The authors of bills in both legislative chambers say their bills’ aim is simple: keeping sexually explicit content off school bookshelves. But opponents say the legislation is vague and broad enough to wreak havoc.
Alejandro Serrano
Alejandro Serrano writes about Texas politics and government, with a focus on immigration and education issues. Since joining the Tribune, he has helped investigate the 2022 Uvalde school shooting, lived for half a year in Eagle Pass during a temporary assignment covering immigration and documented a variety of major occurrences in the state from Houston, where he used to live. He previously covered education for the Houston Chronicle and breaking news for the San Francisco Chronicle. The Long Island, New York, native received his bachelor's degree in journalism from Northeastern University. He is based in Austin and speaks fluent Spanish.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2023
Texas lawmaker again tries to block discriminatory hairstyle bans in schools and workplaces
Texas lawmakers could prohibit race-based hair discrimination at schools and workplaces. At least 20 states have already passed similar legislation, according to a group that champions the laws.
Posted in
Politics
Houston ISD families blast the state’s takeover of the district as an intervention that won’t improve student learning
Parents and students of the Houston Independent School District decried the state’s decision to take control of the school system. Despite the news, many questions remain about how it would affect them.
Posted in
Politics
Ken Paxton’s campaign against election crimes ensnared a Texas justice of the peace three times before judges thwarted the efforts
Many of the illegal voting cases the Texas attorney general has boasted about are unraveling after a key court ruling. But Tomas Ramirez III said the pursuit of charges against him has taken its toll.
Posted in
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.
Posted in
Politics
Former Texas House Speaker Rayford Price dies at 86
The Texas Democrat served as speaker of the Texas House of Representatives from 1972 to 1973.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Uvalde’s state lawmakers face an uphill battle raising the age limit for semi-automatic guns. They’re trying anyway.
Many relatives of Uvalde victims back bills that state Rep. Tracy King and Sen. Roland Gutierrez are pushing in the Legislature. But limits on gun access don’t fare well at the Capitol.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2023
New family and child welfare commissioner foreshadows change as agency plans to outsource case management
Department of Family and Protective Services Commissioner Stephanie Muth told lawmakers Friday the agency will require a different set of skills from its employees as it changes how foster children’s cases are managed.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas executes John Balentine for killing three teens in Amarillo
Though he confessed to the murders, Balentine’s lawyers argued he might have been spared a death sentence if not for pervasive racial bias at his trial.
Posted in
Uvalde school shooting
After botched response to Uvalde massacre, Texas senator wants better mass shooting training for public safety entities
State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, wants to prevent communication breakdowns like the ones that occurred in the botched response to the Uvalde school shooting.
