Paxton whistleblowers urge lawmakers not to oppose settlement that will be paid with taxpayer dollars
In a statement, the attorneys for the four former top deputies who accused Attorney General Ken Paxton of crimes said state employees โcannot be expected to report government corruption in the future if they know the Legislature wonโt back their rights.โ
More than half of the Texas House wants to stop the execution of Melissa Lucio, convicted of killing her toddler
Despite substantive doubts surrounding the cause of her childโs death and a suspect โconfessionโ obtained after hours of interrogation, Lucio is set to be executed next month for killing her 2-year-old daughter.
Priority bills imperiled as end-of-session tensions rise between Texas House and Senate
House lawmakers expressed frustration on Thursday that some of their priority legislation had not moved in the upper chamber, including a package of health care and criminal justice reform bills pushed by House Speaker Dade Phelan.
Companies could be shielded from liability after commercial vehicle crashes under Texas House bill
HB 19โs sponsors say the bill will prevent excessive lawsuits against companies, but road safety advocates say the bill would make Texas roads more dangerous and prevent victims of crashes from receiving justice.
Another Texas GOP lawmaker is attempting to make abortion punishable by the death penalty
Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. A Texas lawmaker has filed a bill that would abolish and criminalize abortions, leaving women and physicians who perform the procedure to face criminal charges that could carry the death penalty. All my bill does, is say that an unborn child is the same as a born child and should be treated the same by the laws.โLt. Gov. Dan Patrick has identified two abortion bills that will be priority items during the legislative session that started in January. One would ban nearly all abortions if the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision or otherwise altered abortion laws.
Collin County is the center of a political storm as the Texas suburbs become more competitive for Democrats
Six years ago, Collin County was so solidly Republican that many of its representatives in Austin and Washington didnโt even draw Democratic opponents. Collin County was among the first Texas counties this week to exceed its 2016 turnout, and 62% of its voters had already voted as of Wednesday. โCollin County voters are smart,โ Taylor said. At the same time, Democrats also see opportunity in injecting the president into the Texas House races in Collin County. โWhatโs happening in Collin County is whatโs happening all across the country,โ Leach said.
Fundraising in Texas House races signals a wildly competitive contest for control of the chamber
Taken together, the reports point to a wildly competitive battle for control of the lower chamber, where Democrats are nine seats away from the majority. Republicans held $9.9 million cash on hand across the 34 districts, while Democrats had $6.2 million. Furthermore, in the four open seats that Democrats are trying to flip, all the GOP nominees were outraised. The money race was most stark in House District 138 in Houston, one of Democrats' best pickup opportunities. The Republican State Leadership Committee, the main national GOP group focused on state legislative races, is also playing big in Texas.
Two Texas House incumbents, Dan Flynn and J.D. Sheffield, fall behind early in primary runoff results
Two Republican Texas House incumbents were considerably behind their primary runoff opponents as early election results came in Tuesday. State Rep. Dan Flynn of Canton trailed Bryan Slaton 37% to 62%. State Rep. J.D. The winner will face off against Republican Lacey Hull in November after state Rep. Dwayne Bohac, R-Houston, opted against seeking reelection. No matter what happens in the general election, House members will have a new speaker for the 2021 legislative session.