Texas Legislature

On Wednesday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott released his official proclamation announcing a special legislative session. Texas lawmakers will be back in Austin starting on July 21. The session, which originally looked like it would focus on regulating THC, now includes several emergency preparedness topics.

A GOP state lawmaker who represents Kerr County says he likely would vote differently now on House Bill 13, which would have established a grant program for counties to build new emergency communication infrastructure.

The very qualities that draw people to the beautiful Texas Hill Country — rolling terrain, limestone formations and lazy rivers — also make the area deadly during heavy rainstorms.

After three sessions, Texas lawmakers passed a bill last month that defines consent and fixes what advocates called a loophole in state sexual assault laws.

The GOP tax and spending bill raises the child tax credit from $2,000 to $2,200, adjusts it annually for inflation, and enshrines it permanently into U.S. tax code. However, another provision requires that the child and both parents all have Social Security numbers.

The Legislature passed laws allowing smaller homes on smaller lots and making it harder for neighbors to block new housing.

Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday signed Senate Bill 3070, which will also criminalize the online sale of lottery tickets through couriers.

Las Vegas Sands Corporation, owned by Miriam Adelson, tried to lobby at the legislature this year to make casinos legal in the Lone Star State.

Texas lawmakers convened in a rapidly growing part of West Texas to sign new legislation aimed at addressing a looming water crisis across the state.

Parents with pre-K students are eligible to receive funds in the new education savings account program, marking an expansion of publicly funded early education. The public funds would be used to pay for pre-K tuition at private or community-based child care centers, if they qualify under Senate Bill 2.