The two bills come as the centerpiece of the state’s efforts to crack down on progressive criminal justice policies in Texas’ big cities. The bill would go after officials who won’t prosecute cases related to abortion or gender-affirming care.
State lawmakers have filed dozens of bills in an effort to address how Texas administers its elections and prosecutes fraud. It’s unlikely that the Democratic efforts to expand voting access will pass.
Investigations revealed communication flaws and unclear lines of authority in the medical response that further hampered lifesaving efforts. Nineteen children and two adults died in the May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary.
A freshman lawmaker has proposed a bill that would end the use of college campuses as polling places during elections. In November, more than 18,500 early voting ballots were cast from college campuses in Tarrant County.
The settlement agreement will pay four former staffers who alleged retaliation after they accused Paxton of corruption in 2020. Paxton has broadly denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with a federal crime.
Though annual installations of solar panels increased by nearly 60 percent between 2016 and 2021, the solar energy industry employed 11 percent fewer people in 2021 than it did five years earlier.
By some estimates, the state will have $69 billion of “new money” to spend, but it is still unclear how the funds will be used, if it gets spent at all. This year’s proposed budgets don’t show much deviation from prior years.
The second-largest appraisal district in the state struggled for 72 days after their computers, emails and website were hacked on Election Day. The district is now increasing its cybersecurity safeguards.
Gov. Greg Abbott’s wide-ranging and controversial initiative deploys thousands of state authorities to apprehend and jail migrants along parts of the Rio Grande and is costing far more than has ever been spent on border security in a budget cycle.
Recent data reveals that four counties across North Texas have increased their numbers of workers with college degrees over the last five years and drawn more companies and workers from out of state.
The state’s comptroller announced an additional $6 billion to the state’s projected budget surplus, sparking discussions about how to spend the cash. Including the surplus and transfers, there will be $188.2 billion in funds.
The average age of the 181 state lawmakers will be 57 years old compared to 2021’s average, which was 54. Despite some female gains in 2022, there will still be twice as many men as women in the statehouse.
Despite the high-profile collapse of crypto trading platform FTX, the Legislature’s Work Group on Blockchain Matters has established a master plan to propel the state to the forefront of the $5 billion industry.
Republican State House Rep. Jared Patterson has introduced a bill that would block residents under the age of 18 from creating a profile on social media sites, citing mental health and self-harm concerns.
With its weak-mayor form of government, the capital city’s top job only has so much power. But the issue of housing affordability has consumed the race, which will end in a runoff between two Democrats next week.
Changes to Texas’ power grid have improved ERCOT’s ability to keep power flowing during major winter storms, but in an extreme scenario, the grid could still face rolling blackouts, a seasonal assessment shows.
