The Texas Legislature on Thursday adjourned its second specially called legislative session, calling it quits four days early after pushing through a controversial elections bill that Democrats said would infringe the voting rights of minorities and reinstating funding for the legislative branch. After nearly 60 days of special sessions, three quorum breaks by House Democrats […]Read More
On July 12, Texas House Democrats packed their bags and headed for the nation’s capital in a high-profile effort to block passage of GOP-backed voting restrictions. Democrats hoped their exodus would break what’s called a quorum — the minimum number of lawmakers needed to conduct business — so Republicans couldn’t pass legislation that could ban […]Read More
For the second time in four years, Texas legislators are returning for a summer special session mixing culture wars, political confections and — just to try to get the Democrats in the House and Senate to show up — a couple of issues that don’t get much attention at conservative rallies and town halls, like […]Read More
The sweeping overhaul of Texas elections and voter access was poised from the beginning of the session to pass into law. It had the backing of Republican leaders in both chambers of the Legislature. It had support from the governor. Democrats who opposed the bill, chiding it as a naked attempt of voter suppression, were […]Read More
The Texas Legislature’s two-year, roughly $248 billion state budget is headed to the governor’s desk after the House advanced the proposal Thursday, completing monthslong negotiations between the two chambers. The spending plan, Senate Bill 1, is “a bill that each and every one of us can be very proud of, and it represents the priorities […]Read More
You knew the state’s liberals were going to hate this session of the Texas Legislature. Republicans still hold every single statewide office in Texas, having maintained a perfect streak through elections stretching back to 1996. They still have majorities in both the House and the Senate. Because 2020 was a census year, this set of […]Read More
Maybe your job is like this, too: The Texas Legislature does most of its work on deadline. And here we are, with two weeks to go in the regular legislative session, and many of the big things that appeared on the to-do list back in January remain unfinished. The budget. New voting and election restrictions. […]Read More
This cannot possibly be as simple as it looks, but here’s what Texas Republicans appear to be telling you about themselves over the last week: Their party is fractured. They are running to their base to shore up their support among those most conservative and active voters who are so influential in the Republican primaries […]Read More
As opposition to Texas Republicans’ proposed voting restrictions continues to intensify, state lawmakers’ deliberations over the GOP priority legislation could soon go behind closed doors. The House early Friday voted 81-64 to advance a pared down version of Senate Bill 7, leaving out various far-reaching voting restrictions that have prompted widespread outcry from voting rights […]Read More
Efforts to bar local governments from hiring outside lobbyists or joining associations that lobby the state government are gaining steam, after falling short two years ago. If Texas lawmakers go ahead with current proposals, they’ll be hurting small towns more than big cities, and rural counties more than urban ones. The bigger local governments have […]Read More
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