The bill is largely symbolic, as the Legislature is currently at a standstill, unable to move any legislation because House Democrats broke quorum two weeks ago when they fled to Washington, D.C. to block the GOP voting bill. Full Story
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Texas Republican state leaders held their ground against allowing local schools and governments to require masks. The CDC guidelines are not mandates and have no weight of law. Full Story
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In a letter to the major general of the Texas National Guard, Abbott said “more manpower is needed” at the border. Full Story
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The judge found that the group behind the suit had essentially brought the same claims in a previous case in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the University of Texas at Austin’s policy. Full Story
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The university is seeking to leave the Big 12 along with the University of Oklahoma, a move that would have wide-ranging impact on Texas college athletics. Full Story
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Decision Desk HQ called the race for Ellzey, a state representative running against fellow Republican Susan Wright. She was backed by former President Donald Trump. Ellzey will finish the term of Ron Wright, who died earlier this year after contracting COVID-19. Full Story
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Paxton is facing a primary challenge from Bush, the land commissioner, as well as Eva Guzman, the former state Supreme Court justice. 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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Three of the Democratic legislators who went to Washington, D.C., to deny the Texas House a quorum have been invited to detail their concerns at a specially called hearing on the contentious legislation that includes new restrictions on voting. Full Story
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The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Oklahoma are expected to leave the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference. The move throws the athletics future of several other Texas schools into uncertainty. Full Story
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COVID-19 cases have been increasing in Texas and nationally — mostly among unvaccinated people — as the highly contagious delta variant has become dominant. Here's what that means for Texans, both vaccinated and unvaccinated. Full Story
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Nothing offers a better distraction from nasty political fights over serious subjects than nasty political infighting over Texas college sports. Full Story
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The move is largely symbolic as the legislative session has been ground to a halt by the quorum-busting Democrats who fled Texas 11 days ago. Even if the Democrats returned, Abbott would have to add the item to his special session agenda for it to have a chance at passing. Full Story
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Seven of the state’s nine veterans homes had a fatality rate of 25% or more, far higher than the statewide average of 11% for nursing homes. Bush has vowed to not renew the operators’ contracts. Full Story
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Officials in Dallas, Harris and Travis counties want residents to take stronger precautions as the delta variant drives an increase in coronavirus infections across Texas. Full Story
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Despite promises from Abbott that transparency in the crowdfunding process for the border wall would be paramount, donor information released to The Texas Tribune for the first week of collections was bereft of any way to verify the identities of the majority of the donors. Full Story
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Four prominent lawmakers — one each with ties to Baylor University, Texas Christian University, Texas Tech University and Texas A&M University — met with Gov. Greg Abbott’s staff Thursday, one day after news broke that the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma had reached out to the Southeastern Conference about joining. Full Story
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Over the past few days, the Texas delegation has met with nearly all of the most powerful Democrats in Washington, save for President Joe Biden. But there is not yet clear movement to revive the congressional Democrats’ federal voting legislation. Full Story
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The state’s electricity regulators said they’re taking steps to assure a skeptical public that the power won’t go out again if Texas experiences extreme weather this summer. 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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