HOUSTON – Texas was on the national stage throughout the year 2021.
Here are just some of the Texas issues that dominated the headlines, along with what was at stake and what’s to come as we look toward the future of the state and the nation.
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1. Abortion
The near-ban on abortions in Texas became national and international news when Senate Bill 8 was signed into law in September.
Passed as Senate Bill 8, the Texas Tribune reported the Texas law blocks abortions at about six weeks into a pregnancy and relies on private citizens to sue those who violate it rather than counting on enforcement from public officials. This has allowed it to skirt judicial review so far, and the law has remained in place for two months.
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on legal challenges to the Texas law in early November from both abortion providers and the U.S. Department of Justice. Usually, courts can block the enforcement of laws considered unconstitutional, but because of its unique mechanisms, the challengers are having difficulty identifying the right defendants and fully blocking the law.
Anti-abortion groups have said the law is accomplishing exactly what they hoped for so far.
In December, the Supreme Court has ruled that Texas abortion providers can sue over the state’s ban on most abortions, but the justices are allowing the law to remain in effect.
2. The Border
Texas, in its proximity to Mexico, has always been at the center of the border debate, but the debate came to a flashpoint in 2021 as political leaders labeled the situation a crisis.
The issue reached national headlines, in particular, in September as Haitian migrants gathered at the border in Del Rio, Texas. The situation came to the fore as local leaders called for federal assistance as the encampment grew and the situation worsened as thousands of migrants gathered under the international bridge. The Biden administration began deportations at the end of September and many of the migrants were sent back to Haiti, eventually clearing the camp.
In October, Abbott shared an outline of his administration’s efforts to combat the border crisis, which include, among other things, increased funding and law enforcement staffing, an announced border wall and efforts to combat human trafficking along the border.
KPRC 2′s Robert Arnold reported in December that the border wall construction could begin soon.
3. COVID-19, from ICUs to mask and vaccine mandates
COVID-19 dominated the headlines in Texas throughout 2021. At the height of the pandemic this summer, many wondered if the state’s ICUs could handle the influx of the sick, infected with the highly contagious Delta variant.
In addition to the actual numbers of the sick, efforts to mitigate the spread with mask and vaccine mandates became political points of contention, leading to multiple lawsuits at the state and national level. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a number of executive orders throughout the pandemic, the most prominent of which have limited cities and counties from enacting measures intended to slow the spread of COVID-19, like mask mandates and occupancy restrictions on businesses like restaurants and retailers. The ban on mask mandates faced a number of local lawsuits and eventually the enforceability of the ban was questioned. Here’s a good breakdown from the Texas Tribune about this matter.
The fights continue as Texas is likely to take on the federal government in 2021 with several other states over newly-minted federal guidelines mandating employee vaccination or other measures like testing and masks for companies with at least 100 employees.
In December, Texas created a hotline for employees to report workplaces concerning vaccinations. And, as KSAT -- KPRC 2′s sister station reported -- though the order would generally be superseded by federal orders, federal courts have temporarily struck down President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandates on businesses, federal contractors and health care workers, meaning Abbott’s executive order remains in effect.
4. Voting
In the wake of the 2020 election and questions raised by former President Donald Trump about the count, many stated enacted new voting legislation, including Texas.
Senate Bill 1 set new rules for voting by mail, boosts protections for partisan poll watchers and rolled back local voting initiatives meant to make it easier to vote, namely those championed by Harris County that were disproportionately used by voters of color.
The U.S. Justice Department announced in early November that it has filed a lawsuit against the State of Texas and the Texas Secretary of State over voting procedures it deems restrictive that have been put into place by Texas Senate Bill 1, which was signed into law in September 2021.
