Texas Legislature averts $100 million consequences of 2021 law requiring nonexistent election technology
Lawmakers voted unanimously to reverse the 2021 provision that would have decertified equipment that counties use to count votes. Full Story
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![A bipartisan testing crew uses voting machines and tabulators during a state-mandated logic and accuracy test at the Hays County Government building in San Marcos on Sept. 21, 2022.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Eliminating countywide voting in Texas would make the process harder on voters, cost more money, election leaders say
Currently, more than 80% of Texas voters can vote anywhere in their home county, a model that originated in Lubbock County. If lawmakers approve new legislation, that would change. Full Story
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![A voter walks past an election sign on his way to vote outside of the Lauro Cavazos Middle School polling station. Lubbock voters chose their voter preferences during the mid-term elections Tuesday, November 8, 2022.]()
Credit: Mark Rogers for The Texas Tribune -
Transgender Texans of all ages could lose access to transition-related care under Senate bill
The Senate advanced a bill that could create such high financial risks for doctors and health insurers that they’d stop providing or covering gender-affirming care — even for adults. Full Story
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![Demonstrators march for Trans Day of Visibility in San Antonio on March 31, 2023.]()
Credit: Blaine Young for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate moves to end countywide voting on Election Day
Voters in nearly 100 counties — mostly rural — can vote at any polling site in their county. The sponsor, without offering evidence, said the practice was not secure despite years of successful elections in Texas with the system. Full Story
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![People walk up to the Willie DeLeon Civic Center Precinct 1 polling station in Uvalde on Election Day, Nov. 8, 2022.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers take first steps to reverse course on costly requirement for election technology that doesn’t exist
The original provision was part of the state’s major overhaul to election laws in 2021. Full Story
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![A voter casts their ballot at a polling site at the Austin Oaks Church on Oct. 14, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
“He has a battle rifle”: Police feared Uvalde gunman’s AR-15
In previously unreleased interviews, police who responded to the Robb Elementary shooting told investigators they were cowed by the shooter’s military-style rifle. This drove their decision to wait for a Border Patrol SWAT team to engage him, which took more than an hour. Full Story
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![The gunman's AR-15 style rifle lays in a supply closet of Room 111 at Robb Elementary School.]()
Credit: Law enforcement photo -
Texas GOP lawmakers warming to opioid harm-reduction policies they once opposed
Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republicans have expressed support for legalizing fentanyl test strips, which help users identify whether the drugs they are planning on taking contain the deadly synthetic opioid. Full Story
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![A fentanyl test kit in a storage unit in Dallas on Aug. 24, 2022.]()
Credit: Emil Lippe for The Texas Tribune -
Texas GOP’s bills targeting transgender children have exacted a mental health toll, even if they don’t become law
GOP bills that sought to restrict or punish transition-related health care, like puberty blockers, missed key deadlines. But LGBTQ advocates say the mere specter that such measures could become law does mental health damage to transgender people. Full Story
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![Transgender rights activists gather outside the entrance to the House floor on May 23, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas GOP state senator urged use of unproven hydroxychloroquine treatment for COVID-19. Now he's spreading doubt about vaccines.
In a period of sagging vaccination rates — particularly among staunch conservatives — state Sen. Bob Hall used his platform to promulgate debunked anti-vaccine conspiracies and push claims that have largely been eschewed by the medical community. Full Story
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![State Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, on the Senate floor on May 6, 2019.]()
Credit: Juan Figueroa/The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers advance bills blocking access to gender-affirming health care despite opposition from LGBTQ Texans, medical associations
Equality Texas CEO Ricardo Martinez said Texas has filed more anti-LGBTQ bills this session than any other state legislature. Full Story
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![People hold up signs at an event held by Equality Texas at the Capitol on April 14, 2021. The group had several speakers, including parents of trans-children, speaking against SB 1646, which would bring possible charges against parents for helping their children with their gender identities.]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
Slate of Texas legislation limiting abortion, including so-called “heartbeat bill,” heads to Senate
The legislative session that began in January has been driven by the coronavirus pandemic and the response to last month’s power crisis. But abortion-related measures dominated a Senate State Affairs committee hearing Monday, and lawmakers advanced all of the proposals. Full Story
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![A women's health clinic in Texas.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Red-light cameras could be removed from Texas intersections after House vote
But an amendment to the bill could keep the devices in place until cities' contracts with vendors expire. Camera proponents say they make intersections safer, but critics say they undermine due process. Full Story
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![A red light camera at the intersection of I-35 and 11th St. near downtown Austin on May 6, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
This Texas program lands poor people in jail. Getting rid of it has been too complicated — but that might be changing.
Lawmakers in both chambers and parties want to fix the controversial Driver Responsibility Program, but the program funds state trauma centers. Where will they find $144 million to fill the gap? Full Story
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![Law enforcement officials, at a traffic stop, filmed during a Peaceful Streets Project cop watch on Apr. 24, 2015. Photo: Gabriel Cristóver Pérez for the Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Gabriel Cristóver Pérez for The Texas Tribune -
State Rep. Cindy Burkett challenging state Sen. Bob Hall in primary
State Rep. Cindy Burkett, R-Sunnyvale, is launching a primary challenge to state Sen. Bob Hall of Edgewood. Full Story
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![State Rep. Cindy Burkett, R-Sunnyvale votes on an amendment in the Texas House on May 19, 2017.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
At Capitol, bill targeting plastic bag bans draws strong opposition
Ranchers, city officials and environmentalists testified on Tuesday against a bill that would prevent cities from banning plastic grocery bags or charging a fee for them. Full Story
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![Joseph Seinsheimer, chairman of the Galveston chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, dressed up as a self-proclaimed “bag monster” with dozens of plastic bags wrapped around his upper body. He testified Tuesday against legislation that would would prevent cities from banning plastic bags.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune