AUSTIN, Texas For the Republicans who have run Texas state government for years, trying to undermine the Democrats who lead the state’s largest cities has been a blood sport for years.
‘Now It’s Coming Back to Bite Them’: Democrats See an Opening in G.O.P. Oversight of Texas Grid
As the state reels from power outages, Democrats look to turn the tables on the Republicans who dominate state government.
In Austin, Texas, people charged their phones and got warm inside vehicles. Credit.Tamir Kalifa for The New York Times
Published Feb. 17, 2021Updated Feb. 21, 2021
AUSTIN, Texas For the Republicans who have run Texas state government for years, trying to undermine the Democrats who lead the state’s largest cities has been a blood sport for years. They have sought to overrule local officials on disputes involving everything from pandemic restrictions and plastic bag bans to protections for immigrants.
Ornate architecture in the rotunda at the Texas State Capital Building in Austin
(Seguin) State lawmakers are facing a significant budget shortfall this year. How to overcome a decline in revenues will be one of the key issues facing the new legislative session that begins today in Austin. The budget shortfall is approximately one billion dollars. That’s a big number, but the Biennial Revenue Estimate (BRE) released on Monday by State Comptroller Glenn Hegar is actually much better than what most state lawmakers had expected.
State Representative John Kuempel, in a recent interview with KWED Radio and the Seguin Daily News, said they could have potentially seen double digit shortfalls this year.
Incoming Texas Speaker of the House Dade Phelan Signaled Support For TEXIT Vote in 2016 einnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from einnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
On January 12, lawmakers from across the state of Texas will convene the 87
th Texas Legislative Session. This will be the first time that all 181 legislators will come together since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is still unclear what health and safety protocols they will follow, but it will certainly be a much different environment than previous sessions. Both the Texas Senate and the Texas House of Representatives have set up working groups to provide suggestions and guidelines identifying best practices for how session will operate. Of particular importance is how public access to the capitol is handled. Legislators will vote on these recommendations and other rule changes when session convenes on January 13.