The United States’ complaint contends that Senate Bill 1 violates Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act by improperly restricting what assistance in the polling booth voters who have a disability or are unable to read or write can receive. The complaint alleges that Senate Bill 1 harms those voters by barring their assistors from providing necessary help, including answering basic questions, responding to requests to clarify ballot translations or confirming that voters with visual impairments have marked a ballot as intended. The United States’ complaint also contends that Senate Bill 1 violates Section 101 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by requiring rejection of mail ballots and mail ballot request forms because of certain paperwork errors or omissions that are not material to establishing a voter’s eligibility to cast a ballot. The complaint asks the court to prohibit Texas from enforcing these requirements.
5. Critical race theory/books
In June, Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law a bill that restricts how current events and America’s history of racism can be taught in Texas schools. It’s been commonly referred to as the “critical race theory” bill, though the term “critical race theory” never appears in it.
But in signing the bill, Abbott said “more must be done” to “abolish critical race theory in Texas,” and announced that he would ask the Legislature to address the issue during a special session in the summer.
Locally, in Katy Independent School District, school authorities said in early October that they “temporarily” removed books by an award-winning children’s author from their library shelves after an outcry from parents claiming the subject matter promotes critical race theory. That decision was reversed later in the month when the books returned to the shelves.
Also in Southlake, Texas, a school administrator came under fire. The top administrator with the Carroll Independent School District in Southlake advised teachers that if they have a book about the Holocaust in their classroom, they should also offer students access to a book from an “opposing” perspective, according to an audio recording obtained by NBC News and shared by KPRC 2.
Many parents defended the district administrator who told teachers to offer students books showing “opposing” perspectives on the Holocaust, saying she was trying to follow a problematic new state law, while also condemning her interpretation of that law.
At the state level, Rep. Matt Krause launched an inquiry in late October and sent a letter containing a 16-page list of roughly 850 book titles, asking districts whether they had certain books -- some award-winners that help kids respond to bullying and others that center on LGBTQ characters and have stories that feature the Black Lives Matter movement. The letter also asks how many copies of those books districts have and how much money was spent on them. His letter didn’t provide information about his intentions or what possession of the books would mean for the districts, the Texas Tribune reported.
Here’s more on the issue and where things stand as of this writing with the laws, schools and the books at the center of the situation in Texas.
6. Felony bond reform
The Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 6 -- a top priority for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott since January -- in August.
The Texas Tribune reported the sweeping revision of the process for releasing accused criminals on bail was finally passed by the Texas Legislature.
Senate Bill 6 requires people accused of violent crimes to put up cash to get out of jail. The bill, to go into effect on Dec. 2, in part, will change how and if people can be released from jail before their criminal cases are resolved, while they are still legally presumed innocent. Currently, the Texas Tribune noted, “most Texas jail releases are determined by the defendant’s ability to post cash, but some jurisdictions — particularly Harris County after losses in federal court — have recently shifted to releasing more people accused of low-level crimes on personal bonds, which don’t require cash but can include restrictions like GPS ankle monitoring or routine drug testing.”
SB 6 will ban the release of people accused of violent crimes on personal bonds, requiring instead that they be able to post the amount of cash set by the court, or pay a percentage to a bail bonds company. It will also disallow cashless release for those arrested on any felony charge if they were already out of jail on bond in a violent criminal case. Those changes went into effect on Dec. 2.
Other pieces of the bill, such as creating a new system for court officers to receive and review the criminal history of defendants before setting bail, will go into effect in January.
The Texas Tribune noted “many Democrats and civil rights advocates have argued the bill’s exclusion of only cashless bonds, but not money bail, will exacerbate wealth-based detention and lead to overfilled jails. Opponents said requiring cash to get out of jail will primarily penalize low-income people, limit judicial power and boost the for-profit bail bonds industry.”
KPRC 2 has reported on this issue throughout the year. Here are some of the KPRC 2 Investigates reports focused on the issue.
7. Permitless carry
Under the new law local government entities can no longer ban weapons in public places like parks and libraries, but with proper signage displayed private businesses can still prohibit firearms.
On the other hand, laws around purchasing guns have not changed which means buyers are still subjected to the same screening processes. Some gun manufacturers said the new law makes them feel safer.
