Abbott vetoed a section of the state budget that funds the Legislature — including salaries and benefits of 2,100 employees — as punishment for House Democrats’ May walkout to prevent passage of a controversial voting bill.
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
Lawmaker relationships fray as Texas Democrats’ quorum bust to block voting bill drags on
“There’s been some significant — if not irreparable — damage to the relationships within the body,” said state Rep. Justin Holland, R-Rockwall.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Another special session to pass a GOP voting bill started without a quorum. This time it’s unclear if Democrats will stay away.
Both chambers convened at noon Saturday for a second overtime round ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott. The first 30-day stretch ended in an impasse after House Democrats left the state to block a controversial GOP elections bill.
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Texas Legislature 2021
GOP leaders say they’ve secured an extra month of funding for Texas Legislature to plug money vetoed by Gov. Greg Abbott
Funds amounting to at least $12.6 million will be transferred from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to the Senate, the House, and legislative agencies such as the LBB, the Legislative Council and the Legislative Reference Library.
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Texas Legislature 2021
First special legislative session ends without any bills passed and Democrats still in D.C.
House Democrats are still camped out in the nation’s capital hinting that many may not return to Austin immediately as the next overtime round starts Saturday.
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Coronavirus in Texas
State Rep. Travis Clardy tests positive for COVID-19, is quarantining in district
Clardy, who has been fully vaccinated since earlier this year, tested positive last Friday.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Two House Democrats who broke quorum missing from Washington, D.C., reportedly vacationing in Portugal
Their vacation does not affect the lack of quorum that the House has in Austin that prevents the chamber from passing an elections bill. But it is at odds with Democrats’ insistence that they would use their time away to advocate for federal voting rights legislation in the nation’s capital.
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Texas Legislature 2021
With special session’s end looming, Texas Democrats and Republicans mull their next moves
Abbott has promised to call a second special session to pass the GOP’s priority voting bill, but the exact timing is uncertain. And House Democrats have not yet revealed what they have planned after the session ends this week.
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Texas Legislature 2021
With time running out, Texas Legislature still at impasse on GOP elections bill
Republicans believe they have already compromised enough on the legislation, while Democrats are distrustful of both the policy driving the bill and their GOP colleagues after seeing how they have managed the process around the proposal so far.
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Texas Legislature 2021
A tale of two capital cities: Texas Democrats continue fight for voting rights in Washington as Republicans push them to return
Both Republicans in Austin and Democrats in D.C. have engaged in the political drama over the past two weeks, with the two camps battling it out on cable news interviews and social media over the quorum bust and who is to blame for it.