Democrats moved to delay committee hearings that were set for today on the first major bill in a push by Republican lawmakers to further tighten the state’s already restrictive voting rules and raise new barriers for some voters.
Demographics
Explore population trends, diversity, and data shaping Texas communities, politics, and policy.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Analysis: When elected problem-solvers become part of the problem
Fixing immigration and ending hate crimes was hard enough without elected policymakers in Austin and Washington D.C., stoking nativist and racial fears.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Widows of the pandemic: Three South Texas women lost their husbands but found solace in one another
Ricardo Ramos, Ramon Fuentes III and Andres Arguelles were all 45. Loving husbands. Strangers who died with the coronavirus in neighboring South Texas cities. They left behind young widows who found each other in Facebook groups and bonded over the similarities in their stories.
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Demographics
Language barriers, technology hurdles and limited transportation hurt Asian American Texans’ access to vaccines
As more people become eligible for the coronavirus vaccine, some of the most vulnerable Asian American communities struggle to access it at all.
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Demographics
“I don’t feel safe anymore”: Asian Texans grapple with racism after a gunman killed Asian women in Atlanta
Tuesday’s shootings in Atlanta left six Asian women dead. Asian Texans say they’re being targeted, too.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Slate of Texas legislation limiting abortion, including so-called “heartbeat bill,” heads to Senate
The legislative session that began in January has been driven by the coronavirus pandemic and the response to last month’s power crisis. But abortion-related measures dominated a Senate State Affairs committee hearing Monday, and lawmakers advanced all of the proposals.
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Coronavirus in Texas
One year ago, the first Texan was killed by COVID-19. 47,000 deaths followed — and it’s not over.
This timeline tracks COVID-19’s rampage through Texas over the last year: the growing death toll, the policy decisions made in response to the pandemic that often influenced its course, and the stories of some of the Texans claimed by the virus.
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A Year of COVID-19
As racist attacks on Asian Americans rise in the U.S., one Houston man continues to support his community
In cities with diverse populations, people of Asian descent say they continue to be encouraged to help their fellow Texans weather the health crisis. Listen in the weekend edition of The Brief podcast.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Another Texas GOP lawmaker is attempting to make abortion punishable by the death penalty
Similar bills filed in the Texas Legislature in previous years have failed.
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Demographics
For some Texans who lost loved ones to the coronavirus, lifting the mask mandate is a “slap in the face”
One woman whose husband died said Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to end the mask mandate makes the convenience of not wearing a mask seem more important than loss of life. Abbott’s spokesperson says he “joins all Texans in mourning every single life lost.”