House Bill 1535 would expand the state’s medical cannabis program to include those with chronic pain, all cancer patients and Texans with post-traumatic stress disorder.
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
Priority bills imperiled as end-of-session tensions rise between Texas House and Senate
House lawmakers expressed frustration Thursday that some of their priority legislation had not moved in the upper chamber, including a package of health care and criminal justice reform bills pushed by House Speaker Dade Phelan.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Analysis: Greg Abbott wants Texas to be normal again
The governor is turning the dial to “normal,” in more ways than one, dissolving pandemic restrictions and minding issues of interest to Republican primary voters.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas House bill could shield companies from liability after commercial vehicle crashes
HB 19’s sponsors say the bill will prevent excessive lawsuits against companies, but road safety advocates say the bill would make Texas roads more dangerous and prevent victims of crashes from receiving justice.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Gov. Greg Abbott signs into law one of nation’s strictest abortion measures, banning procedure as early as six weeks into a pregnancy
The signing of the bill opens a new frontier in the battle over abortion restrictions as first-of-its-kind legal provisions intended to make the law harder to challenge are poised to be tested in the courts.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Vengeance or politics? Democrat Harold Dutton explains why he advanced bill targeting transgender athletes, other GOP priorities
As a powerful committee chairman, Dutton could have bottled up legislation that Democrats opposed. Instead, critics say, he’s pushed through Republican bills that Democrats find objectionable.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signs law to bar city climate plans from banning natural gas as fuel source
House Bill 17 is a response to a trend in California, where cities have passed energy efficiency plans that prohibit new subdivisions from offering natural gas heating in order to reduce emissions.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas Senate resumes push to ban transition-related medical care for transgender children, days after bill failed in House
Days after the House failed to pass a ban against gender confirmation medical care, the Senate pushed its own attempt forward.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas universities urge passage of funding bill for campus construction to train more medical students after pandemic
Rep. Jim Murphy said lawmakers selected projects that would address the state’s nursing and medical professional shortages as the COVID-19 pandemic reiterated additional need for skilled workers.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas senator overhauls House bail bill to keep more people in jail if they can’t post cash bonds
Legislative attempts to reform bail in Texas are likely headed for a closed-door showdown over the different approaches the House and Senate each devised.