After 16 hours of tense debate, the Texas House passed a bill that would outlaw so-called “sanctuary” cities. The measure would allow law enforcement officials to ask the immigration status of any person legally detained.
Alana Rocha
Alana Rocha was the director of news partnerships for The Texas Tribune until June 2022. She was previously a multimedia reporter, after working in television and radio news for eight years. Alana covered politics for stations in Florida, Kansas and Texas and traveled the country reporting from the 2012 and 2016 presidential campaign trails. She was the lead reporter on several award-winning projects and launched “The Brief,” a daily audio update. A native of Tampa, Florida, Alana received bachelor’s degrees in journalism and Spanish from the University of Florida.
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Transportation
Bathrooms and ride-hailing cross paths in the Texas Legislature (video)
House Republicans successfully added gender-defining language to a bill that would regulate companies like Uber and Lyft. That’s among the news in this week’s Texas Political Roundup.
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Health care
Texas’ voter ID law again takes a hit in the courts (video)
Asked to re-evaluate the state’s voter ID law, a federal judge rules for the second time that state lawmakers intentionally discriminated against Latino and black voters in passing the strict law.
Posted in
Higher Education
Hazlewood plan would leave benefits for current veterans untouched
Colleges are asking the state to pare back the state program that offers free tuition to veterans or their children. But key lawmakers in the Texas House don’t want to mess with what’s being offered to current veterans and their families.
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Higher Education
Rick Perry snags seat on Trump’s security council
The Trump administration announced this week that Texas’ longest-serving governor, now the U.S. energy secretary, would be a member of the president’s main advisory group on intelligence and defense matters.
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Health care
Texas Senators to debate bill that would narrow definition of “psychology”
A Texas Senate committee will take up a bill Wednesday that would redefine “psychology” in response to a court ruling that found parts of the state’s current definition are unconstitutional.
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Higher Education
Rick Perry wades into student election at his alma mater (video)
Texas’ longest-serving governor took time away from his new job as the U.S. Secretary of Energy to question the election that resulted in Texas A&M’s first openly gay student body president.
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State Government
Texas lawmakers zero out budget for Abbott’s pre-K program (video)
In the Texas Political Roundup: Both the House and Senate budget plans have zeroed out the funding for Governor Greg Abbott’s early education grant program. Plus, the “bathroom bill” advances in the Senate. And one lawmaker files a bill that would penalize men for masturbating.
Posted inState Government
Lawmakers hear hours of testimony on bathroom bill (video)
Who can use what bathroom dominated the talk at the Texas Capitol this week.
Posted inState Government
Legislature focuses on foster care fixes (video)
This week, state lawmakers in the House and Senate advanced different ways to overhaul the foster care system.
