A $5 million budget has been approved by lawmakers to study cancer risks among firefighters.
As school districts struggle to control the spread online exploitation among their students, Texas lawmakers could consider banning social media from minors along with other measures in the upcoming legislative session.
Two other Republican lawmakers are giving away donations after Nick Fuentes was seen visiting the office building associated with Defend Texas Liberty PAC President Jonathan Stickland. The meeting has roiled the party, leading to many Republicans calling on their peers to return money from the PAC.
State lawmakers have pushed bills to support fossil fuel-burning power plants and restrict renewable energy development this legislative session.
Approved by both chambers, the bill is now on its way to the governor. Unless he vetoes it, the bill will become law, which means book vendors will have to assign ratings to books based on depictions or references to sex.
The legislation was named for Bishop Evans, who drowned last year trying to rescue migrants in the Rio Grande.
House Bills 3377 and 2235 were authored by freshman state Rep. Venton Jones, the Legislature’s first openly HIV-positive member. They’ve received overwhelming public and bipartisan support.
Legal experts, librarians and some parents say House Bill 900’s language is so vague and broad that it could ensnare books that are not inappropriate.
The authors of bills in both legislative chambers say their bills’ aim is simple: keeping sexually explicit content off school bookshelves. But opponents say the legislation is vague and broad enough to wreak havoc.
Law enforcement officers who serve on Operation Lone Star get a $500,000 death benefit for their survivors if they die on duty. But National Guard troops on the same mission don’t get a dime from the state for their families if they die.
Texas lawmakers this year are debating whether to block transgender kids’ access to transition-related health care, classify businesses that host drag shows as sexually oriented establishments and limit public school lessons on sexuality and gender identity.
Republicans are backing legislation targeting gender-affirming care for children, classroom lessons about sexuality and drag shows.
The legislation closely mirrors a Florida bill passed last year, dubbed by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, which detractors say would further isolate LGBTQ students and open teachers and school districts to legal risks.
State Rep. Jared Patterson, R-Frisco, and 26 other House colleagues want school leaders to boycott vendors that have offered what conservatives deem pornography.