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Texas House committee debates firearms bills filed in response to Uvalde shooting
The House Select Committee on Community Safety is scheduled to hear testimony on bills that would change how people buy firearms and how authorities report those purchases. One of these bills would raise the minimum age to 21 years old to purchase certain semi-automatic rifles.
Texas House election results for San Antonio-area races, Nov. 8, 2022 midterms
Find election results from San Antonio-area state House races, including Districts 31, 44, 53, 73, 74, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125
Conservativesā school board victories could give Texas GOP momentum for November elections, 2023 legislative session
State Republicans say conservative wins in local school board elections on Saturday mean parents are taking a stand against āleft-wingā ideologies.
San Antonio lawmakers debate whether bipartisan solutions can fix Texasā restrictive voting law
Republican and Democratic state legislators joined Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith in a panel at the University of Texas at San Antonio on Wednesday.
Texas House Democrats spar with congressional Republicans over their protest of state voting bills
Three Texas House Democrats testified before a congressional committee on their efforts to thwart voting restrictions ā and were met with heat from their Republican counterparts.
WATCH LIVE: Texas lawmakers to testify on voting bills before US House oversight committee
The House Oversight and Reformās Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee will hold a hearing regarding voting bills in Texas on Thursday morning.
2,100 state workers caught in the crosshairs of Gov. Greg Abbottās veto of Legislature funding
The legislative branch budget includes funding for House and Senate lawmakers, their staffers and those working in nonpartisan legislative agencies. In total, there was more than $410 million allocated in the 2022-23 fiscal budget.
Diego Bernal, other Bexar County state reps, ask TEA for STAAR opt-out process
SAN ANTONIO ā Dozens of Texas state representatives, led by San Antonio Democrat Diego Bernal, asked the Texas Education Agency to allow Texas parents to opt their children out of STAAR testing this year. The letter was signed by 68 state representatives in all, including all 10 from Bexar County. AdThis AM we sent a letter to TEA requesting a formal STAAR opt-out procedure. #txlege pic.twitter.com/42Viz03oQu ā Diego Bernal (@DiegoBernalTX) February 8, 2021Speaking to KSAT, Bernal noted this yearās testing will matter less than usual. Bernal said parents could already opt-out in a fashion by keeping their children out of school.
68 members of the Texas House call for STAAR exams to be canceled this year
āAbsent the STAAR test, youāre not going to have a valid, reliable view of grade-level mastery of student skills,ā he said. Last spring, Texas applied for and received a waiver from the federal government allowing it not to administer the STAAR. Texas has already committed to allowing elementary and middle school students who fail the exams this spring to move up to the next grade, with district permission. Usually, student scores on the test determine whether high school students can graduate, whether some elementary and middle school students can move on to the next grade, and whether schools can remain open. The Texas State Teachers Association, which has been calling for a suspension of STAAR testing since June, quickly came out in support of the legislatorsā letter.
San Antonio lawmaker, 68 bipartisan Texas House members seek cancellation of STAAR exam
SAN ANTONIO ā A member of the Texas House of Representatives from San Antonio is urging the Texas Education Agency to cancel the administering of the STAAR exam for the 2020- 2021 school year, citing COVID-19 concerns. Rep. Diego Bernal, a Democrat who represents District 123, sent a letter to TEA requesting that the agency seek the waivers necessary from the United States Department of Education for the cancellation. The letter has been signed by 68 Democratic and Republican members of the Texas House. But Bernal said instead of having students take the exam, the TEA āshould be focused on providing high-quality public education with an emphasis on ensuring the health and safety of students and educators. You can read the letter Bernal sent to TEA below:
Critics urge Texas regulators to reverse decision allowing social workers to turn away clients who are LGBTQ or have a disability
Advocates called the move by the Texas State Board of Social Work Examiners, which has not yet been finalized, an attempt to create ātwo classes of Texansā during a press conference organized by the Texas chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. There is currently no law in Texas that protects LGBTQ people from discrimination. The code will no longer prohibit social workers from discriminating on the basis of a disability, sexual orientation or gender identity. Greg Abbottās office recommended the change, board members said, because the nondiscrimination protections went further than those laid out in state law. The change sparked national backlash, including from 11 members of Texasā congressional delegation who called on Abbott and the board to reverse the decision.
Join the conversation with KSATs Back to School town hall: Learning During a Pandemic, on Aug. 11
SAN ANTONIO The coronavirus pandemic has caused uncertainty and lingering questions about how or when students, teachers and other education staff can safely return to classrooms. The special will air live on KSAT 12, KSAT.com and KSAT-TV and for the first time, viewers will have the chance to join the conversation and ask questions through our new live chat feature. Were excited to bring this important town hall to our viewers on-air or online. Viewers can ask questions live or ahead of time on our Chat with KSAT page, where you can also watch the full broadcast. Guests will include:Watch Episode 7 of KSAT Explains, Back to School during the COVID-19 pandemic, below:
Records: San Antonio lawmakers criticized Gov. Abbotts COVID-19 response as cases started surging
The following afternoon, during Abbotts weekly call with members of the Texas legislature, the question went unanswered, according to Bernal, D-San Antonio. Especially if they were challenging questions or questions that maybe put science ahead of the economy, said Bernal. On June 17, as new daily COVID-19 cases climbed over 3,000, Bernals staff again reached out to the Governors office and asked if Abbott was reconsidering his reopening strategy. Not only did the states positivity rate continue to increase after Bernals inquiries, but so did the number of daily cases statewide and in San Antonio. The KSAT 12 Defenders reached out to Abbotts office for more information on these weekly calls with legislators.