Texas Legislature 2021

Texas lawmakers passed major bills in response to the winter storm power outages that killed hundreds of Texans in February. But there’s still a lot to do. Full Story 

Two- and four-year school leaders are looking to the upcoming special session for more support as the state decides how to spend $16 billion in federal stimulus funding Full Story 

The Tribune’s Ross Ramsey breaks down the big takeaways from the 2021 Legislature. Listen in the weekend edition of The Brief podcast. Full Story 

The filibuster stands in the way of Democrats passing bills aimed at expanding access to the vote. Meanwhile, the executive branch has lost one of its most powerful tools for intervening. Full Story 

The Legislature passed a bill allowing Texans to carry handguns without a license or training — an expansion of gun rights so divisive Republican leaders in previous years refused to touch it. Full Story 

A governor targeting the Legislature’s budget would be unprecedented in Texas history. Full Story 

Lawmakers didn’t succeed in curtailing the governor's power during a disaster, but they did pass bills that prohibit so-called vaccine passports and ban the mandatory closure of churches and gun stores. Full Story 

Since House Democrats staged a walkout that killed Republicans’ priority elections bill for the regular session, the governor and the leaders of the state House and Senate have diverged notably in interviews about how they are approaching the overtime round. Full Story 

While lawmakers took significant steps toward preventing another blackout, hardly any of the proposals passed during this legislative session will aid consumers in recovering from the February storm — but they’ll see higher utility bills. Full Story 

On this week's episode, Matthew speaks with James, Patrick and Alexa about the wild end to the legislative session and the future of proposed voting restrictions in Texas. Full Story 

Rep. Jasmine Crockett pushed bills to reform policing, expand voting options and loosen drug laws in the state. But she made waves for her passionate dissent. Full Story 

Lawmakers consider some things so safe that regulations can be loosened, while other matters get a tighter regulatory scheme. Consider guns and voting. Full Story 

All they could get was a temporary win. But the lawmakers said taking the extraordinary measure of breaking quorum in the Texas House was justified by the harm they felt their mostly Black and Hispanic constituents would face under the GOP’s voting bill. Full Story 

The provision deals with the window for early voting on Sundays, and the current version of the bill raised concerns that it would hinder get-out-the-vote efforts by Black churches. Full Story 

The bills are in response to widespread protests and calls to “defund the police” last year. Full Story 

Abbott’s vow came after a Democratic walkout in the House late Sunday night blocked passage of Senate Bill 7, his priority elections bill that would overhaul voting rights in Texas. Full Story 

Every other year, Texas legislators gather in Austin to enact new laws, but 2021 was like no other session. Here’s what it looked like through the lenses of Texas Tribune photographers. Full Story 

Members celebrated the end of the session, but also acknowledged that they’ll be back sometime soon for at least one special session. Full Story 

“No pay for those who abandon their responsibilities,” Abbott tweeted Monday. Full Story 

A session transformed by COVID-19 protocols is giving way to a political cycle already disrupted by the pandemic’s effects on state government. Full Story