![]() “I think lawmakers are more attuned and closer to their districts about how the policies they pass will have real effects on the lives of their constituents,” she said. Nemerever said lawmakers' split with the governor on this shows they are worried about the potential harm it might cause. But lawmakers did not follow his lead - neither chamber passed a bill to do the same thing.Ī wide spectrum of business groups have pushed back publicly against Abbott’s order. Abbott has already issued an executive order banning any entity in the state from requiring employees or customers to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Homeowners would save about $175 per year, according to Patrick and Phelan. Members of both parties agreed to the change, which if passed by voters in May, would reduce state income by over $600 million a year. Lawmakers agreed to send a constitutional amendment to the voters that would bump the state’s homestead exemption for school taxes to $40,000. The leaders said they are leaving $3 billion unspent for “future tax relief.” Congress banned using the money for tax cuts, but some states have challenged the ban in court. Dan Patrick, a Republican, and House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, $7.2 billion will go to the state’s unemployment system, $2 billion to help hospitals hire more nurses during the pandemic, and “hundreds of millions of dollars for new hospitals and mental health services across Texas,” among other items. Lawmakers decided how to dole out about $13.3 billion in federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act. Zoe Nemerever, a political science professor at Texas Tech University, said there are very few trans youth athletes in Texas, so lawmakers are willing to look past their concerns to “ social conservatism on issues of gender and sexuality to socially conservative constituents.” Abbott is all but certain to sign it, saying the bill protects “the integrity of Texas high school sports.” Opponents are worried it will increase the number of youth who consider suicide, and point to data from the LGBTQ advocacy group The Trevor Project that says this is already happening. Under a bill passed last week, public school athletes must play on sports teams that correspond with the sex assigned to them at birth. Here’s a roundup of the rest of the major laws passed in the third special legislative session: Over 90% of new residents in Texas since 2010 are people of color. ![]() “In all four of these redistricting maps additional Latino majority districts should have been created to reflect the growth of the Latino community over the past decade,” said Nina Perales of MALDEF in a Tuesday press conference. ![]() The civil rights group Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund has already sued. “And I’d love to be able to say it a stain on the legacy of voting rights but that seems to be the playbook decade after decade after decade in this state.”Ībbott is expected to sign the redrawn maps into law. “It’s shameful,” said Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas. Congressional and state legislative districts, which will determine who represents Texans in federal and state government for the next 10 years.ĭespite Latinos and non-Hispanic whites having about equal numbers in the population overall, Republicans drew a large majority of districts to favor white, conservative voters.ĭemocrats objected to the passing of the new congressional maps overnight, but because they do not have a majority of the seats in either chamber, they were powerless to stop their colleagues in the GOP. The major result of the third special session was creating new boundaries for U.S. “The Legislature went above and beyond to solve other critical issues to ensure an even brighter future for the Lone Star State,” the statement said. Leaders of both the state House and Senate gave no indication they expect to be back for more, and a Tuesday statement from Gov. ![]() The fourth legislative session overall of 2021 looks to be the last. ![]()
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