The legislation — which falls short of the $10 billion needed to ensure all Texans have reliable internet access — must still win approval in the state Senate.
Texas House OKs $5 billion for broadband, if voters give thumbs up
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Texas Legislature 2023
Texas House advances $4.5 billion school funding bill
Lawmakers have already proposed directing billions of dollars to schools so they can lower property taxes and pay for safety upgrades. But House Bill 100 would be the first to increase the amount of money districts receive to raise teacher pay and cover the actual costs of educating students.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Texas lawmakers hope an investment in teacher training will help keep new educators in the classroom longer
A bill passed by the Texas House on Wednesday would also help schools rehire retired teachers and offer other incentives in an effort to fight the state’s teacher shortage.
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Politics
Two Texas “Trump Train” participants settle lawsuit claiming they harassed 2020 Biden campaign bus
Hannah Ceh and Kyle Kruger wrote in their settlement that they apologized for participating in the October 2020 incident in which dozens of Trump supporters surrounded and harassed a Joe Biden campaign bus driving down a Central Texas highway.
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Graphics and data reporting
Toxic benzene lingered for weeks after shelter-in-place warnings ended following 2019 Houston-area chemical fire
The Texas Tribune analyzed previously unreported air monitoring data and records from the 2019 ITC chemical disaster near Houston and found that high benzene levels lingered in the air for two weeks after public health measures were lifted. Experts say more shelter-in-place advisories should have been issued.
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Politics
Tarrant County’s daunting task: hiring a new elections chief to run the 2024 elections in Texas’ largest swing county
County Judge Tim O’Hare wouldn’t rule out hiring someone who questions the legitimacy of the 2020 election results, calling it “not an automatic disqualifier.”
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Public Education
Proposed ban on corporal punishment in Texas schools fails again
Texas public schools can allow corporal punishment, which includes hitting, spanking, paddling or deliberately inflicting physical pain to discipline students.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Texas Senate passes bill limiting farmland sales to China, other countries
The amended bill is a dramatically watered-down version of an earlier proposal that sought to ban land and home purchases by citizens of China and three other countries.
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LGBTQ+ Texans
Transgender Texans of all ages could lose access to transition-related care under Senate bill
The Senate advanced a bill that could create such high financial risks for doctors and health insurers that they’d stop providing or covering gender-affirming care — even for adults.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Journalists fear Texas Legislature could weaken law designed to protect free speech
News publications and First Amendment advocates are fighting a bill to revise a state law meant to prevent litigants from weaponizing the legal system to punish people for speech they don’t like.
