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State Government

All articles tagged with #state government

state-government16 days ago•23 min saved

Schatzline exits Texas House to steer Abbott’s election policy push

State Rep. Nate Schatzline, a Fort Worth Republican and hardline conservative, resigned from the Texas House to become Gov. Greg Abbott’s senior adviser on election policy, leading policy development and legislative strategy on election integrity. The role is expected to shape next-session priorities, including efforts to close primaries and tighten voting rules; Schatzline had been floated as a potential secretary of state, a job Abbott sought to fill.

via The Texas Tribune|

#election-integrity #greg-abbott #nate-schatzline

state-government16 days ago•20 min saved

Abbott taps Huffines to run Texas comptroller for the year

Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Don Huffines, a former Republican state senator, to be Texas comptroller for the rest of the year after acting head Kelly Hancock resigns; Huffines, who defeated Hancock for the GOP nomination, is running for a full term against Democrat Sarah Eckhardt in November and would oversee taxes, spending audits, contracts and the state’s $1 billion Education Freedom Accounts voucher program.

via The Texas Tribune|

#2026-elections #don-huffines #greg-abbott

state-government16 days ago•20 min saved

Texas Comptroller Hancock to Step Down After One Year at the Helm

Acting Texas Comptroller Kelly Hancock will resign at the end of July, a year after taking the job appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott. Hancock oversaw the rollout of Texas Education Freedom Accounts, the state’s $1 billion school-choice program. He lost his bid for a full term to Don Huffines, who will face Democrat Sarah Eckhardt in November. Hancock remains confident the agency will continue to function smoothly and that Huffines will build on the ongoing work.

via The Texas Tribune|

#comptroller #don-huffines #education

state-government1 month ago•24 min saved

Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson to resign, ending a three-and-a-half-year tenure

Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson announced she will resign effective July 17, ending a 3.5-year tenure as the state’s top election official. Gov. Greg Abbott will nominate a successor “without delay,” though the reason for Nelson’s departure and potential candidates were not disclosed. Nelson’s tenure included overseeing seven statewide elections with 27 million ballots cast, and managing controversial data-sharing efforts with the DOJ and the SAVE database, which prompted lawsuits from voting-rights groups. Her time in office also coinced with the TEAM election-management overhaul, which officials say still needs fixes.

via The Texas Tribune|

#greg-abbott #jane-nelson #state-government

state-government2 months ago•20 min saved

TX lawmakers push to drop fiber-optic rule for summer camps

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dustin Burrows urged lifting the state requirement that youth camps install end‑to‑end fiber-optic facilities to qualify for licensure, arguing other reliable connectivity could meet the rule’s goals after a lawsuit by 19 camps; the mandate was enacted following the July 4 Hill Country floods that killed campers, and critics say fiber costs can be prohibitive or impractical for rural camps, with lawmakers planning to revisit camp safety standards in 2027 while there was no immediate comment from the Department of State Health Services.

via The Texas Tribune|

#dan-patrick #dustin-burrows #fiber-optic-internet

state-government2 months ago•34 min saved

Camp Mystic director apologizes as Texas flood investigation unfolds

At a state House and Senate flood hearing, Camp Mystic director Edward Eastland apologized to families whose children died in last year’s flood, saying they tried their hardest and regretting not communicating sooner. Lawmakers heard harrowing accounts from grieving parents, assessed the camp’s preparedness and evacuation plans, and debated license renewal with the Texas Department of State Health Services, with some suggesting shutdown if deficiencies aren’t fixed. The testimony underscored the trauma for survivors and the political pressure surrounding Camp Mystic’s future.

via The Texas Tribune|

#apology #camp-mystic #flood

politics2 months ago•2 min saved

Red-State AGs Join Court Bid to Shield Trump’s Mail-Voting Order

Twelve Republican attorneys general moved to intervene in a Democratic-led lawsuit challenging Trump's March 31 executive order on mail voting, arguing the order would actually bolster state authority by creating federal voter lists with DHS/SSA and restricting ballot delivery via the USPS. The judge’s decision on intervention is pending; notable signatories include Kris Kobach and Steve Marshall. The case is part of broader legal challenges to the EO, including a separate Massachusetts suit by voting-rights groups.

