Politics
Book Review: Scapegoating the Media Ignores Other Major Problems in American Politics
The Power Politics Behind the House’s Bipartisan, Kumbaya, Feel-Good Session
House Speaker Dennis Bonnen altered his party’s near-term agenda in service of the GOP’s long-term political project: Power. Will it work?
Weeks before the 2019 legislative session even began, Jeff Leach foreshadowed the shifting political winds that would ultimately animate lawmakers. In early Dec...Read More
Texas Lawmakers Took on Sexual Assault this Session, but Largely Ignored Sexual Harassment
The state added more than $75 million toward services for sexual assault survivors, but failed to improve protections for workers after pushback from the business lobby.
During a press conference at the beginning of the legislative session in January, state Representative Victoria Neave praised women for speaking out about sexua...Read More
Texas Legislature Adjourns Without Adding Money for Census Outreach. That Could Cost the State Billions.
With the census becoming more politicized under Trump, Republicans shied away from spending money to ensure all Texans get counted.
Texas has big things at stake in the 2020 U.S. Census: billions of dollars in federal funding and congressional seats that could give the state a bigger say in ...Read More
Texans with Disabilities are Struggling to Find Health Care Attendants. Lawmakers Didn’t Do Much to Help.
Community attendants had their $8-per-hour base wage boosted by only 11 cents this session — significantly less than what the governor and state health department requested.
Disability rights advocates say there is a crisis facing community attendants and the people who rely on them. Statewide, about 300,000 attendants help disabled...Read More
Sunk Costs
The border wall is more expensive than you think.
When the federal government builds a border wall, the taxpayer foots two bills. First, there’s the cost to get the thing built, a figure proclaimed in preside...Read More
Despite Attempts to Soften Penalties, Texas Legislature Passes Bill to Charge Pipeline Protesters with Felonies
The oil and gas industry-backed bill could blunt environmental groups’ fight against the Jupiter oil pipeline and Kinder Morgan’s Permian Highway gas pipeline.
Environmental activists, indigenous protesters, landowners and others who damage or “impair or interrupt” operations of oil and gas facilities will be charg...Read More
Texas Legislature Set to (Slightly) Expand Medical Marijuana Access
Only Texans with intractable epilepsy can currently use medical cannabis. As new legislation heading toward the governor’s desk adds a few more conditions to the list, advocates wish lawmakers had gone further and Republicans fret about a "slippery slope."
It wasn’t the wide-ranging medical cannabis bill that Democrats and marijuana advocates wanted. But patients with terminal cancer, autism, neurodegenerative d...Read More
Death Penalty Reform Bill Gets Watered Down to ‘Nothing’ Before Passing Senate
After passing the House, HB 1139, meant to reform how Texas decides whether a defendant is too intellectually disabled to execute, was significantly softened in Senate committee.
A House bill meant to reform Texas’ death penalty procedures for intellectually disabled defendants was amended in the Senate to the point that criminal justi...Read More
Trump Megadonor and Houston Mayoral Candidate Is a Top Sponsor for Democratic Fundraiser with Hillary Clinton
How Tony Buzbee, a wealthy insurgent trying to oust Sylvester Turner, went from bankrolling Trump to being a “White Pantsuit Sponsor” for Hillary Clinton-headlined event.
There’s a long list of sponsors for the Harris County Democratic Party’s annual Johnson Rayburn Richards Luncheon, a marquee fundraiser that this year boast...Read More