KERA

After Texas was rocked by back-to-back mass shootings, some of the state’s top Republican leaders promised change. Gun safety advocates and Democratic lawmakers hoped gun violence prevention might become a priority. Yet the legislative session that just wrapped moved in the opposite direction.

The Legislature passed a bill allowing Texans to carry handguns without a license or training — an expansion of gun rights so divisive Republican leaders in previous years refused to touch it.

Planned Parenthood sued to block the "sanctuary city for the unborn" ordinance, passed by voters in May, but a federal judge said he didn't have jurisdiction to hear the case. The ordinance went into effect Tuesday.

Abbott has the power to veto individual line items he objects to.

As the 87th session for the Texas Legislature wraps up, the state House of Representatives speeds through bills but still heavily debates a bill relating to handgun or firearm possession in hotels.

House lawmakers expressed frustration Thursday that some of their priority legislation had not moved in the upper chamber, including a package of health care and criminal justice reform bills pushed by House Speaker Dade Phelan.

House Bill 1535 would expand the state’s medical cannabis program to include those with chronic pain, all cancer patients and Texans with post-traumatic stress disorder. But it hasn’t yet been referred to a Senate committee.

The bill creating the commission, which would have subpoena power, passed 252-175. Republican U.S. Reps. Tony Gonzales of San Antonio and Van Taylor of Plano were the only two GOP Texans to support the measure.

The governor banned mandates, except in hospitals and long-term carecenters supported by the state, along with many corrections facilities. Mask requirements in public schools expire June 4.

The extra $300 federal benefit will end June 26 for jobless Texans. Abbott also cut off another federal benefit that extended aid to gig workers, self-employed people and others who aren’t traditionally covered by unemployment insurance.