The historic impeachment trial of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton is underway in the Texas Senate. He faces 16 articles of impeachment that accuse him of misusing the powers of the attorney general’s office to help his friend and donor Nate Paul, an Austin real estate investor who was under federal investigation.
Efforts to repair rifts, particularly among Republican leaders, begin as another contentious special session looms on Gov. Greg Abbott’s call for “school choice.”
Supporters call the bill ‘unapologetically aspirational," as legislators mark the one-year anniversary of the Dobbs ruling which ended protection for abortion under Roe versus Wade.
Scott, a former deputy attorney general, will run the agency because Ken Paxton has been suspended from office until his impeachment trial before the Texas Senate.
Now that Texas has a near-total ban on abortion, lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle are trying to make sure colleges are serving students who are pregnant or have children.
Abbott noted many bills that were passed during the regular session, which ended around 6 p.m. Monday, but he added that “many critical items remain” and will require multiple special sessions.
Opponents fear the bill is a “Trojan horse” for evangelizing kids and will worsen the state’s mental health crisis through disproven counseling approaches.
Many allegations against Paxton were already known, but the airing of them revealed the scope of the investigation by the committee, which has the power to recommend censure or impeachment.
By JESSICA PRIEST, THE TEXAS TRIBUNE AND PROPUBLICA
West Texas voters rejected three conservative Christian candidates who sought to infuse religious values into local politics. The campaign support the candidates received from local churches has prompted calls for state and federal probes.
Texas’ abortion laws look likely to remain about where they were at the beginning of the legislative session, as key deadlines pass without any movement on abortion-related bills.
The Health Care Fairness for All Act (H.R. 3129) recently introduced by Congressman Pete Sessions aims to create a new option for Americans to obtain healthcare coverage through a portable health insurance tax credit that is available to all Americans.
The 88th Texas Legislative Session began in January and the House and Senate versions of the General Appropriations Bill specific to TDCJ has been filed.
Voters in Denton, San Marcos, Killeen, Elgin and Harker Heights overwhelmingly supported the local ballot propositions to decriminalize low-level possession. These moves followed Austin voters’ similar decision in May.
Early voting numbers suggest this year’s turnout won’t measure up to the 2018 election, but a voting behavior expert says not to count voters out just yet.
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