Texas Senate passes its own school safety funding bill, but little time remains to get it across the finish line
Senate Bill 5 would send an extra $800 million to public schools for security upgrades over the next two years. But the measure is at risk of becoming the latest casualty of the rift between the Texas House and Senate.
Texas may soon have a process to remove local prosecutors who wonโt pursue abortion, election cases
The bill would allow for the removal of prosecutors who adopt any policy to not pursue certain crimes, including some low-level theft and drug charges. The Senateโs version will need to be reconciled with the House, which had carved out some exemptions.
โI donโt apologize for calling out our elected officials to do their jobโ: Spring Branch ISD Board responds to lawmakers
Senator Joan Huffman announced plans to meet with Spring Branch ISD leaders after a Friday board meeting where several members expressed their frustrations with the legislature.
โWe just want parityโ: Military groups call on lawmakers to give Operation Lone Star troops death benefits
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 donโt get a dime from the state for their families if they die.
Texas bill requiring 10-year prison sentences for gun felonies faces opposition from criminal justice and firearm advocates
Under Senate Bill 23, all felonies involving a gun would incur a mandatory 10-year prison sentence. Itโs meant to curb crime, despite the lack of correlation between harsher sentences and crime rates.
Lawmakers could use $5 billion of a record surplus for raises, flood prevention and border operations
Budget proposals would boost state spending for the current budget cycle for projects ranging from mental health hospitals to state pay raises. This would leave $27 billion in surplus for next two years.
Texas universities propose two-year tuition freeze in exchange for nearly $1 billion in additional state funding
The leaders of the stateโs six biggest university systems are seeking the money to fund instruction, university operations and employee health insurance and to cover a free tuition program for veterans and their children.
After a Texas National Guard member died, his family got no financial payment. Lawmakers want to change that.
In April, Bishop Evans drowned after jumping into the Rio Grande to save two migrants being swept away by the current. His family members will receive no financial payment, but they would if he worked for DPS or was under federal deployment.
Rainbow PUSH Coalition, Quanell X condemns alleged sexual exploitation of children in DFPS care by foster care system employees
The Texas Rainbow PUSH Coalition has organized an โEmergency Call to Actionโ press conference Tuesday in response to reports of children in the Department of Family and Protective Servicesโ care allegedly being sexually exploited and trafficked by employees in the foster care system.
Federal judges wonโt halt Texas primary in state Senate district being challenged for alleged discrimination
The redrawn state Senate District 10 splits Black and Hispanic voters in Tarrant County. A full trial on whether GOP lawmakers intentionally discriminated against voters of color is expected later this year.
Republicans say Texasโ new political maps are โrace blind.โ To some voters of color, that translates as political invisibility.
With partisan fervor, Republicans drew new maps for Congress and the Legislature that dilute the power of voters of color. Now the lawsuits begin, as groups that feel marginalized battle for representation in the halls of power.
Texas Senate approves congressional map that draws no new Black or Hispanic districts even as people of color fueled population growth
Texas gained two new seats in Congress based on population growth fueled by people of color. But the Senateโs proposal provides no new majority-Black or majority-Hispanic districts to reflect that growth.
Senate approves map cementing GOP dominance in upper chamber, dividing up Tarrant countyโs voters of color
Democrats criticized Republicans for โtargetingโ a North Texas district that had been trending Democratic and for not drawing any new districts where people of color would represent a majority of eligible voters.
Drivers who hit someone in a crosswalk in Texas could now face prison time thanks to new law named after Fort Bend County woman
Not many days after Lisa Torry Smith died in 2017, after family members learned it was not a crime in Texas to drive into someone in a crosswalk, they decided the law needed to change.
A year after George Floydโs murder, only a few of Texas lawmakersโ police reform measures appear likely to become law
Narrowly targeted pieces of Texasโ George Floyd Act โ like restricting chokeholds and requiring officers to provide first aid โ are expected to pass. But the Act itself and many other related reforms have failed to progress during the legislative session that ends Monday.
Texas Senate approves bail bill that would keep more people in jail if they canโt post cash bonds
The Texas Senate on Wednesday approved the chamberโs priority legislation that aims to keep more people accused or previously convicted of violent crimes in jail before trial unless they can post cash bonds.
The Texas Senate has approved a new statewide appeals court. Critics contend it's another attempt to limit Democrats' power.
Harris County got rid of cash bail for many people accused of minor crimes. GOP lawmakers want to walk that back.
AdBettencourt and Huffman have criticized Harris County judges for releasing most people on no-cost personal recognizance, or PR, bonds. โOther policy initiatives โ not renewed reliance on cash bail โ will be required to halt the increase in violence,โ a memo to county commissioners said. Critics of bail reform efforts and the bail bonds industry โ which is dependent on cash bail systems โ have often pointed to less people showing up to court as an argument against bail reform efforts. โPeople want to come to court and the vast majority of people do,โ said Harris County Criminal Court Judge Franklin Bynum. The Harris County court monitor report said homeless people were twice as likely to be arrested while out on bond than other defendants.
Despite committeeโs recommendation, ending Texasโ partisan judicial elections looks unlikely
The Texas Supreme Court on Jan. 15, 2020. Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas TribuneTexas looks unlikely to change its controversial partisan election system for judges โ even after a commission studying the issue recommended ending the practice. And in Republican primaries, judicial candidates with Hispanic-sounding surnames have often fared poorly, owing, experts say, to a largely white electorate. Those who favor partisan judicial elections have pointed out that they may work better in rural counties, where voters are electing fewer judges and itโs easier to learn their qualifications. Aside from the bias of partisanship, one of the chief concerns about the stateโs partisan judicial selection system is the influence โ perceived or actual โ of donors who bankroll judgesโ campaigns. Huffman, a powerful figure in the Texas Senate, said earlier this month she had already begun drafting a constitutional amendment that would increase judicial qualifications.
Analysis: When mapmaking Texas politicians are smiling and quiet, pay attention
This one is about redistricting โ how the state draws its political maps โ and it fits the pattern. Political maps are the foundation of who does and doesnโt have a voice in a democracy. Asked whether a Republican House and Senate, with a Republican governor, can be expected to draw maps that favor Republicans, neither lawmaker agreed. Sure enough, they draw maps that increase their chances of success โ not only in elections, but in the government decisions that follow. Republicans draw Republican maps.
It could take 3 months to clear Lake Jacksonโs drinking water system of brain-eating amoeba, officials say
LAKE JACKSON, Texas โ The road to drinkable water wonโt be a short one in Lake Jackson after a brain-eating amoeba was found in the water system. The discovery initially led officials to issue a do-not-use order for the Brazosport Water Authority. That was later changed to a boil-water notice for the city of Lake Jackson. Officials said they believe BWAโs distribution system is clean and that the issue is limited to Lake Jackson, where 11 of 54 sites tested there showed low levels of disinfectant. Baker said monthly and quarterly testing records for Lake Jackson show nothing of concern leading up to the discovery of the amoeba.