Texas Legislature 2021

The Texas House for hours on Sunday debated its proposal to better prepare for extreme weather. The chambers have a little more than a week to wrap up remaining work. Full Story 

The Senate passed House Bill 9, filed in response to last year’s nationwide protests against police brutality, on a 25-5 vote. Gov. Greg Abbott has already indicated his support. Full Story 

The bill aims to ban critical race theory in public and open-enrollment charter schools. Supporters say it merely ensures students aren't taught that one race or gender is superior to another. Critics say it limits how race in America is taught. Full Story 

Among the bills approved by the Senate Jurisprudence Committee is one that would require police officers to keep their body cameras activated during investigations. Full Story 

The Senate Nominations Committee never took up Hughs’ nomination, requiring her to leave office at the end of the legislative session. Full Story 

The agreement advances the legislation even closer to becoming law. Gov. Greg Abbott has said he will sign such a proposal. Full Story 

Texas law enforcement agencies have long dealt with troublesome officers who move from one department to another. Transparency bills aim to make their disciplinary records more easily accessible to such agencies. Full Story 

Abbott already planned to call a special session later in the year for the Legislature to do its decennial redrawing of Texas political maps. Full Story 

The vote comes only weeks after Austin residents voted to reinstate a local public camping ban — two years after it was lifted. Full Story 

House lawmakers expressed frustration 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. Full Story 

House Bill 1535 would expand the state’s medical cannabis program to include those with chronic pain, all cancer patients and Texans with post-traumatic stress disorder. Full Story 

The governor is turning the dial to "normal," in more ways than one, dissolving pandemic restrictions and minding issues of interest to Republican primary voters. Full Story 

The signing of the bill opens a new frontier in the battle over abortion restrictions as first-of-its-kind legal provisions intended to make the law harder to challenge are poised to be tested in the courts. Full Story 

As a powerful committee chairman, Dutton could have bottled up legislation that Democrats opposed. Instead, critics say, he’s pushed through Republican bills that Democrats find objectionable. Full Story 

House Bill 17 is a response to a trend in California, where cities have passed energy efficiency plans that prohibit new subdivisions from offering natural gas heating in order to reduce emissions. Full Story 

Texas lawmakers filed thousands of bills during the 2021 legislative session. Here are the big bills that passed – and the ones that failed. Full Story 

Rep. Jim Murphy said lawmakers selected projects that would address the state’s nursing and medical professional shortages as the COVID-19 pandemic reiterated additional need for skilled workers. Full Story 

HB 19’s 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. Full Story 

Legislative attempts to reform bail in Texas are likely headed for a closed-door showdown over the different approaches the House and Senate each devised. Full Story 

Days after the House failed to pass a ban against gender confirmation medical care, the Senate pushed its own attempt forward. Full Story