Seeking to avoid a special session, the state leaders discuss school choice, property taxes and grid reform.
Texas Legislature
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Texas Legislature 2023
As Texas Republican senators march in lockstep, Robert Nichols is willing to break away
Whether it’s supporting a rape exception for abortion or opposing school choice, Nichols has gone his own way on certain GOP priorities.
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Uvalde school shooting
Watch: A Uvalde family remembers their 10-year-old through the mementos he left behind
Evadulia Orta’s son, Rojélio Torres, died in the school shooting in Uvalde last year. Her other children still collect Pokémon cards to add to his collection, and his cousins play with his football.
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Health care
After doctors left Dell Children’s adolescent clinic, Austin teens and their families are scrambling to find specialty care
The adolescent clinic treated eating disorders and menstrual complications. It also offered gender-affirming care — which is still legal for now but triggered an investigation by Attorney General Ken Paxton.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Texas House’s weekend off means key Senate bills die after missing a legislative deadline
Priority bills that died include a 10-year minimum sentencing for gun-related crimes, a ban on “critical race theory” at public universities and LGBTQ-related legislation. While the bills may be dead, lawmakers have a limited time to attach their ideas to legislation that is still alive.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Texas may soon have a process to remove local prosecutors who won’t pursue abortion, election cases
The bill would allow for the removal of prosecutors who adopt any policy to not pursue certain crimes, including some low-level theft and drug charges. The Senate’s version will need to be reconciled with the House, which had carved out some exemptions.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Key supporter of Texas school chaplain bill has pushed for evangelism in schools
Rocky Malloy, a self-described former drug-smuggling pirate saved by divine intervention, has led a group that promotes chaplains as a tool to proselytize to schoolchildren.
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TribCast
TribCast: Is a special session of the Texas Legislature inevitable?
In this week’s episode, we discuss the long odds facing the school choice bill and the possibility of Gov. Greg Abbott calling lawmakers back for a special session.
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Economy
Texas leaders want a new way to attract businesses here. But they can’t agree on how to do it.
The two chambers have 10 days to cut a deal before the end of the legislative session, and they are miles apart on some of the very foundations of a corporate tax-abatement bill considered to be a priority for Republican state leaders.
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Texas Legislature 2023
GOP border bill expanded to stiffen penalty for human smuggling, create border-crossing crime
State Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, tacks two of his stalled bills onto legislation that would create a border police unit and increase state spending in border communities.
