The Lone Star State’s coronavirus response has been a lopsided battle between Gov. Greg Abbott who’s wielded his executive powers to issue a statewide mask mandate and business restrictions and local officials like Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, who were blocked by the governor’s orders from putting tougher COVID restrictions in place.
But thanks to the fact that the Texas Legislature only meets in odd-numbered years, and because Abbott’s executive authority meant he didn’t have to summon the Texas House and Senate to Austin for a special session, Texas legislators were powerless to shape the state’s coronavirus response for most of the pandemic.
Protestors participate in a rally against anti-transgender legislation at the southern steps of the state Capitol on April 28. Credit: Evan L Roy/The Texas Tribune
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For LGBTQ mental health support, call the Trevor Projectâs 24/7 toll-free support line at 866-488-7386. You can also call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or text 741741 from anywhere in the country to text with a trained crisis counselor. Read our mental health resource guide for more information.
A controversial bill that would ban gender affirming health care for transgender children missed a key deadline Thursday for consideration in the Texas House.
Time runs out on Texas House bill banning gender confirmation health care for kids, but another attempt lives on in the Senate
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Protestors participate in a rally against Anti-Trans legislation at the southern steps of the state Capitol on April 28, 2021.
Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
For LGBTQ mental health support, call the Trevor Project’s 24/7 toll-free support line at 866-488-7386. You can also call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or text 741741 from anywhere in the country to text with a trained crisis counselor. Read our mental health resource guide for more information.
COVID, abortion, voting access, permitless gun carry: Here s where Texas bills stand
Fort Worth Star-Telegram 1 hr ago Eleanor Dearman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
May 14 About two weeks remain of the regular legislative session, leaving Texas lawmakers with limited time to pass laws.
Lawmakers in the Texas House of Representatives faced a critical deadline Thursday night. They had until midnight to give initial approval to hundreds of House bills. Lawmakers made it to page 13 of a 25-page calendar, rendering many bills effectively dead.
That comes with an asterisk: Similar proposals can always pass in the Senate or get attached to other legislation as an amendment. Legislators could also be called back for a special session, though Gov. Greg Abbott indicated Thursday he believes that can be avoided. (Redistricting is a likely exception.)
May 13, 2021 at 6:00 a.m.
You can watch a livestream of the Texas House below. The chamber is expected to gavel in at 10 a.m. and could go late into the night. Running down the clock or “chubbing could become a tactic to hinder legislation May 13, 2021 at 6:00 a.m.
After failing to wrestle back control of the lower chamber in the November election, Democrats remain the House minority. But the end-of-session deadlines present the party with one of its few bits of leverage to block bills its members don’t support. They can do so by a process known as “chubbing.”