"...A lead story on Tuesday, June 11 was headlined "Utility officials bracing for jolt of deregulation." Written by Laylan Copelin, the story unfurled from a genuine news peg, the decision by the local Service Merchandise store to get electricity from a provider in St. Louis as soon as the Texas Legislature makes it legal to do so. This is interesting, but not earth-shaking..."

"...Moffett himself testified at the federal trial in May that commercial development was needed to make the residential portions work financially. Theoretically, they might get wastewater service through state-authorized municipal utility districts (MUDs), which the Legislature later approved, but Freeport still lacks a discharge permit to handle the level of wastewater that would be generated by commercial and industrial developments..."

"...Abilene now claims the title of “Storybook Capital of America.” In 2015, the West Texas town was declared the “Storybook Capital of Texas” by the state Legislature. The new moniker became official when the U.S..."

"...Though the Texas Legislature put TWS under the A&M AgriLife Extension Service in 2003, it is TWS Director Michael Boden­chuk, a federal employee, who tells AgriLife how to distribute money throughout the program. AgriLife Director Doug Steele said WS oversees daily TWS activities and that all employees – federal and state – report to Bodenchuk, who does his own hiring, firing, and evaluations..."

"...Still, critics of LCRA, from the grassroots level to the Legislature, fault the agency for not responding sooner, and for failing to conserve the region's water supply at the height of the drought in 2011, when it released enormous amounts of water downstream to rice farmers. Many of these downstream farmers have since been cut off from the Highland Lakes water supply...."

"...I will say that I think that the CREZ lines are kind of a classic example of how the state has maybe shifted its views a little bit on wind power. The Legislature approved these lines, and the public utility commission mapped them out after this agonizing process..."

"...Rather, it was the fact that Foster and Brown, the triggerman, had been tried together, that Perry said compelled him to grant the commutation. "I am concerned about Texas law that allows capital murder defendants to be tried simultaneously, and it is an issue I think the Legislature should examine." The Lege has done so; in 2009 two bills were filed to address the issues raised in Foster's case, but both ultimately died..."

"...There was Gov. Rick Perry last week, in his biennial address to the Legislature: "By any meaningful measure, the state of our state is strong."..."

"...Interviewing The Dallas Morning News' Wayne Slater about some psychotic Texas Nationalist Movement rally at the state Capitol, she asks, with only a soupçon of condescension, if it's "even possible" to seem too extreme, "politically, right now in Texas," and if Perry "would support there being a referendum on secession or there being some sort of formal debate of it in the Legislature."..."

"...City officials will be on hand to witness the historic event. The Texas Legislature, alas, is beyond hope, but the monks will bless the rest of Texas from the Capitol steps at 9:30am Wednesday..."

"...– K.R.Beyond City Limits• In a surprise decision hailed by Democrats and downplayed by Republicans, the U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday it would consider the constitutionality of a 2003 congressional redistricting map that threw the Texas Legislature into partisan turmoil before finally passing in a special session..."

"...Bush urged Congress to quickly enact a constitutional amendment defining "marriage" as a union between a man and a woman. LGRL executive director Randall Ellis predicted an equally volatile debate in the Texas Legislature and other state capitals, "where the ultimate battle will take place." In a statement released shortly after Bush's remarks, Ellis noted there are more than 1 million children in lesbian and gay homes in the nation and more than 43,000 same-sex households in Texas..."

"...Additionally, the so-called Industry Alliance -- consisting of labor organizations such as the Director's Guild of America, the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees, the American Federation of Theatrical Stage Employees, the Screen Actors Guild, the Producers Guild of America, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the American Film Marketing Association, and Film US (which comprises some 200 national, state, and local film commissions -- but not the Texas Film Commission) -- is lobbying federal and state legislatures for a two-tiered, wage-based system of tax credits for film and television/cable production in the U.S. via House Resolution 3131, sponsored by U.S..."

"..."We were going to have a second conference call," said a State Library official who participated in the first, "but that got sidetracked when the governor's office felt that the statute took us out of the picture altogether." The law, which Gov. Bush had asked for and signed, is a brief section of an omnibus state archives bill, House Bill 1812 of 1997's 75th Texas Legislature..."

"..."We weren't kids, but it was just fun. We wrote what interested us, and that's still part of the culture," says Paul Burka, a former Daily Texan editor who joined TM in 1974 after five years as a staff lawyer at the Legislature..."

