Under the measure, defendants who have active psychotic symptoms of certain mental illnesses at the time of the crime would be ineligible for capital punishment. The bill now heads to the more conservative Senate.
Texas Legislature 2019
The 86th Legislature runs from Jan. 8 to May 27. From the state budget to health care to education policy — and the politics behind it all — we focus on what Texans need to know about the biennial legislative session.
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Texas Legislature 2019
TribCast: How did that tax swap fall apart?
On this week’s TribCast, Aman talks to Ross, Matthew and Shannon about how Texas lawmakers’ plan to raise the sales tax collapsed, why the 2019 session is like the 1997 one and what we’ll be watching out for in the session’s final three weeks.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Analysis: No bills are finally dead yet, but some are starting to smell funny
One of the big bills of the session — a sales- for property-tax swap — was put on ice this week. Lots of other bills are ready for their post-session burials, too, but keep your eyes open. In the Texas Legislature, dead legislation has a way of coming back to life.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Red-light cameras could be removed from Texas intersections after House vote
But an amendment to the bill could keep the devices in place until cities’ contracts with vendors expire. Camera proponents say they make intersections safer, but critics say they undermine due process.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas Senate removes exception that allows abortion after 20 weeks if the pregnancy is unviable
The bill would also prevent what abortion opponents call “discriminatory abortions” — where a woman or a doctor pursues an abortion on the basis of the fetus’ sex, race or disability.
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Texas Legislature 2019
“Pain and heartache” in the Texas Senate during debate on Confederate monuments
In a party-line vote, the upper chamber advanced a bill that would make it more difficult for cities and state agencies to remove or alter historical markers. The legislation comes amid a larger debate over whether to keep or remove Confederate monuments.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas House passes second, more limited bill expanding access to medical cannabis
It was the second time in as many days that the lower chamber moved to increase which medical conditions allow Texans to use CBD oil for treatment. But both bills face an uphill battle in the Senate.
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Texas Legislature 2019
In a surprising turn, Texas House opts to delay consideration of sales tax swap legislation until 2021
Gov. Greg Abbott and other legislative leaders endorsed the sales tax increase, intended to help fund ongoing cuts to school district taxes. But it has been effectively killed this session.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Pro-LGBTQ bills look dead in the Texas House, but advocates say they’ve still made progress this year
“Having a hearing is sometimes a victory,” said state Rep. Celia Israel, D-Austin, whose conversion therapy ban was debated for the first time this year.
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Texas Legislature 2019
In 1997, George W. Bush couldn’t deliver a multibillion-dollar tax reform plan. Will Greg Abbott face a similar fate in 2019?
State leaders are pushing a plan to drive down property taxes using revenue from a one-cent increase to the sales tax. They have said the plan would result in roughly $250 a year in savings on a $200,000 home.