The former Republican governor is throwing his weight behind a bill by state Rep. Alex Dominguez, D-Brownsville, that would order a clinical study of using psilocybin — found in “magic mushrooms” — to help veterans with mental health problems.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Voters would have to approve police budget cuts under bill approved by Texas Senate
Despite loud opposition from Democrats who said the legislation overstepped local governments, Senate Bill 23 passed with broad bipartisan support.
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Energy
ERCOT asked Texans to conserve power as electric grid again struggled to keep up with demand
A higher than expected amount of plant outages for maintenance created tight conditions for Texas’ power grid. It returned to normal late Tuesday evening.
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Texas Legislature 2021
As Texas Legislature considers anti-trans bills, NCAA announces it will not hold events in states that discriminate against trans students
Texas lawmakers have filed six bills that target transgender students’ sports participation — and two of those bills would affect colleges and university sports in addition to K-12.
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Congress
MLB took its All-Star game out of Georgia to protest voting restrictions. Now Ted Cruz wants to strip it of its anti-trust immunity.
MLB’s anti-trust exemption reduces the possibility of a competing league from emerging and threatening its status as the preeminent professional baseball league.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Texas pauses J&J vaccinations as feds plan to review six reports of blood clotting among 6.8 million doses nationwide
At the state’s three FEMA vaccination sites in Dallas, Arlington and Houston, officials said that vaccine efforts would continue but that officials would not be administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
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Politics
Texas sues Biden administration in effort to reinstate Trump-era “remain in Mexico” immigration policy
The policy required asylum seekers who passed through Mexico on their way to the U.S. to stay in Mexico while their claims were processed. Many were forced to live in sometimes dangerous and unsanitary migrant camps.
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Point of Order
Point of Order: King of the road
In the latest episode of our podcast about the Texas Legislature, Evan Smith talks to state Senate Transportation Chair Robert Nichols about Infrastructure Week and the challenges of getting people and goods from point to point in a fast-growing, rapidly urbanizing state.
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Criminal Justice
Marvin Scott III died in Texas police custody. His family will protest until the officers involved are arrested.
Though seven of the sheriff’s officers have been fired after initially being put on administrative leave and another resigned while under investigation, the family and protesters say they don’t plan to stop until the officers have been charged with a crime.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Gov. Greg Abbott nominates new chair to Public Utility Commission after power crisis resignations
The announcement came shortly after the Texas Senate Nominations Committee on Monday voted unanimously in favor of accepting Will McAdams’ nomination to serve on the PUC board.