"...It's not at all clear that SJR 36 has much chance of passage -- there were immediate grumbles from the GOP leadership -- but it's worth remembering that the homestead exemption, the "$1 billion tax cut!" (which passed easily only four years ago) was an early centerpiece of the Bush presidential campaign. Now a prominent state Republican has officially admitted that maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all, while the Legislature is tying itself in knots trying to figure out how to fund essential state programs..."

"...In 1974, the Texas Legislature freed heterosexual couples in their bedrooms from the constraints of the sodomy law, but the same freedom was not given to gay and lesbian couples. Section 21.06, the "homosexual conduct" statute, was passed that year, stating that "A person commits an offense if he engages in deviate sexual intercourse [defined elsewhere as "any contact between any part of the genitals of one person and the mouth or anus of another person"] with another individual of the same sex."..."

"...Cornyn and the legislators who are led by Sen. Troy Fraser, a Republican from Horseshoe Bay whose 1996 campaign was financed largely by tort reformers, claim that only the Texas Legislature has the power to make contingency fee contracts with lawyers...."

"...(Texas was one of several states that applied for and received a waiver from the federal government to enact reforms at a slightly slower pace. The state will eventually have to comply with federal reforms, but due to the 6-year waiver, not until March of 2002.) Texas lawmakers rewrote the AFDC program to reflect its own overhaul of the welfare system made in Texas in the 74th Legislature of 1995 under B 1863...."

"...I'd rather have a sister in the whorehouse than be a brother of Marshall Kuykendall. How many Ranchers does it take to screw us? None -- they've bought the Legislature to do it for them."..."

"...Beal argues that the committee could choose to convene a hearing on Ginn’s qualifications, but Watson says he disagrees. “That only applies to recess appointments,” Watson said, in which case a new Legislature “may” legally convene a committee to consider an appointee whom the governor hasn’t confirmed by reappointment..."

"...Matt Krause, R-Ft. Worth, has already filed a bill for the upcoming 86th Texas Legislature that would ban cities from implementing paid sick leave rules..."

"...Enough Is Enough: Tired of relentless efforts by Waller County officials to suppress student voting, students at Prairie View A&M University announced they will march to the polls on E-Day, joined by community allies, to emphasize their voting rights. The march will draw attention to the county’s decades-long campaign of voter suppression targeting the historically black university; the coalition will also make known five demands for justice and kick off an advocacy initiative targeting both Congress and the Texas Legislature..."

"..."I needed that time off for mental and spiritual separation and renewal – it's a horror show," he told me in April. "But it prepared me for the Texas Legislature." [inset-1-right]..."

"...But he notes that Texas is growing in population astronomically, and is therefore likely to dominate national politics for the foreseeable future. Simultaneously, the state's Republican leadership – with a stranglehold on a Legislature seated in a town where they happily reside yet pretend to despise for its own easygoing, expansive, progressive, Texan culture – remains determined to further militarize the state's borders, further undermine its public schools, further weaken public health care (especially for women), all in a quest to maintain white suburban political power over the multicultural majority of Texas cities and small towns, and the multicultural population of our common future...."

"...“We want our day in court because for far too long the Texas Legislature has been playing political football with the safety of our city and now we get to move to a different forum,” Mayor Steve Adler told press Friday morning, June 2. “One of the main impetuses behind the city filing suit is the keen and earnest desire to keep this community safe.”..."

"...While attempts to scale back criminalization of the American poor have gained support from leaders across the political spectrum, there is a clear left-right divide when it comes to helping those with convictions find fair paths toward employment. Repub­licans who control the Texas Legislature are pushing legislation via HB 577 to undo Austin's Fair Chance ordinance, which bars employers from asking job applicants about criminal convictions prior to making a conditional offer of employment. What's Your Status?..."

"...Of course, under the Texas Legislature's plan to pass a so-called "sanctuary cities" bill this session, safe shelter is equally under threat ("Matters More Than the Law," Feb. 10)..."

"...League and nearly 90 other Austin business owners are joining the fight against state discrimination of the LGBTQ community by sending a message to the Capitol. In an open letter compiled by Equality Texas that's ballooned from 180 signatures to nearly 300, small Texas businesses have urged Texas' Legislature to lay off discriminatory bills in 2017's upcoming session, which begins Jan..."

"..."If we're going to talk about ideology, let's talk about ideology – but in another setting. Right now what this taxpayer money is for is to provide health care," said Farrar, chairwoman of the Texas Legislature's Women's Health Caucus..."

