The state said EMPOWER needed more time to improve conditions after two children died under the contractor’s care over the years.
Royce West
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Texas Legislature 2025
Texas Republicans want to block cities’ gun buyback programs
Much of the debate focused on the tense relationship between cities and the Texas Legislature. The bill is head to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk.
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Texas Legislature 2023
House, Senate bills at odds over power to boost future funding for Texas school voucher program
The Senate’s Republican bill would let state leaders grow the program by taking money from other agencies without the Legislature’s approval. The House bill would bar the practice.
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Ken Paxton Impeachment
Senate Republicans say House managers failed to meet high burden of proof
Democrats, however, said their GOP colleagues “caved” to outside pressure in voting to acquit and return Ken Paxton to his job as attorney general.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Republican blitz on LGBTQ issues exposes fractures among Texas Democrats
The defections have sparked feelings of betrayal and promises of retribution, particularly as Republicans in the Legislature have presented a unified front.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Texas Senate passes $308 billion budget plan, kicking off high-stakes negotiations with the House
There are $5 billion and several political wedges standing between the House and Senate plans, which now move into conference committee with less than five weeks before session ends.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Texas senators seem open to major change in state’s public education funding formula
Senators in the finance committee asked questions Monday about the pros and cons of basing the amount of money that schools get per student on enrollment instead of attendance. Districts say the change could mean millions in additional funding.
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Public Education
After governor’s veto, parents now must opt-in for students to learn about dating violence, child abuse
Advocates are worried that a last-minute law change means that students who need information about dating violence and child abuse will be the least likely to receive it.
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Texas Legislature 2021
A year after George Floyd’s murder, only a few of Texas lawmakers’ police reform measures appear likely to become law
Narrowly targeted pieces of Texas’ George Floyd Act — like restricting chokeholds and requiring officers to provide first aid — are expected to pass. But the Act itself and many other related reforms have failed to progress during the legislative session that ends Monday.
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Texas 2020 Elections
State Sen. Royce West won’t vote for fellow Democrat MJ Hegar, accuses her of having “a problem all along with Black folks”
West made the comments Friday to the Austin American-Statesman after his lack of support for Hegar came up at her first debate with Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn.