Not only does TX-33 in Dallas look like a snake eating its own tail, it also packs non-Anglo voters into one district more tightly than before.
GOP mapmakers have two new congressional seats to play with as the redistricting process commences, but ensuring they both go—and stay—Republican will be challenging.
COVID outbreaks, covert vacations, anger at President Biden, and the other rich subplots in House Democrats’ attempt to block a restrictive state voting law.
Buried in the GOP proposal is a requirement that could—whether by intention or just sloppy legislative work—disenfranchise thousands of voters.
Primary challengers say Texas’s governor is weak. The failure to pass new restrictions on voting, a GOP priority, will add fuel to their criticism.
Fearing primary challenges, GOP lawmakers focused mostly on wedge issues such as guns and abortion, rather than the COVID-19 pandemic and the failure of the state’s electric grid.
After weeks of debating how to best combat the voting-restriction legislation, Democrats find a rare, though likely temporary, victory.
Before a Democratic walkout blocked the passage of an "election integrity" bill in the Texas Lege, members of the partnership had split over how to respond to the legislation.
The state's energy business has long counted on tax breaks and other largesse. Whether renewables or fossil fuels get more depends on how you do the math.
Greg Abbott signed a bill banning abortion once a heartbeat can be detected and letting Texans sue those who “aid and abet” a woman getting the procedure.
Members of the minority party knew they didn’t have the votes to kill Senate Bill 7, but won a few useful amendments behind closed doors.
A House bill doesn’t identify the capital city by name, but would make it the lone municipality in Texas whose noise ordinances are set by the Lege.
The lieutenant governor is no stranger to forcing votes on controversial issues, but a new gun bill the House passed has concerned some members of his Senate caucus.
Amid a slate of culture war offerings, lawmakers are set to discuss Medicaid expansion and accessing COVID-19 relief funds for schools.
A large majority of Texas Republicans believe the unsupported claims of leaders that the 2020 election was stolen. But some in the party think “election integrity” legislation could backfire.
A few of Texas's big businesses have publicly criticized efforts to make voting more difficult. But many more, fearful of Republican retribution, are trying to keep their heads down.
The Pearland native went viral this week for her poised and powerful testimony against anti-trans bills.
Provisions of Senate Bill 7 would require some naturalized citizens to prove their right to vote.
Many industries bear a portion of the blame for the failure of Texas’s electric grid. But one seems to be escaping strict requirements to better prepare for future storms.
A guide to the key players in the 87th Legislature who are trying to stuff ten pounds of “priorities” into a five-pound sack.
Governor Greg Abbott has identified passing “election integrity” bills as one of his priorities for this legislative session, but the man in charge of ushering such legislation through the Texas House seems not up to the task.
Fed up with DNA tests and expensive investigators, some adult adoptees are fighting the state for access to their original birth records.
The state is expected to receive three new U.S. House seats. But those looking to expand the GOP majority in the congressional delegation won’t have an easy task.
State lawmakers grapple with how to make this year productive, as they lose cherished time forming relationships on the floor.
Anti-abortion advocates are getting their hopes up that the U.S. Supreme Court could undo Roe v. Wade, but some are tired of waiting.
In the months after Merci Mack’s murder, Dallas’s trans community has expanded its organizing efforts. Meanwhile, the Lege is set to consider expansion of the state’s protections against discrimination.
Lawmakers will have their hands full with a budget deficit and the pandemic. Here's what else to watch for this session.
Comptroller Glenn Hegar projected a nearly $1 billion deficit—far smaller than lawmakers feared.
GOP state legislators have proposed bills that could make it more difficult to cast a ballot in 2022. Some might backfire on the party.
For the first time in a decade the Texas House—and influence over redistricting—is in play. Will it slip out of the Democratic party’s grasp once again?
A year after the Legislature legalized farming the cannabis variant, big dreams for the new crop are withering.
It's March 2021 and Democrats are in power again, the state budget is a bloodbath, and the coronavirus stalks the Capitol.
And they've been dangerously slow to respond to the coronavirus.
Historically, the Lege has met shortfalls with tax increases or spending cuts. Whether Dems or the GOP are in power makes all the difference.
Critics of the forthcoming transformation of the state’s child welfare system worry about the new model’s lack of transparency. Legislators are running out of time to introduce greater safeguards.
This could make the marijuana-derived drug, which the legislature legalized for patients with intractable epilepsy, hard to get.
Senfronia Thompson has a few things to say about Hillary Clinton, Dan Patrick, and the foster care system.
First question: Who are the 38%?
Rating the Texas Congressmen from number one to, sigh, number twenty-two.
