The law is set to take effect Sept. 1.
July 2021
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2021
Analysis: Texas legislators are fighting ferociously — and for voters’ attention
Texas lawmakers are battling over voting laws — pushing people into late hearings and walking out on the proceedings in Austin — and hoping their voters will appreciate the ferocity.
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Energy
Officials in charge of Texas’ power grid try to reassure lawmakers and the public that they’re fixing lingering problems
Lawmakers cannot pass laws to improve Texas’ power grid during the special legislative session. They’re discussing it anyway.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2021
Texas House Republicans vote to track down absent Democrats and arrest them if necessary
The procedural move carries little apparent weight since the Democrats who fled the state to break quorum are beyond the jurisdiction of Texas law enforcement.
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Texas Legislature 2021
To block voting legislation, Democrats put bail bills, legislative funding and other measures in peril
Conservative priorities to restrict pretrial release from jail and ban critical race theory in schools were up in the air after Democratic lawmakers chartered flights to Washington, D.C. But so was funding for retired teachers and legislative employees.
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Texas 2022 Elections
Civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, a Democrat, launches campaign against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton
Merritt officially began his Democratic campaign Tuesday with an emphasis on the voting rights battle that caused state House Democrats to leave Texas a day earlier.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas Democrats land in Washington, D.C., and promise to stay out of Texas until after special legislative session ends Aug. 6
Texas Democrats said they are urging Congress again to pass federal voting laws, acknowledging that Gov. Greg Abbott would continue to call special sessions until the GOP elections bill was passed.
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Texas Legislature 2021
After hours of impassioned testimony, Texas Senate panel advances bills limiting the school sports teams that transgender athletes can join
Gov. Greg Abbott added the legislation to the special session agenda after similar bills failed to pass during the regular session earlier this year.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2021
Texas House Democrats flee the state in move that could block voting restrictions bill, bring Legislature to a halt
A majority of Democrats in the Texas House left for Washington, D.C., Monday afternoon in a bid to again deny Republicans the quorum needed to pass new voting restrictions with 26 days left in a special legislative session called largely for that purpose.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Deploy law enforcement? Call another special session? Texas GOP mulls options for elections bill after Democrats leave the state
A number of House Republicans indicated that they would support what’s known as a call of the House, a procedural move that would allow law enforcement to track down lawmakers who have already fled the chamber.
