It took years to build the multi-state system known as ERIC, which weeds out duplicate, deceased and suspicious voter registrations. Texas Republicans want to dump it, but there’s no viable alternative.
March 2023
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LGBTQ+ Texans
Texas Senate committee advances bills restricting certain drag shows
Proposed legislation from Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, would criminalize explicit performances where children are present and strip libraries of state funding for hosting any event featuring performers in drag. Critics say the bill is discriminatory and unconstitutional.
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Criminal Justice
State troopers will help Austin with police patrols as the city struggles with an officer shortage
Austin officials view the partnership as a stopgap measure as they try to fill the city’s more than 200 police vacancies.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Texas Senate budget writers propose billions for teacher raises, lower property taxes and water projects
The Senate Finance Committee’s proposals won’t be voted on and sent to the full chamber until April.
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Politics
Texas Observer editors protest layoffs, launch crowdfunding to save the 68-year-old magazine
Journalists at the progressive publication expect to be laid off this week. Relations between the board and senior staff have severely eroded.
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Criminal Justice
Dallas civil rights attorney Lee Merritt arrested at protest in McKinney
The protest was in memory of Marvin Scott III, who died in Collin County Jail custody in 2021. Scott’s sister and a local photojournalist were also arrested.
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Energy
Thousands of pounds of “forever chemicals” have been injected into Texas oil and gas wells, study finds
A new report from a public health watchdog found that more than 40,000 pounds of PFAS has been injected into more than 1,000 wells across Texas — and warned that the chemicals could pose a risk to public health
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Politics
U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee is running for Houston mayor
Jackson Lee enters a mayoral contest that is already well underway. The early frontrunner is state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, and his competitors include Chris Hollins, the former Harris County clerk, and Amanda Edwards, a former City Council member.
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Politics
Houston GOP activist knew for years of child sex abuse claims against Southern Baptist leader, law partner
Under oath, outspoken anti-gay activist Jared Woodfill said he was told in 2004 that Paul Pressler had sexually abused a minor. But Woodfill did not cut ties with the Southern Baptist leader — and said he had no knowledge of Pressler’s alleged behavior when another young man came forward about alleged sexual misconduct in 2016.
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Climate Change in Texas
El Paso charter fight tests whether a Texas city will move away from fossil fuels
As global efforts to combat climate change falter, climate activists have turned to local initiatives to rein in carbon emissions. A May vote on a city charter amendment has thrust El Paso into the fray.