Two GOP Texas House members call for Rep. Bryan Slaton to resign
Reps. Briscoe Cain and Steve Toth, who are usually ideologically aligned with Slaton, said the lawmaker needed to step down. Full Story
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![State Rep. Bryan Slaton, R-Royse City, on the House floor during a session at the state Capitol on April 26, 2021.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Texas House budgets $545 million for prison air conditioning. The Senate hasn’t offered anything.
Sweltering heat has killed inmates, driven away prison workers and cost taxpayers millions in lawsuits. The House budget would provide air conditioning for 46 prisons, but it’s unclear if the Senate will sign on. Full Story
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![Inmates walk down a hallway at Brazoria County's Darrington prison in July 2017.]()
Credit: Jolie McCullough/The Texas Tribune -
How Republicans’ threats to tenure and diversity might undercut their own efforts to advance Texas’ universities
Texas lawmakers are poised to create a new multibillion-dollar endowment to boost emerging research universities in national rankings. But faculty members say banning diversity offices and tenure would stymie those efforts. Full Story
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![Nearly 40 protestors with Texas Students for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion join in chants against HB1 Rider No. 186, which would defund DEI initiatives at public universities, at the State Capitol rotunda on Mar. 23, 2023.]()
Credit: Leila Saidane/The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott backs call for pardon for Daniel Perry, who killed Austin protester in 2020
The governor says he asked the Board of Pardons and Paroles to expedite review, recommend clemency one day after Perry was convicted of murder. Full Story
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![Daniel Perry is escorted to the 147th District Courtroom at the Travis County Blackwell Thurman Criminal Justice Complex in Austin on March 23, 2023.]()
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Federal judge in Texas suspends FDA approval of abortion pill
The ruling from U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo could potentially upend access to medication abortion nationwide. Full Story
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![Mifeprex, a drug that is used to end an early pregnancy, at Alamo Women’s Reproductive Services in San Antonio on June 14, 2022.]()
Credit: Kylie Cooper/The Texas Tribune -
After House vote signaling opposition to school choice, Gov. Greg Abbott says the fight isn’t over
The House voted 86-52 on Thursday to amend the budget to ban state funding for “school vouchers or other similar programs.” Abbott has spent the past two months touring the state to build support for the proposal, spending tremendous political capital on trying to break through the rural Republican opposition to it. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at Parent Empowerment Night at Annapolis Christian Academy in Corpus Christi on Jan. 31, 2023 to discuss parent empowerment and choice in their child's education.]()
Credit: Blaine Young for The Texas Tribune -
In East Texas, skepticism over private school tuition assistance persists despite push from conservative leaders
Gov. Greg Abbott and other conservatives say families need options to escape “woke” education in public schools. East Texas parents and school leaders say the national talking points are off base. Full Story
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![The Grace Community campus in Tyler on Tuesday, April 4, 2023.]()
Credit: Emil T. Lippe for The Texas Tribune -
Texas House approves $302.6 billion state budget with tax cuts and teacher and state employee raises
After a marathon debate, the bill will head to the Senate, where lawmakers have been crafting their own version of the spending plan. Full Story
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![State Rep. Mihaela Plesa, D-Dallas, rushes to the front of the House floor during budget discussions at the state Capitol on April 6, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott launches $10 million effort to combat fentanyl crisis, sends overdose-reversing meds to all 254 counties
The “One Pill Kills” campaign is funded with the help of a federal grant, and the statewide Narcan distribution is being paid for with funds from Texas’ settlement agreement with opioid manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott, center, is flanked by Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd, Health and Human Services Commissioner Cecile Young, Texas Against Fentanyl founder Stefanie Turner, and state Rep. Dr. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Limited trans athlete bans in competitive sports would be allowed under proposed Biden administration policy
The proposal was met with mixed reaction from transgender rights activists, with some saying that it provided a welcome set of protections for trans students and others saying the regulations could offer a roadmap for those who want to discriminate. Full Story
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![A basketball going through the hoop prior to the game between the Texas A&M Aggies and the Missouri Tigers at Reed Arena in College Station on Jan. 11, 2023.]()
Credit: Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports via REUTERS -
Sen. Kelly Hancock opens up about rare kidney disease, as he advocates for Texas bill to increase living organ donors
