A legal opinion from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said that facilitating state employees’ donations to Planned Parenthood falls under a 2019 state law prohibiting government entities from entering into “taxpayer resource transactions” with abortion providers or their affiliates.
Emma Platoff
Emma Platoff was a reporter at the Tribune from 2017 to 2021, most recently covering the law and its intersection with politics. A graduate of Yale University, Emma is the former managing editor of the Yale Daily News.
Posted in
State Government
An open-government mystery solved: McAllen paid Enrique Iglesias $485,000 for 2015 performance
The pop star’s contract with the city — long hidden by what critics described as gaping holes in the state’s open-records laws — became public this week after new legislation governing the public’s right to know went into effect.
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Politics
How the Texas Legislature saved billionaire John Paul DeJoria $123 million
The Texas billionaire wanted U.S. courts to throw out a hefty judgment won against him in Morocco. The law wasn’t on DeJoria’s side. So Texas legislators changed it.
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Health care
Individual mandate is unconstitutional, federal appellate court rules in Texas-led Affordable Care Act lawsuit
A panel on the conservative-leaning U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals sent the lawsuit back to a district court in Texas to reassess how much of the Affordable Care Act can stand if the individual mandate must fall.
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Politics
Waco judge sues state agency after receiving public warning for refusing to officiate same-sex marriages
Dianne Hensley, who received a warning last month from the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, will be represented by First Liberty Institute, a high-profile religious liberty law firm with close ties to the Texas Attorney General’s Office.
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Politics
Appointees claim Gov. Greg Abbott ousted them from board for voting to sanction judge who refused to perform same-sex marriages
After those two appointees left the commission, it handed down just a warning to the judge, Dianne Hensley.
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Politics
Gov. Greg Abbott orders state agencies to reduce licensing regulations, cut fees
Abbott has set a Dec. 1 deadline for agencies to tell his office how they plan to limit regulations, reduce fees and, “where appropriate,” remove licensing barriers for people with criminal records.
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Politics
Optimistic Democrats are lining up to run for Texas’ high courts in 2020
The depth of the bench for non-marquee statewide races, like the state’s two high courts and the Railroad Commission, is a measure of how high Democratic hopes have soared ahead of the 2020 election.
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Criminal Justice
Two Texas Democrats have been campaigning in a statewide race that probably won’t be on the ballot
Amid confusion over the state’s mandatory retirement law, a state official confirmed to the Democratic Party months ago that the race for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 6 would appear on the 2020 ballot. It probably won’t.
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Texas 2020 Elections
Beto O’Rourke drops out of presidential race
The former El Paso congressman announced the decision Friday.