Justin Miller
By Justin Miller:
The Lege This Week: Instead of Addressing Mass Shootings, Lawmakers Expand Gun Rights
The Texas House passes a controversial bill that would allow Texans to carry a handgun without a permit.
Welcome to the 87th Legislative Session. Since the last session came to a close in June 2019, Texas has been hit by an unrestrained pandemic and a crippling economic crisis—and now the fallout from deadly blackouts. Under unprecedented circumstances, lawmakers … Read More
The Lege This Week: Stimmy for Schools?
The Texas Senate passes its budget bill without addressing billions of dollars in unspent federal relief. Now, public education advocates are demanding that lawmakers open up the spigot for local school districts.
Welcome to the 87th Legislative Session. Since the last session came to a close in June 2019, Texas has been hit by an unrestrained pandemic and a crippling economic crisis—and now the fallout from deadly blackouts. Under unprecedented circumstances, lawmakers … Read More
The Lege This Week: “Another Watershed Moment”
The push for an omnibus reform package named after George Floyd underscores how outrage over his death changed local and state policy debates around policing.
Welcome to the 87th Legislative Session. Since the last session came to a close in June 2019, Texas has been hit by an unrestrained pandemic and a crippling economic crisis—and now the fallout from deadly blackouts. Under unprecedented circumstances, lawmakers … Read More
The Lege This Week: GOP Launches Election Crackdown
The state’s biggest counties took action to make it easier to vote during the pandemic, helping spur record-level turnout. Now, Texas Republicans are vying to prohibit those measures in future elections.
Welcome to the 87th Legislative Session. Since the last session came to a close in June 2019, Texas has been hit by an unrestrained pandemic and a crippling economic crisis—and now the fallout from deadly blackouts. Under unprecedented circumstances, lawmakers … Read More
The Lege This Week: Abbott Lets His Mask Slip
From one crisis to the next: With Texas still reeling from the February blackouts, the governor decides to lift state COVID-19 mandates—then blames immigrants for spreading the virus.
Welcome to the 87th Legislative Session. Since the last session came to a close in June 2019, Texas has been hit by an unrestrained pandemic and a crippling economic crisis—and now the fallout from deadly blackouts. Under unprecedented circumstances, lawmakers … Read More
The Texas Public Utility Commission’s Revolving Door Between Industry and Regulator
The state’s utility regulator drew intense scrutiny from legislators last week for failing to regulate the electric industry ahead of the February blackouts. Many of its top staffers have worked for the power companies it oversees.
Public Utility Commission Chair DeAnn Walker became the most prominent Texas official to fall in the wake of the February blackouts, announcing her resignation Monday after growing bipartisan calls from lawmakers for her to step down. The Public Utility Commission … Read More
The Lege This Week: Adventures in Circular Finger Pointing
The main theme to emerge from the Lege’s blackout hearings? Mea culpas for thee, but not for me.
Welcome to the 87th Legislative Session. Since the last session came to a close in June 2019, Texas has been hit by an unrestrained pandemic and a crippling economic crisis—and now the fallout from deadly blackouts. Under unprecedented circumstances, lawmakers … Read More
ERCOT Increased Revenue and Executive Pay In Years Before Texas Power Outages
Top ERCOT officials collected six-figure salaries while failing to prepare for extreme weather events that they were warned about.
Bill Magness sat in the Texas Senate chamber for several hours Thursday, defending himself and the Electric Reliability Corporation of Texas (ERCOT) that he runs. Senators grilled him about why the state’s once-obscure electric grid operator failed to prevent one … Read More
The Lege This Week: Out Cold
As disaster unfolded across Texas, state lawmakers were quick to blame the state’s grid operator and the public utility commission. But the Legislature will face a reckoning of its own.
Welcome to the 87th Legislative Session. Since the last session came to a close in June 2019, Texas has been hit by an unrestrained pandemic and a crippling economic crisis. Now, under unprecedented circumstances, lawmakers are faced with a number … Read More