"...I could show you many voter registration applications where it is almost impossible to decipher the person's handwriting. Our Legislature could easily resolve this lawsuit, save taxpayer dollars and make voter registration more accessible, accurate, and secure by approving online voter registration for Texans."..."

"...TCE successfully campaigned for legislation to require manufacturers to take back their products at the end of their useful life. A computer takeback initiative passed the Texas Legislature in 2007, and a similar rule for televisions was signed into law in 2011..."

"...Accordingly, the Texas Bankers Association is letting its members know that with properly posted notice, “it’s up to each individual bank to decide how they’d prefer to notify customers whether openly carried handguns are permitted on bank property,” said Celeste Embrey, TBA’s Assistant General Counsel. According to a TBA press release (helpfully accompanied by samples of the only warning signs deemed sufficient by the Legislature), “If proper notice is given, banks have the right to pursue criminal trespass charges against customers who choose to openly carry handguns onto the bank’s premises in violation of notifications to the contrary.” Violators can be subject to Class C misdemeanors – or Class A misdemeanors if they refuse to leave the premises after an oral warning..."

"...The lesser charge is old news, dating back to Paxton's time in the legislature. Moreover, he has already basically admitted to the underlying offense..."

"...• Rainbow Corps: A business coalition organized this year to combat discriminatory, anti-LGBTQ legislation, Texas Competes announced last week that 270 companies, including 15 Fortune 500 companies, had signed its nondiscrimination pledge, saying discriminatory laws contemplated (and defeated) during the just-ended 84th Legislature “would have been harmful to the pro-business Texas brand.” “Texas businesses proactively took a leadership role on equality this year …” said Jessica Shortall, managing director of Texas Competes. “Now we must keep the momentum going..."

"..."You have to understand your own behaviors – what's risky, what's not, and then know what strategies we have. It's about expanding our education." Considering San Francisco's success, the Texas Legislature's most recent push for greater abstinence-only funding, which would reallocate money from HIV prevention work, is all the more dire..."

"...And then there's the pretty much hourly basis on which the Legislature and every other Texas politician praises the US military...."

"...“The right to a safe, legal abortion has been constitutionally protected for many, many years. We cannot allow this legislature to place insurmountable barriers to their constitutional rights,” said Rodríguez, charging colleagues with waging a “relentless war on women’s health.”..."

"...In the group’s annual report on the status of reproductive health policies in all 50 states, the nation averaged a “D” score and more than half of states joined Texas in a failing grade. The state’s anti-choice Legislature and numerous abortion restrictions, including Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP) laws, helped earn it the low score..."

"...• Yucca Yucca Yucca: Although the Texas Legislature and TCEQ have bent over (perhaps backwards) to expand the amount of low-level radioactive waste that can come to Texas for final burial in Far West Texas, early discussions about opening Waste Control Specialists' pit for possible high-level waste from the nation's nuclear power plants were dealt a blow Thursday. The U.S..."

"...Rick Perry came under fire in 2011 for subsidizing personal trips with taxpayer dollars. During a time when Perry’s Legislature massively cut the budget, taxpayers were billed more than $294,000 in security detail expenses for the Perry clan’s out-of-state trips (which include state business, political trips, and vacation)..."

"...The Texas Promise World Premiere D: Vanessa Roth (In attendance) From Academy-Award ® winning documentarian, Vanessa Roth, The Texas Promise is the gripping story of equity, politics, money, and our children as historic decisions are being made about opportunity, the economy, and our democracy. When the Texas legislature cut $5.4 billion from public schools, it affected the daily lives of the 5 million students in Texas public schools and made Texas 49th in the country in per pupil spending..."

"...The repeal of the 17th Amendment – again allowing the appointment of U.S. senators by state legislatures – graduated from marginal idea to rallying cry...."

"...Rick Perry and gubernatorial hopeful, Attorney General Greg Abbott, each praised the ruling. In a press release, Abbott called it a "vindication of the careful deliberation by the Texas Legislature to craft a law to protect the health and safety of Texas women." Perry applauded it as a win for Texas women "and the unborn."..."

"...Indeed, the potentially negative impact of the law has prompted three Austin city council members to write to Congress to urge support for legislation that would ensure women's access to reproductive health care, and to Texas lawmakers asking that they repeal HB 2. "We urge Congress and the Legislature of the State of Texas to protect each woman's health, her right to determine whether and when to bear a child, and her ability to exercise that right," Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole, and Council Members Laura Morrison and Bill Spelman wrote in a Jan..."