The lower chamber gave initial approval to a bill creating a pretrial process to determine if a capital murder defendant is intellectually disabled — more than 15 years after the U.S. Supreme Court said executing such prisoners is cruel and unusual punishment.
Alex Samuels
Alex Samuels was a reporter for The Texas Tribune from 2017 to 2021. She helped with national campaign coverage, wrote stories about the intersection of race and politics in Texas, and covered the hottest political news bubbling out of local communities. She was also one of the primary authors of The Blast, the Tribune’s subscription-only daily newsletter for political insiders. Alex began at the Tribune as a fellow in 2016. She graduated in 2017 from the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Journalism. She originally is from Massachusetts and is the best pingpong player at the Tribune.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas House passes bill that reduces penalties for Texans caught with small amounts of marijuana
The House vote Monday is the first time the lower chamber approved such a measure, marking significant progress. But the opposition of the lieutenant governor remains a major hurdle.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas Senate passes school safety bill intended to prevent mass shootings
Senate Bill 11 is authored by state Sen. Larry Taylor, whose district includes Santa Fe High School.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2019
“This is freedom”: Texas House moves to expand alcohol sales on Sundays and at breweries
The House approved the changes in amendments to a broader bill about the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission’s operations. The Senate still could strip the changes from the bill.
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Health care
Dallas to require employers to offer paid sick leave as Texas lawmakers debate banning such ordinances
The sick-leave ordinance was approved by a 10-4 vote despite efforts in the Texas Legislature and the courts to ban such rules.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Gun rights activist Chris McNutt says Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen lied about confrontation
The executive director of Texas Gun Rights said Bonnen should apologize for how he characterized McNutt’s lobbying efforts for “constitutional carry” legislation that has since been declared dead in the lower chamber.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas House votes to legalize the farming of industrial hemp
Hemp is a cousin of the marijuana plant, but it contains low levels of the psychoactive element in marijuana known as THC. The House’s bill will now go to the Senate.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas Senate says cities can’t ban employers from asking about criminal history
Austin previously passed a “ban the box” ordinance preventing private employers from asking potential job candidates’ criminal history before extending a conditional job offer. If state Sen. Brandon Creighton’s bill passes, local governments couldn’t implement such laws.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas legislation aimed at protecting monuments of all kinds sparks heated debate over Confederate markers
As Confederate monument supporters said history shouldn’t be erased, Democratic state Rep. Jarvis Johnson of Houston asked if markers depicting slaves hanging from trees should be erected.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2019
No, experts don’t consider marijuana a gateway drug. That, and five more fact checks from the Texas Legislature on weed.
It’s unlikely Texas will become the next Colorado or California anytime soon. But when it comes to loosening criminal penalties or expanding medicinal use, how much of what each side says is true?
