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Cassandra Pollock is The Texas Tribune’s state politics reporter. She joined the Tribune full-time in June 2017 after a fellowship during the 85th Texas Legislature. Pollock spent her first two years at the Trib as an engagement reporter, which meant her name likely landed in your inbox every weekday morning with “The Brief,” a newsletter on all things Texas politics and public policy. Pollock is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin’s School of Journalism.
Funds amounting to at least $12.6 million will be transferred from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to the Senate, the House, and legislative agencies such as the LBB, the Legislative Council and the Legislative Reference Library. Full Story
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House Democrats are still camped out in the nation’s capital hinting that many may not return to Austin immediately as the next overtime round starts Saturday. Full Story
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Clardy, who has been fully vaccinated since earlier this year, tested positive last Friday. Full Story
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Their vacation does not affect the lack of quorum that the House has in Austin that prevents the chamber from passing an elections bill. But it is at odds with Democrats’ insistence that they would use their time away to advocate for federal voting rights legislation in the nation’s capital. Full Story
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Abbott has promised to call a second special session to pass the GOP’s priority voting bill, but the exact timing is uncertain. And House Democrats have not yet revealed what they have planned after the session ends this week. Full Story
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Republicans believe they have already compromised enough on the legislation, while Democrats are distrustful of both the policy driving the bill and their GOP colleagues after seeing how they have managed the process around the proposal so far. Full Story
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Both Republicans in Austin and Democrats in D.C. have engaged in the political drama over the past two weeks, with the two camps battling it out on cable news interviews and social media over the quorum bust and who is to blame for it. Full Story
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The warrant to apprehend state Rep. Philip Cortez is the first one signed by the speaker since more than 50 House Democrats left the state to block Republicans from having the quorum needed to pass legislation during the special legislative session. Full Story
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Members left Texas about 10 days ago and have said they plan to stay out of state until after the special session ends Aug. 6. Full Story
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The Texas House Democratic Caucus, which has said it plans to not identify lawmakers who test positive, has started additional precautionary measures, such as providing daily rapid tests. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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Authors of the legislation are moving to ban drive-thru and 24-hour voting options, enhance access for partisan poll watchers and prohibit local election officials from proactively distributing applications to request mail-in ballots. Both bills also include language to further restrict the state’s voting-by-mail rules, including new ID requirements for absentee voters. Full Story
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The lower chamber, led by House Speaker Dade Phelan, is trying to start off on a new foot with a controversial election bill that blew up during the regular session. Full Story
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In this week's episode, Cassi speaks with Alexa and James about the upcoming special legislative session that starts July 8 in Austin. Full Story
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After killing Republicans' priority voting bill during the regular legislative session, Democratic lawmakers are mulling how to try to stop it in the special session that starts July 8. Full Story
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Turner has represented House District 114 since 2019 after he flipped the previously GOP-held seat during the 2018 elections. Full Story
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The governor had vowed to veto the Legislature’s funding in the final hours of the regular legislative session in May after House Democrats broke quorum and left the chamber to prevent passage of a controversial elections bill. Full Story
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The Legislature gaveled out at the end of month after passing bills on abortion, guns, police budgets and the Texas power grid. Here's how Texas voters feel about the results. Full Story
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