he'd signed it into law.
Abbott waited until a half-hour before a midnight deadline to reveal the fate of SB 3 which he a pile of 25 lifeless bills that he'd vetoed in 2025 including 23 that he sentenced to death tonight. The Republican governor appeared to take the safest way out on a $300 million film incentives infusion when he let Senate Bill 22 become law without his signature.
| |
Passed |
Vetoed |
| Judith Zaffirini (D) |
135 |
5 |
| Joan Huffman (R) |
54 |
3 |
| Charles Perry (R) |
70 |
3 |
| Jeff Leach (R) |
30 |
3 |
| Joe Moody (D) |
6 |
3 |
| Juan Hinojosa (D) |
30 |
2 |
| Lois Kolkhorst (R) |
70 |
2 |
| |
|
|
|
The plan that is designed to make Texas more competitive in the courting of movie and television productions to the state. The movie measure that conservatives ripped as handouts for Hollywood could get another round of scrutiny in a special session that could be on the near horizon here.
Abbott put himself in position to be a savior for veterans, farmers, small business and Texas workers with the veto that knocked the life out the THC ban in SB 3. No Texas governor has ever experienced the kind of pressure that Abbott faced during his deliberations on the ban. But the Republican governor essentially threw Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and GOP legislators under the bus in historic fashion with the SB 3 veto in the wake of a special session where almost all of them voted to ban THC.
The veto that killed the THC ban represented the most stinging defeat for Patrick in his career as the Texas Senate president. Patrick muscled SB 3 through the Senate and scared almost all of the House Republicans into supporting it on the floor with a vote that gutted the leadership plan to regulate the hemp intoxicants industry that Abbott and state lawmakers created inadvertently in 2019. The House plan that the Republicans abandoned could be a starting point for a regular session proposal unless Abbott decides to take the lead and come up with a plan on his own.
Abbott's explanations and reasoning on the SB 3 had not be made public by midnight. But Patrick had made an aggressive effort to pressure the governor into signing the THC prohibition - and that could have backfired and given Abbott another compelling reason to reject the plan to show the Senate president who's running the state.
The 26 vetoes included the last bill that lawmakers approved in the regular session in Senate Bill 2878 - a proposal that would have created 11 state district courts. Republican Senator Bryan Hughes of Mineola authored the omnibus judicial measure in SB 2878 while GOP State Rep. Jeff Leach of carried it in the House. A standoff between Leach and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick threatened to bury SB 2878 before a last-minute deal at the deadline.
Leach had another proposal fall victim to the veto pen as the House sponsor when Abbott used it to derail Senate Bill 1032, which would have expanded the list of higher education institutions that were eligible for grants from the Governor’s University Research Initiative. Republican Senator Lois Kolkhorst of Brenham conceived SB 1032 and guided it through the Senate.
Abbott vetoed a bill that would have created a misdemeanor offense for the use of deepfake technology in media that's sexually explicit. Sponsored by Democratic Rep. Mary Gonzales of San Elizario and GOP Senator Joan Huffman, House Bill 449 cleared the House with only one opposing vote during the session's final week.
The pile of vetoed legislation included House Bill 2243, which would have created a Texas Commission on Teacher Job Satisfaction and Retention. GOP Rep. Tom Oliverson of Cypress authored HB 2243 and Republican Senator Brandon Creighton of Conroe carried it in the Capitol's east wing.
more to come ..
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