The project is essentially an advisory committee designed to promote the state’s history to Texas residents, largely through pamphlets given to people receiving driver’s licenses.
Texas Legislature 2021
The 87th Texas Legislature approved hundreds of new laws during its regular session that ended in May 2021, including a near-total ban on abortions. Lawmakers then returned to Austin for three special sessions aimed at passing additional conservative priorities. Although House Democrats fled the state for weeks, lawmakers eventually passed new voting restrictions. They also approved new political maps and a proposed constitutional amendment that could lower property tax bills.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas House rallies behind Speaker Dade Phelan, even as Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick blames him for GOP legislative failures
Phelan has touted a list of conservative wins in his first session as House leader, such as passing legislation to let Texans carry handguns without a license and approving some of the strictest restrictions on abortion in the country.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas universities got more state funding this year than they anticipated — but they’re still hoping for more support
Two- and four-year school leaders are looking to the upcoming special session for more support as the state decides how to spend $16 billion in federal stimulus funding
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Winter Storm 2021
Analysis: The Texas electric grid and the improvements that didn’t come
Texas lawmakers passed major bills in response to the winter storm power outages that killed hundreds of Texans in February. But there’s still a lot to do.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Despite GOP majority, a number of conservative “bumper sticker” issues fell short
The Tribune’s Ross Ramsey breaks down the big takeaways from the 2021 Legislature. Listen in the weekend edition of The Brief podcast.
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Texas Legislature 2021
In fight against Texas GOP’s voting bill, options are limited for Democrats in Congress and the White House
The filibuster stands in the way of Democrats passing bills aimed at expanding access to the vote. Meanwhile, the executive branch has lost one of its most powerful tools for intervening.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas Republican leaders promised action on gun safety after the El Paso shooting. Instead, they passed permitless carry.
The Legislature passed a bill allowing Texans to carry handguns without a license or training — an expansion of gun rights so divisive Republican leaders in previous years refused to touch it.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott could be upsetting balance of powers with threat to veto Texas Legislature’s pay
A governor targeting the Legislature’s budget would be unprecedented in Texas history.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Texas lawmakers responded to the pandemic by limiting what the government can do in response to a pandemic
Lawmakers didn’t succeed in curtailing the governor’s power during a disaster, but they did pass bills that prohibit so-called vaccine passports and ban the mandatory closure of churches and gun stores.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas’ GOP leadership already at odds over plans for special legislative session
Since House Democrats staged a walkout that killed Republicans’ priority elections bill for the regular session, the governor and the leaders of the state House and Senate have diverged notably in interviews about how they are approaching the overtime round.
