
Lawmakers Try to Outmaneuver Efforts “In God We Trust” Law
After protesters solicited donations to distribute posters to schools across the state in Arabic, state Sen. Bryan Hughes sent a letter to the Texas Education Agency clarifying his legislation requiring schools to display signs with the national motto.

Cotton industry Facing its Worst Harvest in Years
Cotton is Texas’ largest crop, and industry experts say they expect just half the normal annual yield — which will drive up costs for consumers.

Austin Voters Ban Homeless from Camping in Public Spaces
Police have had to eject hundreds of people from encampments. They still struggle to tell many of them where to go.

Dallas-Houston Bullet Train Land Acquisition Slows
The company maintains that the bullet train is still being developed but declined to provide details about the path forward.

Uvalde Residents Say the Fight for Accountability Won’t Stop
Some parents and community members are calling for more school district employees to be fired and for the state to raise the minimum age for buying an assault rifle.

Texas Can’t Ban 18- to 20-Year-Olds from Carrying Handguns
U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman, who cited the Second Amendment in his decision, stayed the ruling pending appeal.

Abortions Providers Could Face up to Life in Prison, $100,000 Fine
Texas now has three significant bans on the books, setting up a potential legal battle.

Uvalde School Board Fires Chief Pete Arredondo
Uvalde school officials have faced mounting pressure to fire Arredondo, who received much of the blame for the delay in confronting the shooter during the May 24 massacre at Robb Elementary.

Stephen F. Austin State Considers Joining a University System
Four systems have expressed informal interest in an affiliation with the East Texas school.

Child Support Assistant Attorneys General of the Year
Paxton recognized 11 AAGs of the year from the Child Support Division for their commitment to Texas children.

AG Opposes EPA’s Establishment of Imprudent and Flawed National Standards for Greenhouse Gases
Paxton joined a multistate letter to the U.S. EPA opposing its potential adoption of NAAQS for greenhouse gases under the CAA, which the multistate coalition describes as “equal parts imprudent and legally flawed.”

AG Paxton Joins Amicus Brief Challenging CDC’s Transportation Mask Mandate
Paxton joined a Florida-led amicus brief filed in the Atlanta-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit seeking to affirm a successful challenge to the CDC Transportation Mask Mandate.

HHSC Receives Federal Grant to Expand Fraud Prevention Efforts
The USDA has awarded the Texas HHSC a federal grant of more than $400,000 to further the agency’s fraud prevention efforts for the SNAP.

Texas Law May shield Alex Jones from Paying $50 Million Defamation Case
The 2003 law enacted sweeping lawsuit reforms that limit the amount of damages plaintiffs collect.

Cell Phone Bills to Increase by 24% in Texas
The rate increase will help replenish a state fund to maintain and operate cellphone networks in rural Texas.
Video: Beto O’Rourke Swears at Greg Abbott Supporter
O’Rourke confronted a heckler at a campaign event Wednesday who laughed while he was talking about the Uvalde school shooting.

AG Paxton Demands BlackRock Account for its Underperforming
Paxton joined 18 other states in a letter to Larry Fink challenging his company’s reliance on Environmental, Social, and Governance investment criteria rather than shareholder profits in managing state pension funds.

Forcing Healthcare Providers to Use State Funding for Abortions
Paxton filed a motion to enjoin the Biden Administration from using a provision of the EMTALA to require Texas hospitals and doctors to perform abortions as a condition of receiving Medicare and Medicaid funding.

Program That Gives Out Lifesaving Drugs Has Been Out of Money for Months
The state’s federally funded “More Narcan Please” program ran out of money in January, in part due to high demand.

Texas Juvenile Prison System on the Verge of Collapse
The agency is so understaffed that teens have reported spending up to 23 hours locked in their cells, using water bottles to go to the bathroom.