JAMES TALARICO

Abbott will have until June 18 to sign or veto bills. If signed, SB 629 will become law immediately.

Passage of a school choice measure is anything but a sure bet, as there is little evidence that the governor has been able to convince rural Republicans in the Texas House — who have for years been a reliable firewall — to drop their opposition.

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.

Plagued by decades of scandals over sexual and physical abuse of children, the Texas Juvenile Justice Department is at a crossroads.

The COVID-19 pandemic, inflation and burnout have pummeled teachers in the last few years. Lawmakers from both parties agree they should get a pay bump — but it won’t happen without some negotiation.

Texas lawmakers are proposing what they call the largest teacher pay increase in Texas history.

A Texas Democrat is proposing a constitutional amendment stopping future abortion restrictions. Voters would have to approve it — but Republican lawmakers aren’t likely to put it in front of them.

Without a jolt of funding, the Texas Juvenile Justice Department will struggle to hire workers and regain control over the safety and treatment of almost 600 incarcerated youth, its acting director told lawmakers at a hearing.

“Republicans have gerrymandered me out of my district,” Talarico tweeted. “If they think they can keep me off the House floor, they better think again.”

Texas Republicans have again authorized using law enforcement Democrats who are still refusing to come back to the state Capitol in a bid to stop new voting restrictions.

While the quorum-busting Democrats were able to maintain a largely united front during the first special session, which ended Friday, it was clear they reached a fork in the road when the second special session began a day later.

This is the second time in recent weeks the majority Republican House has voted to issue a “call of the House,” though members on Monday did not offer or debate a motion to enable law enforcement to track down members still missing from the chamber.

Both Republicans in Austin and Democrats in D.C. have engaged in the political drama over the past two weeks, with the two camps battling it out on cable news interviews and social media over the quorum bust and who is to blame for it.

Two bills that will bring some financial relief to those with diabetes that use insulin are headed to the governor’s desk for a signature. If enacted, the bills would lower the cost of prescription insulin starting in September.

AUSTIN, Texas – As frozen Texas reels under one of the worst electricity outages in U.S. history, Republican Gov. “It's especially unacceptable when you realize what ERCOT told the state of Texas," Abbott said. While ERCOT manages most of Texas’ power grid, the commission and the Texas Legislature made key policy decisions that have factored into the ongoing crisis. In Texas, grid officials say they can't speak for why power generators here don't do the same. By comparison, the Texas oil and natural gas industry paid $13.9 billion in taxes and royalties last year alone, according to figures from the Texas Oil & Gas Association.

Talarcio named House Bill 54 “Javier Ambler’s law," and wrote the bill with Ambler’s family, he said. Ambler was killed after he was chased by Williamson County deputies for failing to dim his headlights in March 2019. He was heard begging “Save me” and “I can’t breathe” before he was stunned a fourth time and lost consciousness. “In the tragic murder of Javier Ambler, we saw what happens when law enforcement leaders are more interested in boosting their ratings than protecting our communities. Law enforcement reality television has caused issues in Bexar County, too.

Social mediaLocal and state leaders are calling for the resignation of Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody and for the deputies involved in Javier Amblers death to be fired. Last year, Williamson County deputies pursued Ambler in a car chase for 22 minutes, after trying to pull him over for not dimming his headlights. Williamson County sheriffs department maintains that its deputies did nothing wrong, according to an internal affairs investigation obtained by the Statesman. Moore needs to focus on completing her 16-month-old Ambler investigation. Instead, she is trying to blame her own failures on the Williamson County Sheriff's Department, Chody tweeted.