Voting rights advocates worry that legislation approved by House and Senate committees could make it harder to get more people on the rolls.
Tom Oliverson
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Texas Legislature 2025
The Texas Legislature is having big battles over gender and sexuality. Track them here.
The Senate voted Wednesday to give initial approval to a bill that would require buildings, including public schools and universities, among others to segregate private facilities, like bathrooms, by sex.
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Texas Legislature 2025
Why a Rio Grande Valley hospital is helping to feed its patients
As the Edinburg facility and others seek to assist people experiencing food insecurity, state lawmakers have more than a dozen bills that could tackle Texas’ food deserts.
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2024 Texas Elections
Tom Oliverson announces he is challenging Dade Phelan for Texas House speakership
Oliverson, one of Phelan’s committee chairmen, said the speaker has lost the confidence of the Republican caucus.
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LGBTQ+ Texans
In a political era of “parental rights,” Texans raising trans kids say new law strips them of choice
Senate Bill 14, which is set to take effect on Sept. 1, bans transition-related care for minors. Parents of transgender kids say it blocks their ability to support their children.
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2023 Session Recap
Texas lawmakers pursued dozens of bills affecting LGBTQ people in 2023. Here’s what passed and what failed.
The Legislature banned puberty blockers and hormone therapy for trans kids, restricted the college sports teams trans athletes can join and expanded the definition of sexual conduct to include some drag shows. But a “Don’t Say Gay” provision for schools missed key deadlines.
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LGBTQ+ Texans
Pivotal House vote moves Texas closer to banning puberty blockers, hormone treatments for trans kids
The House approved a bill Monday that would ban doctors from providing transition-related care to children. It now heads back to the Senate, which can accept the changes or ask for a committee to iron out the chambers’ differences.
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LGBTQ+ Texans
Protesters evicted from Texas Capitol as clash between LGBTQ residents and GOP leaders escalates
Texas state police detained and handcuffed people protesting legislation that would prohibit transgender kids from getting puberty blockers and hormone therapy. The House separately delayed a vote on Senate Bill 14 until later this week.
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LGBTQ+ Texans
“A death sentence”: Trans Texas teen plots his future as proposed ban on hormone therapy progresses
As Texas House members could soon vote to ban transition-related care for minors, many lives are in limbo, and trans kids like 16-year-old Randell are grappling with difficult decisions.
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Criminal Justice
Texas House passes bill decriminalizing fentanyl test strips
The bill would take fentanyl test strips off the state’s “drug paraphernalia” list, meaning it would no longer be a crime to carry them.