Tag: Texas Tribune

“Be like Charlie”: Slain activist Kirk focus of Republican youth conference’s first night

[ad_1]

THE WOODLANDS — Thousands gathered Friday night to kick off a conference of young Republicans in which Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist killed last week, was memorialized as a “martyr” whose death is galvanizing youths across the nation.

Speaker after speaker, from state lawmakers to influential MAGA cultural tastemakers, shared stories at the Texas Youth Summit about how Kirk — who began rallying young conservatives as a teenager — made them and others feel like their Christian-guided views mattered and their perspectives were shared by many.

They called him a “hero,” “miracle,” and “martyr for Christ.” Amid the mourning, they said that the fight Kirk had embarked on was far from over but one that could be won by the young people in attendance.

And it appeared, according to some of the speakers, that more people were learning Kirk’s name and his vision for a faith-led American future every day since his death.

The speeches caused roars of applause from the mostly young audience, some wearing white t-shirts that said “We are Charlie,” which glowed in front of bright red and blue stage lights.

“Be like Charlie,” Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, the final speaker of the night, told the crowd, which had thinned by the time he took the stage past 10 p.m. but was still several hundred strong. The state’s junior senator recounted how he texted Kirk upon hearing about the shooting, asking if he was OK.

“I’m praying for you right now,” Cruz said he texted, adding: “Obviously, I never got an answer.”

Kirk was killed Sept. 10 while speaking at a Utah university, the first stop of his group’s “The American Comeback” tour. He often debated students who disagreed with him on his tours while firing up young conservatives.

“There’s a lot of value in a bunch of young conservatives coming together and (feeling) like they’re not alone. Charlie created that environment — single handedly,” U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Houston said in a video that was played. “No one else did that kind of thing.”

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, recounted at the Texas Youth Summit on Friday how he texted Charlie Kirk upon hearing about the shooting, asking if he was OK. Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune

The memorial was just the latest instance of Texans gathering to share their sorrow over Kirk’s death. Vigils at college campuses, town squares and churches have drawn thousands, with speakers and attendees saying Kirk changed how they viewed politics, debating and their own beliefs. Others vehemently opposed what Kirk stood for but attended the homages to condemn his killing as an unacceptable act of political violence.

“We weren’t alive for JFK or MLK, and this is the first big assassination,” said Harley Reed, one of more than 1,000 who gathered last week at Texas A&M for one such candlelight vigil. “This is the first big movement, if you will, that we’ve seen interrupted in a way.”

Also grieving publicly are the state’s leaders, including some Republicans who are set to speak at the conference on Saturday. Some have also urged a close examination of reactions to Kirk’s death from educators and students; Gov. Greg Abbott, for one, has called for the expulsion of students who publicly celebrated Kirk’s death, prompting blowback from critics who say such calls run afoul of the First Amendment’s free speech protections.

Such scrutiny has done little to slow the momentum that’s erupted among conservative youth who just became old enough to vote or will reach the threshold in time for next year’s midterms.

Turning Point USA, the group Kirk launched as an 18-year-old to organize other young conservatives, said it received an explosion of more than 50,000 requests to establish new chapters at colleges and high schools in the days after its founder’s death.

In Texas, where the GOP has dominated state government for longer than current college-age students have been alive, organizers of this weekend’s youth summit said they anticipated record-breaking attendance after getting an influx of interest leading up to the event.

“Charlie Kirk cannot be replaced,” Christian Collins, the summit’s founder and leader, said Friday night. “But what I will say is, what will happen in this community, and in this country, is thousands of Charlie Kirks will rise up.”

Attendees raise their hands while singing during the Texas Youth Summit, where thousands gathered Friday night to kick off a conference of young Republicans in which Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist killed last week, was remembered by speakers. Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune

The event was another example of how Kirk’s death has invigorated a growing movement of young conservatives nationwide, and added fuel to efforts from Texas’ GOP leaders to turn the red state an even deeper shade of red.

State GOP leaders and lawmakers have pointed to that outburst of interest and solidarity as evidence of a Christian awakening among the state’s youth that they say will only grow stronger and usher in a new culture in America.

