AUSTIN — Windstorm insurance reform legislation suddenly got voted out of a House committee Wednesday after Gov. Rick Perry threatened to call a special session on June 2 if the bill does not pass.

Both inland and coastal lawmakers expressed concerns about the bill they voted on, but said they needed to get something to a House/Senate conference committee if there is any hope of reaching a compromise to avoid a special session.

Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, complained that he was being forced to vote on a 51-page bill that he had not read. He said the House has had the entire session to work on a compromise and now was being presented a “false choice” of voting on an unseen bill or having it die in the Legislature’s closing crunch.

“The House is on fire! Let’s vote it out,” Martinez Fischer said.

“I don’t care what you do. If you want to vote it down, vote it down,” replied House Insurance Committee Chairman John Smithee, R-Amarillo.

Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, joined Martinez Fischer in voting against the bill, also complaining that she had not had a chance to read it.

“I’m not trying to slow the process down, but don’t I have a right to read this stuff?” Thompson asked.

Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, urged his fellow committee members to vote for the bill just to keep it moving and not let it die. He said there are many things in it that still bother him.

“We have been told we will be called into a special session on June 2 if we do not get this matter resolved,” Hunter said. “Get the process moving so we do not kill the issue.”

The legislation is designed to give coastal residents some windstorm insurance relief through surcharges on homeowners insurance in inland areas.

Rep. Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills, said he was voting on it to keep the bill moving, but he is bothered by things in the bill. He said he wants to make sure the House side of the conference committee is not stacked with coastal lawmakers because he wants to make sure the surcharge is not too high for his homeowners.

“My district will be impacted by this legislation,” Hancock said. “They may not know it. They may not feel it. But they’re going to be impacted.”

A bill reforming the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association already has passed the Senate. It would raise rates by 5 percent a year for three years on coastal residents. The cost of the insurance was not immediately clear in the measure approved by the House committee on a 7-2 vote.

The association — which provides coverage to homeowners and businesses in 14 coastal counties and a part of Harris County who cannot buy it elsewhere — was depleted last year by Hurricanes Dolly and Ike.

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