via Democracy Docket|

#elections #lawsuits #politics

state-government3 months ago•25 min saved

Texas governor withholds millions to press cities on ICE policy

Gov. Greg Abbott warned Houston, Dallas and Austin that roughly $200 million in state public-safety funding could be cut unless their police policies fully cooperate with ICE, ranging from $110 million for Houston to about $2.5 million for Austin and $32+ million for Dallas plus World Cup funds. The move catalyzes pushback from city leaders and a Paxton-led investigation and lawsuit against Houston, as officials defend SB 4-compliant policies and emphasize public safety and constitutional rights. The dispute underscores tensions between state immigration enforcement and local policing policies.

via The Texas Tribune|

#austin #dallas #greg-abbott

state-government3 months ago•34 min saved

Texas cities resist immigration crackdown as state threatens funding and probes local leaders

Houston's ordinance to curb police cooperation with ICE sparks a state funding cutoff threat and an AG investigation, illustrating how Texas cities are navigating the Trump-era immigration crackdown; Austin and other cities are crafting policies to protect residents while complying with Senate Bill 4 and balancing state leadership.

via The Texas Tribune|

#austin #greg-abbott #houston

state-government3 months ago•55 min saved

Md. Moves Glock-Switch Handgun Ban, Bill Heads to Governor

Maryland’s House and Senate approved a bill banning the sale of pistols that can be converted into machine guns with Glock switches, sending the measure to Gov. Wes Moore for signature. The ban targets semiautomatic pistols with a cruciform trigger bar and would bar future sales while exempting current owners, law enforcement, and military. California’s Glock ban is being challenged in court, and Maryland’s proposal is expected to face legal challenges from gun-rights groups if enacted; supporters say it moves the state closer to eliminating ‘weapons of war’ from the market.

via thebanner.com|

#glock-switch #gun-control #maryland-general-assembly

state-government3 months ago•26 min saved

Texas hemp groups sue to block smokeable-ban and licensing spike

Texas hemp industry leaders have sued the state to halt new regulations from the Department of State Health Services and the Health and Human Services Commission that ban natural smokeable hemp products and sharply raise licensing fees; they argue the agencies overstepped their authority by redefining hemp and by counting total THC (including THCA) for compliance, which would ban popular products like THCA flower and pre-rolled joints and jack up fees for facilities and retailers, while state officials cite youth-safety concerns and rising cannabis-poisoning calls as justification.

via The Texas Tribune|

#department-of-state-health-services #health-and-human-services-commission #hemp

state-government3 months ago•18 min saved

Texas Schools Ordered to Omit Cesar Chavez from Lessons

The Texas Education Agency directs all public schools to remove mentions of Cesar Chavez from lesson plans and to cancel or redirect Chavez Day events amid sexual abuse allegations; the move accompanies ongoing revisions to Texas social studies standards, with districts like Austin shifting observances to Dolores Huerta and Houston renaming Chavez Day to Farmworkers Day.

via The Texas Tribune|

#cesar-chavez #cesar-chavez-day #curriculum-standards

politics4 months ago•2 min saved

States press legal bid to restore climate protections scrapped by Trump

Twenty-three states led by California and New York filed a petition in the D.C. Circuit Court challenging President Trump’s repeal of the 2009 endangerment finding that underpins federal climate regulations, seeking to reinstate the finding and block the EPA’s rollback of tailpipe standards; several cities and counties joined the suit, with critics arguing the move would harm public health and environmental protections.

via Al Jazeera|

#climate-change #endangerment-finding #epa

state-government4 months ago•21 min saved

Abbott presses Corpus Christi over looming water crisis with threat of state takeover

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott criticized Corpus Christi leaders for delaying action on a looming water shortage and warned the state may intervene to ensure residents have reliable taps; the city has about $1 billion in supply projects coming online later this year or next, but ongoing industrial demand, drought and past planning missteps could trigger shortages within a year, prompting conservation measures and new desalination efforts that are years away.

via The Texas Tribune|

#corpus-christi #desalination #greg-abbott

state-government4 months ago•22 min saved

Abbott, Patrick cruise to GOP primaries, shaping Texas reelection race

Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick easily won their Republican primaries, keeping their bids for reelection alive; Democrat Gina Hinojosa captured the nomination to challenge Abbott, while Austin's Vikki Goodwin led the Democratic field for lieutenant governor. Abbott framed the race around conservative governance and tax restraint, with Patrick touting his leadership in the Texas Senate and alignment with Trump. Democrats hope the high-profile U.S. Senate contest could bolster turnout down the ticket.

via The Texas Tribune|

#2026-elections #abbott #dan-patrick