The Legislature is set to convene in January.
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
GOP lawmakers heading into the legislative session take aim at voter fraud, despite no evidence of widespread problem
Nearly a dozen pieces of legislation, all of them filed by Republicans, target mail-in balloting, illegal voting and misbehaving elections officials — inspired by events and talking points from the previous election cycle.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Analysis: Texas elections are over. Now it’s time to govern.
The seasons change in the political world, too. We’re in that periodic move from electioneering to governing. The Washington version is noisy. The Texas version is a bit quieter, but it’s underway.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Texas Republicans have blocked voter access legislation for years. The pandemic may change that.
More than 60 election-related bills have been filed in the House and Senate in the three weeks since the election. About half of them are aimed at increasing voter access, which lawmakers said became a more urgent issue during the pandemic.
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Texas Legislature 2021
In Dade Phelan’s bid for Texas House speaker, trust was key
Phelan was a prominent lieutenant of current House Speaker Dennis Bonnen, whose handling of the 2019 legislative session was popular before scandal brought him down.