Members considered more than 50 amendments to the proposed map during debate that began Tuesday and ended early Wednesday. Some of the biggest changes focused on Dallas and Harris counties.
Cassandra Pollock
Cassandra Pollock was a state politics reporter for the Tribune. 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. Pollock left The Texas Tribune in 2021.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas Senate passes bill to direct federal relief money to state agencies, hospitals and tourism industry
Allocating those dollars, which the state received under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, was among the items on Gov. Greg Abbott’s special session agenda for the Legislature’s third overtime round of the year.
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Redistricting Texas
Texas House committee advances proposed map for lower chamber
The draft, which will need a stamp of approval from the full chamber before it can head to the Senate for consideration, is likely to continue to change before the Legislature sends it to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk for a signature.
Posted in
Redistricting Texas
Texas House proposes map that increases Republican strength and decreases Black and Hispanic majority districts
The Texas Legislature is in the midst of its third special session, which is dedicated to redrawing political maps based on the latest census data that showed people of color fueled 95% of Texas’ population growth over the past decade.
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Redistricting Texas
Senate panel advances Texas Senate and State Board of Education maps
The initial drafts of both maps have so far attempted to strengthen Republican majorities by protecting incumbents and creating more GOP-friendly districts.
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Texas Legislature 2021
State Rep. Jim Murphy, chair of House GOP Caucus, won’t seek reelection
Murphy, who represented House District 133 from 2007-09 and again since 2011, chairs the House GOP Caucus and the House Higher Education Committee.
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Texas 2022 Elections
State Rep. Chris Paddie, chair of powerful state affairs committee, says he won’t run for reelection
The news comes less than a month after Paddie, who has represented House District 9 since 2013, announced he would run for reelection.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Law enforcement warns of “credible threat” against Texas legislators who voted for abortion ban
The threat was apparently made on Reddit and included the names of House and Senate members who voted for Senate Bill 8 during the regular legislative session.
Posted in
Redistricting Texas
First draft of Legislature’s map of new State Board of Education districts shores up Republican majority
The Republican-dominated, 15-member board determines what millions of public school students in the state are taught in classrooms.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Gov. Greg Abbott signs bill restoring the funding that he vetoed for the Texas Legislature and its 2,100 state employees
Abbott vetoed the funding earlier this year as retribution for the House Democrats’ walkout to block the GOP elections bill at the end of the regular session.