While the state’s leading young Republican organizations were once lukewarm on Trump, the voter bloc they represent proved crucial to Trump’s victory last year throughout the country.

The president has reportedly said that was thanks, in large part, to Kirk’s work.

Three featured TribFest speakers confirmed! You don’t want to miss Deb Haaland, former U.S. Secretary of the Interior and 2026 Democratic candidate for New Mexico governor; state Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston and 2026 Republican candidate for Texas Attorney General; and Jake Tapper, anchor of CNN’s “The Lead” and “State of the Union” at the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin. Get your tickets today!

TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.

[ad_2]

Source link

September 19, 2025
Texas A&M President Mark A. Welsh III to step down after a week of turmoil over viral classroom video

[ad_1]

Texas A&M University President Mark A. Welsh III will step down on Friday after more than a week of turmoil sparked by a viral video of a student confronting a professor over gender content in a children’s literature course, the Texas A&M University System announced Thursday.

The video, along with an audio recording of Welsh initially refusing to fire professor Melissa McCoul, first circulated online on Sept. 8 after state Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, shared it on the social media platform X.

Welsh fired McCoul a day later, but the move did not satisfy Harrison, or Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who did not think Welsh handled the situation properly.

“His ambivalence on the issue and his dismissal of the student’s concerns by immediately taking the side of the professor is unacceptable,” Patrick posted on X last week. “Most parents, students, and Aggie alumni expect Texas A&M to reflect the values of our state and our nation as well as A&M’s rich history. If President Welsh will not or cannot reflect those values, then change needs to happen.”

In a statement on Thursday, Chancellor Glenn Hegar praised Welsh but seemed to agree a change was needed.

“President Welsh is a man of honor who has led Texas A&M with selfless dedication. We are greatful for his service and contributions,”Hegar said. “At the same time, we agree that now is the right moment to make a change and to position Texas A&M for continued excellence in the years ahead.”

Welsh’s departure comes amid a broader campaign by Republican leaders to tighten control of curricula, hiring and speech at the state’s public universities.

In January, Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to fire Welsh after the university’s business school invited advanced PhD students and faculty to a conference designed to recruit Black, Hispanic and Indigenous graduate students. After the threat, Welsh said Texas A&M would pull out of the conference completely.

Abbott cannot fire university presidents, but he appoints the members of the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents, who do have that authority.

Harrison on Thursday took credit for Welsh’s departure. Board Chair Robert Albritton stressed to reporters that regents had not listened to outside political figures and media pressure.

On Wednesday, top faculty members and the university’s student government sent letters to Hegar and the board of regents supporting Welsh.

One letter was signed by Texas A&M’s Executive Committee of the University Distinguished Professors, which is composed of 12 distinguished professors, the highest achievement a faculty member can earn at the university.

“All members of this Committee write this letter collectively to strongly urge you to retain President Mark Welsh in the wake of recent events,” the letter reads.

The other letter, signed by dozens of current and former student leaders, said Welsh carries “a steadfast love and stewardship for our University, one that inspires our faith and confidence in his leadership.” The student leaders added that they “stand united in support of his leadership.”

Welsh, a retired four-star general, former chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force and the former dean of the Bush School of Government and Public Service, became president in 2023. Former President M. Katherine Banks had resigned following the botched hiring of journalism professor Kathleen McElroy, whose offer of employment was watered down after regents became concerned about her work on diversity, equity and inclusion.

Welsh initially stepped in as interim president while the university launched a national search for Banks’ replacement. Four months later, then Chancellor John Sharp recommended Welsh be named as permanent president, forgoing the national search.

“The Board is confident in General Welsh’s abilities to take Texas A&M to even greater heights,” Regent Bill Mahomes, who was then serving as board chair, said in a press release at the time. “Everything points to him being the perfect person for this pivotal moment in the history of our beloved flagship.”

Welsh was welcomed by many faculty and students, who said he provided a much-needed steady hand during times of uncertainty. They lauded him for seeking out their input, clearly explaining his decision-making and being transparent about university operations.

