The Texas Legislature Is Counting Down to Sine Die. What Does It Mean, and How Do You Say It?

The Texas Legislature meets for nearly five months starting in January, so when the end of May rolls around, every lawmaker longs to hear an arcane two-word Latin phrase: "sine die." It's generally defined as "without a day specified for a future meeting" and has come to signify the last day of the legislative session, which this year falls on May 27, Memorial Day.Two pronunciations are considered correct: SIGH-nee DIE-ee or SI-nay DEE-ay. But tired Texas drawls typically just pronounce it SIGH-nee die.That's the day the gavels come down, though most of the last-minute wrangling over bills happens over the weekend. And if lawmakers don't accomplish what they set out to, Gov. Greg Abbott can call as many special sessions as he wants.So technically, sine die means "until the special session starts."To keep up with all our coverage of the 2019 session, follow the Texas Tracker: Your Guide to the State Legislature. You'll find stories, analysis and more from the Capitol. If you're a Dallas Morning News subscriber, you can customize your feed. Sign in, click the issues you want to follow, and you'll see only posts matching those topics.You can also have all our political coverage delivered to your inbox with Political Points, our twice-weekly newsletter with stories from Austin, Dallas, Washington and the 2020 campaign trail.  Continue reading...