Texas Legislature

Members of the public arrived at the Texas Capitol as early as 6 a.m. to sign up to speak before lawmakers considering the legislation. In the House, public testimony wouldn't begin until early the next morning.

HB 1927, also known as permitless carry or constitutional carry, will allow eligible residents to carry weapons, openly or concealed, without a permit. But many Texas voters and law enforcement agencies oppose the measure.

Leading casualties of the regular session included the omnibus elections bill, bail reform, and the George Floyd Act. But Gov. Greg Abbott has promised special sessions that could revive some GOP priorities.

This weekend HB5, or “The Texas Broadband Bill”, was one of the few pieces of legislation that passed with strong bipartisan support during an especially contentious legislative session.

Midnight was the deadline for the House to approve the legislation that would alter nearly the entire voting process, create new limitations to early voting hours, ratchet up voting-by-mail restrictions and curb local voting options.

This week on Texas Matters: The Deep Freeze deaths were undercounted by Texas, AR-15 assault rifles are holy in a church setting up a massive compound in Central Texas, and what can we learn about the state of America’s democracy by looking at the rise of Hitler?

Senate Bill 7 includes provisions to limit early voting hours, curtail local voting options and further tighten voting-by-mail. The upper chamber suspended its own rules to approve it after debating it for hours overnight

The Texas House voted 81-64 to pass SB7 a bill which critics call a voter restriction bill. There was drama and conflict on the way to the initial passage.

Texas Matters looks at another break down of order at the House Elections Committee by Chairman Briscoe Cain. Also we hear from a Texas mother opposed to anti-transgender bills in the legislature.

The Texas Legislature votes no to expand Medicaid in the state. With the recent loss of the 1115 Waiver this could mean a health care crisis for poor and rural Texas. And during the pandemic access to public information in Texas was sometimes on mute. What’s happening at the legislature to fix that?