The law went into effect on Sept. 1, 2021. House Bill 1927 allows Texans ages 21 and older to carry handguns without training or a license as long as they are not legally prevented from doing so.
In Houston, people’s reactions to the new law were mixed.
8. Transgender student athletes
Texas’ transgender student athletes will be restricted from playing on K-12 school sports teams that align with their gender identity under a bill Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law in late October.
House Bill 25, authored by state Rep. Valoree Swanson, R-Spring, will require student athletes who compete in interscholastic competition to play on sports teams that correspond with the sex listed on their birth certificate at or near their time of birth. It is set to go into effect Jan. 18. A number of LGBTQ and civil rights activist groups have plans to challenge the law.
According to the Trevor Project, a national suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ youth, nine states this year have passed legislation restricting transgender youth participation in sports. In two of those states, Florida and West Virginia, legal fights have already emerged.
9. Texas and its wild, wild winter storm (and devastating power outages)
The winter freeze in February wreaked havoc on the Texas infrastructure and left dozens of people dead. Many blame ERCOT, or the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, for not being prepared for such a massive weather event. Power was shut off to thousands of families during the coldest week of the year. ERCOT said it was due to trying to prevent a larger systemwide failure, and lawmakers said the incident should have been prevented.
Senate Bill 3, which Abbott signed in June, requires electricity providers operating on the grid managed by ERCOT to weatherize equipment. The bill also creates a state-wide power outage alert system.
However, Texas senators were furious in late September to learn that natural gas companies won’t have to better prepare their facilities for extreme weather before this winter and rebuked the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates the state’s massive oil and gas industry, for not fixing the problem sooner.
A so-called “loophole” that lawmakers spent the hearing condemning and the slow timetable for winterizing the state power grid were part of legislation they approved during the regular legislative session in the spring.
Gov. Greg Abbott made weatherizing the state’s electricity generation infrastructure an emergency priority immediately after February’s deadly winter storm, which left millions without power for days in freezing weather and caused the deaths of 700 Texans, according to a BuzzFeed News analysis.
In June, Abbott signed bills lawmakers had approved aimed at ensuring the weatherization process happened. At the time, Abbott said “everything that needed to be done was done to fix the power grid.”
Senate Bill 3, which Abbott signed into law, calls for creating a committee to map out the state’s energy infrastructure by September 2022, then gives the Railroad Commission 180 days to finalize its weatherization rules.
The Texas Tribune reported in September that lawmakers on the Senate Business and Commerce Committee were frustrated that the new law allows natural gas companies to opt out of weatherization requirements if they don’t voluntarily declare themselves to be “critical infrastructure” with the state.
They also criticized the timelines laid out by the legislation they approved earlier this year and by the rule-making process now underway at the Railroad Commission that has made weatherizing the state’s natural gas system — a key component of the power grid — a slow, frustrating task, the Tribune added. Read this story for a full rundown on the issue.
In December, the Texas Tribune reported that Texas electricity regulators said they will inspect more than 300 power generation facilities to confirm weatherization upgrades are complete. Additionally, the Public Utility Commission said in early December that eight companies failed to file winter weather readiness reports by a Dec. 1 deadline, though the agency said the 13 generation facilities belonging to those eight companies make up less than 1% of the state’s total power generation.
10. Hurricane Nicholas
Tropical Storm and then Hurricane Nicholas hit the Gulf Coast in September.
The storm threatened heavy damage and severe flooding, but weakened as it chugged ashore.
Heavy rainfall and strong winds caused some damage and power outages, particularly along the coast, but there were no reports of fatalities or major property damage.
11. The Astroworld Festival turns deadly
Ten people died in November after a crowd surge at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival in Houston.
The loss of life led to questions about the event, the venue, security and celebrity at the center of the tragedy.
Multiple lawsuits were filed in the wake of the deadly event. Scott has requested that several be dismissed and has spoken out for the first time about that night.
See some of KPRC 2′s full coverage in the articles below.
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