Hancock, a North Richland Hills Republican, was diagnosed at age 27 with a rare genetic kidney disease that occurs when the immunoglobulin A antibody builds up in the kidneys. Full Story
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![State Sen. Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills, reads his resolution that would have the Texas Legislation recognize March 9 as World Kidney Day, on the Senate floor at the state Capitol in Austin on March 14, 2023. As a young adult, Sen. Hancock was diagnosed with a rare genetic kidney disease and received a live kidney donation in July of 2022.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
At schools across Houston, students and parents protest Texas Education Agency’s takeover of state’s largest district
At one elementary school, protesters chanted as the school day was about to begin. Parents sought petition signatures at a high school. The demonstrations are planned throughout the day. Full Story
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![Parents and students gather in front of Sinclair Elementary in Houston,TX., to protest the state takeover off HISD on April 6,2023.]()
Credit: Douglas Sweet Jr. for The Texas Tribune -
Budget day in the House: Texas lawmakers keep anti-DEI proposal
House Bill 1 is being debated on the floor of the lower chamber, where representatives are hammering out details on the next two years of state spending. Full Story
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![Lawmakers gather around House Parliamentarian Sharon Carter during budget discussions on the House floor of the state Capitol in Austin on April 6, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Bills aimed at adding more natural gas power to Texas grid clear Senate
Critics say the bills could lead to untold billions in added costs to customers and minimal benefits while ignoring needed efforts to reduce electricity demand. Full Story
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![Vistra Corp.’s Midlothian Power Plant opened its doors to media on October 15, 2021 to show the plant’s weatherization process. Energy providers like Vistra are preparing their plants for extreme weather conditions following the February winter storm Uri, which disrupted the Texas electric grid and led to the deaths of more than 200 people.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate approves bill that would create mandatory prison or probation terms for some gun crimes
Sen. Joan Huffman said the bill was in response to increased violent crime since 2019. Legislative researchers could not determine how the bill would affect the state’s prison population. Full Story
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![A handgun with a magazine which holds 17 rounds is displayed by an employee of McBride’s Guns in Central Austin on April 20, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Retired state employees struggle through inflation while budget plans leave them out
Budget proposals in the Texas Legislature include billions in raises for current and retired teachers, as well as current state employees. So far, retired state employees are not mentioned in the budget plans. The state’s former public servants haven’t had a pension raise in 20 years. Full Story
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![Valentina Belmares, 73, left, and Gloria García, 68, pose for a photo at Belmares’ home in Alamo, Texas on Monday, April 3, 2023. García says, “If you don’t get a pension raise in 20 years like how social security gives raises, how are the middle class people supposed to make it with inflation?”]()
Credit: Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate votes to defund libraries where drag queens read to kids as it tries to limit the performances kids can attend
The Senate expanded the bill targeting drag queen story hours to target all public funding for libraries. The upper chamber also approved a bill limiting other drag performances kids can see. Full Story
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![Drag queen Nadine Hughes performs in the Capitol Rotunda during the Youth Capitol Takeover on Mar. 29, 2023.]()
Credit: Leila Saidane/The Texas Tribune -
Quran taken from Texas Capitol chapel recovered by state police. They aren’t saying who removed it.
Days after it went missing, DPS identified the person who removed a family Quran Rep. Salman Bhojani had placed in the chapel. The state has since provided its own copy. Full Story
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![State Rep. Salman Bhojani, D-HD92, swears in on a copy of the Quran the on the opening day of the 88th Legislative Session at the state Capitol in Austin on Jan. 10, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Bills to expand gambling access in Texas clear House committee
Gaming advocates are pushing to legalize casinos and sports betting in Texas. The committee votes represent more progress than the proposals made last legislative session, when they got hearings in committee but were never voted out. Full Story
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![Gene Koonce plays on a craps table fitted with protective plexiglass panels during the reopening of Bellagio hotel-casino, closed since March because of COVID-19. Las Vegas, Nevada on June 4, 2020.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Steve Marcus -
To be safe, Texas Senate again approves political district maps
The vote ensured the Senate met its constitutional requirement to redraw districts in the first regular session after publication of the 2020 census results. Full Story
Credit: Bob Daemmrich/BDP, Inc.
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