Texas Legislature 2021

Senate Bill 12 would prohibit social media companies — including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube — from blocking, banning, demonetizing or otherwise discriminating against a user based on their viewpoint or their location within Texas. Full Story 

Recent reforms that let more people accused of minor offenses be released without posting cash bonds appear to be working, new research shows. But Houston area lawmakers want to roll them back. Full Story 

Texas lawmakers have questioned and criticized the Electric Reliability Council of Texas for days about the near-collapse of the state’s power grid last week. Full Story 

Lawmakers will continue asking a litany of officials and executives how last week's power outages happened. Legislators in both chambers spent more than 12 hours investigating the disruptions Thursday. Full Story 

David Spiller, a Jacksboro attorney and school board member, faced fellow Republican Craig Carter for the seat previously held by Springer, who is now in the state Senate. Full Story 

In addition to bills responding to COVID-19 and the recent winter storm, Patrick is calling for legislation related to abortion, gun rights and the national anthem at sporting events. Full Story 

As the Biden administration works to expand federal nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people, Texas advocates and lawmakers are pushing for similar legislation here. Full Story 

What gets the state’s unusually subdued lieutenant governor to stand up and take notice? Not playing the national anthem at Dallas Mavericks games, as it turns out. The first culture clash of the 2021 legislative session is underway. Full Story 

People pushing for the move say they are hopeful they'll get legislative approval this year. If not, one executive said, it's "inevitable" in the future. Full Story 

Multiple federal courts have found Texas' cash bail practices discriminatory against poor people. The governor has said his priority bill will instead focus on keeping "dangerous criminals" in jail before they're convicted. Full Story 

The NBA said the team would resume playing the song at home games, a day after it was reported that the national anthem had not been played at any Mavericks home games this season. Full Story 

Delays in the delivery of court-approved political maps have disrupted past elections in Texas. And this year's pandemic-related delays in the U.S. census have raised the possibility of jumbled election plans in 2022. Full Story 

The lieutenant governor is not starting the biennial legislative session in his characteristically outspoken style, particularly when it comes to making clear his policy priorities. Full Story 

Now praised as heroes of the pandemic, nurses and other front-line medical workers have been routinely scratched, bitten or verbally abused by patients. Well over half of Texas' nurses reported being subject to workplace violence in their career, according to a 2016 state study. Full Story 

There are a total of 181 legislators in the Capitol, but the influence is not evenly distributed. Due to the lawmakers’ positions, ideology and tenure, some will have a much bigger say on the biggest issues this session. Full Story 

Texans stuck at home need high-speed internet for schooling, for work, for shopping, for medicine, for entertainment — the live, in-person activities we all took for granted a year ago. Sounds simple enough, but there’s a lot to untangle. Full Story 

The slow start to the legislative session reflects the public declarations of goals from House Speaker Dade Phelan and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick: There aren't any. Gov. Greg Abbott put his priorities in a State of the State address this week, but legislative leaders have been relatively quiet. Full Story 

State Rep. Briscoe Cain was named chair of the House Elections Committee months after traveling to Pennsylvania to help the Trump campaign challenge the results of the 2020 election. Full Story 

With assignments out, legislation that has been filed can be referred to committees for potential hearings. The committees overseeing public education, budget writing and redistricting are among those with new chairs. Full Story 

The absence of any mention of the mass shootings rankled gun control advocates and state lawmakers from El Paso, who see this legislative session as their best chance to advance the very measures Abbott expressed support for in 2019. Full Story