The bills are part of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s list of priorities and, if passed as filed, could have profound impacts on how Texas universities recruit top faculty and other employees.
March 2023
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2023
House unveils bill giving state authority to “repel” and return migrants crossing from Mexico
House Bill 20 by state Rep. Matt Schaefer, R-Tyler, would test the boundaries of the state’s ability to enforce immigration law, which courts have historically ruled falls under federal purview.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Texas families would get $8,000 in tax dollars to send students to private school in sweeping “parental rights” bill backed by lieutenant governor
The bill, which has the blessing of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, will create new rules on how gender and sexual orientation is taught. It will face a tougher test in the House.
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Health care
Three Texas women are sued for wrongful death after allegedly helping friend obtain abortion medication
In the first lawsuit of its kind since Roe v. Wade was overturned, a husband seeks damages from women who allegedly helped his ex-wife obtain the medications to terminate her pregnancy.
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Health care
Conservative radio host Glenn Beck buys Roe v. Wade attorney Linda Coffee’s archive to highlight “bloody legacy”
Coffee, the last living member of the legal team that argued the landmark abortion case, put her archive up for auction. Beck bought it for $600,000. He says it will fit in with his “German eugenics” collection.
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Energy
Landowners fear injection of fracking waste threatens West Texas aquifers
Operators pump a sea of “produced water” underground for disposal. Intensifying tremors raise fears that the deep toxic waste pits could intermingle with water used for farming and drinking.
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TribCast
TribCast: Talking politics with Jen Psaki
In this week’s episode, James speaks with former White House press secretary Jen Psaki as she prepares to transition to hosting a new show on MSNBC.
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Health care
Workforce shortages in the state psychiatric hospital system prolong jail time for mentally ill Texans
The state has added more beds for jail inmates who need psychiatric treatment to be considered competent to face trial. But at least a third remain empty because the state can’t hire enough people to staff them.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Texas bill requiring 10-year prison sentences for gun felonies faces opposition from criminal justice and firearm advocates
Under Senate Bill 23, all felonies involving a gun would incur a mandatory 10-year prison sentence. It’s meant to curb crime, despite the lack of correlation between harsher sentences and crime rates.
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Criminal Justice
Texas executes Arthur Brown Jr. for Houston slayings despite claims of innocence, intellectual disability
Brown’s appeals ran out after almost 30 years on death row. Defense attorneys claim Harris County prosecutors hid evidence pointing to another suspect in the 1992 shooting deaths of four people in a Houston drug house.