“General Welsh has almost uniform positive evaluations from those who know him, who worked with him, who agree with him, who disagree with him,” medical professor Mark Sicilio said at the time.

Board Chair Robert Albritton said regents will appoint an interim president and initiate a national search for a permanent president “in the coming days.”

We are “united in ensuring that this transition strengthens the university’s future and keeps Texas A&M true to its mission and values,” Albritton said in a statement.

Nicholas Gutteridge contributed to this story.

The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.

Disclosure: Texas A&M University and Texas A&M University System have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

Three featured TribFest speakers confirmed! You don’t want to miss Deb Haaland, former U.S. Secretary of the Interior and 2026 Democratic candidate for New Mexico governor; state Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston and 2026 Republican candidate for Texas Attorney General; and Jake Tapper, anchor of CNN’s “The Lead” and “State of the Union” at the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin. Get your tickets today!

TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.

[ad_2]

Source link

September 18, 2025
ACLU, other groups sue to block Texas’ DEI ban on K-12 public schools

[ad_1]

The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and a group of LGBTQ+ and student rights organizations are suing to block a new state law that would ban diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in K-12 public schools.

In a lawsuit filed last month in federal court, attorneys from the ACLU of Texas and Transgender Law Center argued that Senate Bill 12 violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments as well as the Equal Access Act. Gov. Greg Abbott signed the legislation last June, and it will go into effect Sept. 1 alongside an array of other transformative laws for public education in Texas.

“Senate Bill 12 is a blatant attempt to erase students’ identities and silence the stories that make Texas strong,” said Brian Klosterboer, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas. “Every student — no matter their race, gender, or background — deserves to feel seen, safe, and supported in school.”

[Texas’ DEI bans: What to know about the term and the debate]

Supporters of SB 12 say DEI programs use class time and public funds to promote political agendas, while opponents believe banning those initiatives will disproportionately harm marginalized students by removing spaces where they can find support.

Here’s what you need to know about the effort to block the law.

What the ban would do: Authored by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, SB 12 prohibits public school districts from considering race, ethnicity, gender identity or sexual orientation in hiring decisions. The ban also bars schools from offering DEI training and programs, such as policies designed to reduce discrimination based on race or gender identity, except for when required by federal law.

The law requires families to give written permission before their children can join any school club, and prohibits school groups created to support LGBTQIA+ students. Parents will be able to file complaints if they believe their schools are not complying with the DEI ban, and the law requires school districts to discipline employees who knowingly take part in DEI-related activities.

Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Allen, said SB 12 builds on a 2021 state law barring public schools from teaching critical race theory, an academic discipline that explores how race and racism have influenced the country’s legal and institutional systems. While critical race theory is not taught in Texas public schools, the term has become a shorthand used by conservatives who believe the way some schools teach children about race is politically biased.

DEI advocates say initiatives that promote diversity provide support for marginalized communities in workforce development and higher education, while critics say DEI practices give preference to people based on their race and ethnicity rather than on merit.

What the lawsuit says: Attorneys from the ACLU and the Transgender Law Center are suing Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath and three school districts on behalf of a teacher, a student and her parent. They’re also representing the Genders & Sexualities Alliance Network and Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, two organizations that say they would be harmed by the ban. The ACLU amended the complaint in September, adding as plaintiffs the Texas American Federation of Teachers, another student and his parent.

The suit calls SB 12 an “overzealous” attempt to ban DEI in public schools and argues that it censors constitutionally protected speech and restricts students’ freedom of association. It’s also vague and overly broad, the suit says.

“S.B. 12 seeks to erase students’ identities and make it impossible for teachers, parents, and volunteers to tell the truth about the history and diversity of our state,” said Cameron Samuels, executive director at Students Engaged in Advancing Texas. “The law also guts vital support systems for Black, Brown, Indigenous, Asian, and LGBTQIA+ students and educators.”

As part of the lawsuit, the Genders & Sexualities Alliance Network claims SB 12 singles out the organization by explicitly restricting student clubs based on “sexual orientation or gender identity,” language the group uses to describe the student organizations it sponsors at schools. That restriction harms the freedom of speech of the group and its members, the suit says. The Genders & Sexualities Alliance Network has chapters in Texas at more than a dozen school districts, according to the filing.

