Texas Lawmakers Advance Bills Overhauling Electric Grid, Regulatory Oversight
As the Texas legislative session drew to a close over the weekend, lawmakers approved bills aimed at overhauling the state’s electric grid and those who govern it following February’s massive winter storm that left residents in the dark for days amid record cold temperatures.
“This is our response, this body’s response, to the horrific things we saw during Winter Storm Uri,” said Rep. Chris Paddie (R-District 9), chairman of the House State Affairs Committee. “The issues of oversight and accountability, communication failures and addressing the weatherization issue I think we identified those challenges and came up with some really good solutions to prevent those things from happening again.”
To-go cocktails made permanently legal in more states TODAY 2 hrs ago Kerry Breen
To-go cocktails may become a permanent fixture in some parts of the country, even as many of the coronavirus restrictions are lifted in much of the country.
The portable alcoholic drinks were first offered early in the pandemic, as restaurants and bars struggled to stay afloat and states relaxed regulations. Before the pandemic, more than two dozen states allowed restaurants to sell beer and wine to-go, but not mixed drinks, according to the Pew Research Center. During the pandemic, restrictions were loosened.
Now, 11 states have made their rules permanent, according to the Distilled Spirits Council. Iowa, Ohio, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Montana, Arkansas, West Virginia, Georgia, Oklahoma and, most recently, Texas and Florida, will make their pandemic drink rules permanent.
Updated 2 hours ago
NBC 5 News
Texas Legislature passes Cocktails-to-Go bill Wednesday, which would allow customers to purchase sealed alcoholic drinks from businesses across the state.
The bill, HB 1024, was originally posed as a bill from Senator Hancock to allow third-party services such as UberEats and DoorDash to deliver alcoholic drinks to homes in 2019.
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However, when the pandemic swept through the state in 2020, Gov. Abbott expanded the rules with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) rulemaking in mind to allow Texans to take cocktails to-go with their meal.
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