Tag Archives: Greg Abbott

The Texas Tribune reports: Four years after Gov. Greg Abbott announced Texas would be the first state to build its own border wall, lawmakers have quietly stopped funding the project, leaving only scattered segments covering a small fraction of the border. That decision, made in the waning hours of this year’s legislative session, leaves the future of the state wall …

The Texas Tribune reports: Andrew Mahaleris, an Abbott spokesperson, confirmed Wednesday that Texas National Guard soldiers “are on standby in areas where mass demonstrations are planned in case they are needed.” “Peaceful protests are part of the fabric of our nation, but Texas will not tolerate the lawlessness we have seen in Los Angeles,” Mahaleris said in a statement. “Anyone …

The San Antonio News-Express reports: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has deployed National Guard troops to San Antonio in advance of planned protests in the city against a Trump administration crackdown on undocumented immigrants. The San Antonio Police Department said Chief William McManus contacted state officials Monday night seeking to confirm the presence of guardsmen in the city. McManus “was able …

The Texas Tribune reports: Texas would further cement its role in enforcing immigration laws under a bill the state Legislature sent to the governor Sunday that would require most sheriffs to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Gov. Greg Abbott has signaled support for such an idea, and President Donald Trump — whose administration could receive a big personnel …

Austin’s NBC affiliate reports: A bill that would ban all products containing THC is headed to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk after the Senate late Sunday approved the House version of the bill advanced by the lower chamber last week. If the measure avoids Abbott’s veto pen, Texas’ $8 billion hemp industry and its estimated 50,000 jobs would be dissolved in …

CBS News reports: Gov. Greg Abbott has signed the $1 billion controversial school choice bill into law, allowing for taxpayer money to be used to help qualifying students pay for private school tuition. “Today is the culmination of a movement that has swept across the state and our country,” Abbott said Saturday. President Trump threw his support behind the vote …

The Texas Tribune reports: The Texas House gave initial approval early Thursday to a bill that would create a $1 billion private school voucher program, crossing a historic milestone and bringing Gov. Greg Abbott’s top legislative priority closer than ever to reaching his desk. The lower chamber signed off on its voucher proposal, Senate Bill 2, on an 85-63 vote. …

NBC News reports: Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday said he had selected Nov. 4 as the date for the special election to fill the House seat that had been occupied by the late Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Texas, who died unexpectedly in March. The decision means the deep-blue, Houston-based congressional seat will be vacant for roughly eight months. House …

Austin’s NBC affiliate reports: When asked why he has not called for a special election to fill the vacant seat left by the passing of former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, Governor Greg Abbott said Harris County will need “adequate time” to conduct the election after “repeated failures” in the past. But Democratic lawmakers at the state and federal level say …

The New York Times reports: Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democratic House leader, on Monday accused Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas of deliberately delaying a special election in a solidly Democratic district in Houston in order to cushion the House Republicans’ slim majority. Mr. Jeffries said in an interview that Mr. Abbott had been “feverishly working to deny …

The Texas Tribune reports: Three weeks after U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner’s death and just over a month before the state’s next uniform election, Gov. Greg Abbott has not yet called a special election to fill the seat representing parts of Houston, a Democratic stronghold, in Congress. Turner, who previously served in the Texas House for nearly three decades before becoming …

Fox News reports: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott hit back at a Democratic lawmaker Tuesday who appeared to mock him for being in a wheelchair, saying such remarks will only leave the party “in the dust” come future elections. “It’s another day and another disaster by the Democrats. The reality is they have no vision, no policy. They have nothing to …

Via press release from the watchdog group FIRE: A federal judge today upheld the First Amendment rights of a Texas A&M student group by blocking an attempt by officials to prohibit the group’s upcoming drag show on the College Station campus. In her ruling, Judge Lee H. Rosenthal of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas held …

The Dallas Observer reports: A freshly filed bill brings the topic of furries in Texas schools to the House. The bill, Forbidding Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying in Education Act, pet-named the F.U.R.R.I.E.S Act, would ban students from observing “non-human behaviors,” which include, but are not limited to, meowing, barking and hissing; wearing a tail, collar, or ears; and licking oneself …

CNBC reports: Texas is continuing to stake a claim as a rival to Wall Street as a key financial hub in the United States, with Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday saying his state has a “stronger brand than New York.” “Capital markets are realizing that the place to be is Texas,” Abbott said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” The Texas Stock …

Newsweek reports: Texas Governor Greg Abbott has not ruled out the possibility of deploying bounty hunters to assist law enforcement in apprehending suspected undocumented immigrants. “Governor Abbott fully supports law enforcement using every tool and strategy to aid in the Trump administration’s deportation of illegal immigrants,” Abbott’s press secretary, Andrew Mahaleris, said. Republican lawmakers in Mississippi and Missouri have proposed …

The Guardian reports: The Texas governor, Greg Abbott, and, later, Elon Musk showed support on Wednesday for the firing of a state employee who refused to remove his pronouns from his work email signature. Frank Zamora, 31, was let go from his job as a program manager at the Texas real estate commission (TREC) last month because he refused to …

The Texas Tribune reports: The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents on Friday passed a resolution banning all drag performances from taking place on its 11 university campuses. This means that Draggieland, a beloved annual event scheduled for March 27 at the Rudder Theatre on the College Station campus, will have to find a new venue. The resolution also …

The Texas Tribune reports: Texas is facing its worst measles outbreak in decades, as cases have jumped from two to 146 in just one month. A child is dead, 20 more are hospitalized and the worst is likely still ahead, public health experts say. But neither Gov. Greg Abbott nor lawmakers from the hardest hit areas have addressed the outbreak …

The Texas Tribune reports: Gov. Greg Abbott said he demanded that the state’s education agency investigate a Houston high school whose teachers were accused by a local conservative activist of “transitioning” a student they were calling by the student’s chosen name and pronouns. Denise Bell, who leads the Moms for Liberty chapter in Harris County, spoke at a school board …