Lawsuits against similar laws have had mixed results in the past.

Because of SB 12’s ban on discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms, opponents have compared it to Florida’s “don’t say gay” law, which attracted widespread media attention in 2022 due to its far-reaching impacts in public schools. Civil rights lawyers sued to block it, saying the law violated free speech and the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause. But a federal judge dismissed the case and said the plaintiffs had no legal standing and had failed to prove harm from the law. The attorneys ultimately agreed to a settlement with Florida education officials that clarified the law to allow discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms only if it’s not part of instruction.

The Texas Education Agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The broader push against DEI: The DEI ban on K-12 schools comes two years after the Texas Legislature passed a similar ban for the state’s higher education institutions. Senate Bill 17 requires public universities to close their diversity offices, ban DEI training and restrict hiring departments from asking for diversity statements, or essays in which a job candidate expresses their commitment to promoting diversity in the workplace.

[Texas’ DEI debate centers on a disagreement about whether programs perpetuate or prevent discrimination]

Creighton, who also authored that bill, has warned higher education leaders that they could lose millions of dollars in state funding if they fail to comply with the law. Earlier this year, Abbott threatened Texas A&M University President Mark Welsh III’s job after claims spread online that Texas A&M was sending students and staffers to a conference that limited participation to people who are Black, Hispanic or Native American.

At the national level, President Donald Trump has ordered all federal agencies to end “equity-related” practices and asked contractors to certify they do not promote DEI efforts. Trump also told schools and universities they would lose federal money if they do not eliminate diversity practices.

Over the last five years, Texas and other Republican-led states have also taken other steps to abolish and ban DEI efforts in public education and the workforce. Similar to Trump, Abbott issued an executive order in January mandating that Texas agencies end all forms of DEI practices.

“We must always reject race-based favoritism or discrimination and allow people to advance based on talent and merit,” Abbott said.

Disclosure: ACLU Texas and Texas A&M University have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

More all-star speakers confirmed for The Texas Tribune Festival, Nov. 13–15! This year’s lineup just got even more exciting with the addition of State Rep. Caroline Fairly, R-Amarillo; former United States Attorney General Eric Holder; Abby Phillip, anchor of “CNN NewsNight”; Aaron Reitz, 2026 Republican candidate for Texas Attorney General; and State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin. Get your tickets today!

TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.

[ad_2]

Source link

September 18, 2025
State Board of Education OKs Texas-heavy social studies plan, setting stage for clash over history lessons

[ad_1]

The State Board of Education on Friday approved a social studies teaching plan that will dedicate more time across school grades to Texas and U.S. history while placing less attention on world history and cultures.

The Republican-dominated board voted 8-7 in favor of the proposal, which marks only one step in a longer effort by the group to revise Texas’ social studies standards and set new guidelines for what students should learn before they graduate. Republicans Evelyn Brooks and Pam Little joined Democrats in opposition to the plan.

The final tally was a reversal from a preliminary vote on Wednesday, when a board majority signaled support for a different teaching plan that included what educators considered a more inclusive approach.

Some members who voted Friday for the new plan, which was championed by conservative groups, did not participate in the preliminary vote on Wednesday. Will Hickman, a Houston Republican board member, voted with the majority Friday after having supported the former plan earlier in the week, telling his colleagues that he did not think there was “one right answer.”

The board will soon begin the endeavor of developing official standards for social studies, which will include outlining specifically what the group expects students to learn in each school grade. That politically-charged process will provide the board’s Republican majority an opportunity to more heavily influence what happens in the classroom, following legislative action in recent years to restrict how schools teach about topics like race, racism, gender and sex. The board undertook that process in 2022 but delayed it after pressure from Republican lawmakers, who complained that the plan at the time amounted to indoctrination.

The group is aiming to vote on the revised social studies standards by June 2026.

