Tag Archives: Greg Abbott

Houston’s NPR affiliate reports: Yet another special session began in Austin on Monday, this time with Governor Greg Abbott asking state lawmakers to take up school vouchers — again. Or, as Abbott calls them, education savings accounts. The vouchers would use taxpayer dollars to allow some families to send some students to private schools. In many rural districts, there are …

Yahoo News reports: A U.S. judge ordered Texas to move floating buoys that were placed in the middle of the Rio Grande to block migrants from illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, a tentative win for President Joe Biden, whose administration sued the state. U.S. District Court Judge David Ezra issued a preliminary injunction in Austin that requires Texas to relocate …

Ars Technica reports: The day before a Texas anti-porn law that requires age verification to access adult websites was set to take effect, the state’s interim attorney general, Angela Colmenero, has been at least temporarily blocked from enforcing the law. US District Judge David Alan Ezra granted a preliminary injunction temporarily blocking enforcement after the Free Speech Coalition (FSC) joined …

NBC News reports: The Justice Department on Monday filed a lawsuit against Texas for placing buoys in the Rio Grande as part of an effort by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to deter migrants from crossing into the United States. The civil suit said Texas violated federal law by installing the barrier and asked a judge to order its removal. The …

The Associated Press reports: Wrecking ball-sized buoys on the Rio Grande. Razor wire strung across private property without permission. Bulldozers changing the very terrain of America’s southern border. For more than two years, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has escalated measures to keep migrants from entering the U.S. A state trooper’s account of officers denying migrants water in 100-degree Fahrenheit …

Texas Public Radio reports: The Justice Department has notified Texas that it plans to file a lawsuit over Gov. Greg Abbott’s floating border barrier in the Rio Grande to deter migrants from crossing illegally. The DOJ sent a letter to Abbott on Thursday demanding that Texas remove the buoys and razor wire along the Rio Grande by Monday, July 24, …

The Texas Tribune reports: Shouting, screaming and crying with raw desperation, dozens of prisoners’ relatives and former inmates gathered at the state Capitol Tuesday begging, once again, for state officials to install air conditioning in Texas prisons. “They’re cooking our babies alive!” wailed a grieving mother, whose 36-year-old son died unexpectedly in an uncooled prison last month. As a seemingly …

The Houston Chronicle reports: Officers working for Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security initiative have been ordered to push small children and nursing babies back into the Rio Grande, and have been told not to give water to asylum seekers even in extreme heat, according to an email from a Department of Public Safety trooper who described the actions as “inhumane.” …

The Texas Tribune reports: Houston officials sued the state of Texas on Monday to stop a sweeping law aimed at gutting all kinds of local ordinances and sapping the power of the state’s bluer urban areas. The law — House Bill 2127, dubbed the “Death Star” bill by opponents — was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott in June, …

The Huffington Post reports: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott took his Twitter feed to some low places over the weekend when he was duped by a satire website into sharing literal fake news about country music icon Garth Brooks. Abbott linked to a story about Brooks from a satire website called The Dunning-Kruger Times. If the name alone isn’t enough of …

The Texas Tribune reports: Gov. Greg Abbott on Saturday vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have expanded vote-by-mail access for people with disabilities — specifically people who are blind or paralyzed and need assistance marking their ballot. Advocates say Abbott’s veto of House Bill 3159 is a blow for voters with disabilities who have for years called for the Legislature …

The Hill reports: Texas has become the latest in a growing number of states to pass legislation that LGBTQ rights groups say targets drag shows, banning “sexually oriented performances” that take place in the presence of minors. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) quietly signed the state’s Senate Bill 12 into law June 18. His office did not immediately respond to …

The Texas Tribune reports: In a week when parts of the state are getting triple-digit temperatures and weather officials urge Texans to stay cool and hydrated, Gov. Greg Abbott gave final approval to a law that will eliminate local rules mandating water breaks for construction workers. House Bill 2127 was passed by the Texas Legislature during this year’s regular legislative …

USA Today reports: Gov. Greg Abbott has signed a bill that would prohibit diversity, equity and inclusion offices in Texas public colleges and universities starting in 2024. Both chambers of the Texas Legislature approved the final version in May of Senate Bill 17, which would ban public higher education institutions from maintaining or establishing DEI offices. It also prohibits higher …

Politico reports: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Wednesday he had sent a group of migrants to Los Angeles, the latest attempt by a red-state governor to provoke progressive California on immigration. Abbott’s decision expands a program that has sent thousands of migrants to Vice President Kamala Harris’s residence in Washington as well as to Denver, Chicago and Philadelphia as part …

The Texas Tribune reports: Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law Friday a bill that bars transgender kids from getting puberty blockers and hormone therapies, though the new law could face legal challenges before it takes effect on Sept. 1. Senate Bill 14’s passage brings to the finish line a legislative priority for the Republican Party of Texas, which opposes any …

The Texas Tribune reports: Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday appointed Fort Worth lawyer and former Secretary of State John Scott as interim Texas attorney general, temporarily replacing Ken Paxton, who was suspended as attorney general pending the outcome of an impeachment trial in the state Senate. Scott previously served as deputy attorney general for civil litigation when Abbott led that …

The Texas Tribune reports: Gov. Greg Abbott called an immediate special session Monday night, just hours after lawmakers completed the year’s regular legislative session without passing numerous key bills state leaders had identified as priorities. Abbott said in a statement the special session officially began at 9 p.m. Monday and will be focused on property tax relief and border security. …

The Texas Tribune reports: Gov. Greg Abbott is staying silent on the potential impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Texas House on Saturday. More than 24 hours after a House committee unanimously recommended impeachment, Abbott’s office has not responded to requests for comment on the situation. The full House intends to start debating the impeachment resolution at 1 …

The Hill reports: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) bashed Dominion Voting Systems over the departure of Tucker Carlson from Fox News, following a report that the popular conservative primetime host was fired from the network as part of its settlement with the voting software company. “We may disagree with other’s positions, but we should never try to improperly silence views …