The framework approved on Friday would teach students in kindergarten through second grade about the key people, places and events throughout Texas and U.S. history. It would then weave together lessons on the development of Western civilization, the U.S. and Texas during grades 3-8, with a significantly heavier emphasis on Texas and the U.S. after fifth grade. The topics are in chronological order, meaning children would learn about ancient history in earlier grades and approach instruction about the modern era as they advance.

The teaching plan board members preliminarily approved Wednesday and later abandoned would have used kindergarten through second grade to teach children about local, state, U.S. and world history and geography. It would have then taught them Texas history in third grade; U.S. history in fourth grade; world history in fifth grade; world cultures in sixth grade; and U.S. and Texas history in seventh and eighth grade.

Conservative groups who spoke in favor of the newly approved framework said they favored its story-based, chronological approach, which they believe will help students better analyze historical patterns. Others argued that it would also place America in a global context and allow students to critically analyze the country’s strengths and weaknesses.

“Because students have this robust chronological and thematic instruction, they can then deeply explore the ideas that form the state in the Texas capstone,” said Matthew McCormick, a K-12 education policy analyst for the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

But social studies educators criticized the plan’s lack of attention to geography and world cultures. They dislike how the plan fragments instruction, as opposed to dedicating specific years to teaching children about Texas, U.S. or world history. They also worry the plan’s chronological approach would disrupt historical continuity and make it harder for kids to see cause-and-effect relationships.

“Relevance is what makes history memorable, and that comes alive from teaching it in context,” said Courtney Williamson, a parent of school-age children who taught eighth-grade social studies for 15 years and served as a social studies department head.

Williamson added that the teaching plan favored by educators provides students with knowledge “that they can connect and apply.”

Conversations among the board earlier in the week about the new teaching plan revealed some of the disagreements and tension to come when it begins revising Texas’ social studies standards.

“When do people that look like me, Tiffany, Evelyn, Gustavo, Marisa, LJ, get to learn about themselves before the fifth grade?” asked Houston board member Staci Childs, referring to the people of color on the panel. “Just curious, if we adopt this.”

Keven Ellis, a Lufkin Republican on the State Board of Education, expressed confusion about engaging in debates about the content of lessons so early in the process of revising Texas’ social studies standards.

“I think those important questions, those very important questions, are going to come shortly as we start writing the actual student expectations,” said Ellis, who voted in favor of the teaching plan approved on Friday. “It’s going to be our job … that we make sure everybody’s story is told, because I 100% believe in that too, because, I think, that’s when students learn, is when they can see themselves in the material they’re learning.”

Disclosure: Texas Public Policy Foundation has been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

Three featured TribFest speakers confirmed! You don’t want to miss Deb Haaland, former U.S. Secretary of the Interior and 2026 Democratic candidate for New Mexico governor; state Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston and 2026 Republican candidate for Texas Attorney General; and Jake Tapper, anchor of CNN’s “The Lead” and “State of the Union” at the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin. Get your tickets today!

TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.

[ad_2]

Source link

September 12, 2025
Running Out: Texas’ water crisis — and the path forward

[ad_1]

Get the data and visuals that accompany this story →

From the Rio Grande to Lake Travis, from the Ogallala Aquifer to the Red River, Texas’ water supply is under duress. The state’s rapidly expanding population, deteriorating infrastructure, and warming climate threaten its water supply — and by extension, its economy and way of life. The state’s regional diversity and patchwork of governments complicate matters further.

To understand the threat each region faces, Texas Tribune journalists traveled across the state and closely followed the legislative debate in Austin. This special report presents their ongoing work.

Texas voters will be asked this fall to approve a $10 billion package to protect the state’s water supply. The proposal — which was approved by lawmakers earlier this year — calls for 50% to be spent on improving the state’s water infrastructure. The other half will be spent on finding new water supply, like cleaning salty groundwater. Voters previously approved a similar, but much smaller package, in 2023. While it might sound like a lot of money — and it is — the $10 billion is just a fraction of what some experts believe the state needs to invest going forward.

Below, you’ll find guides explaining the problem and possible solutions, an AI-powered chatbot answering questions about the state’s water supply and a tool for local water supply data, and our best reporting from across the state. The Tribune will have full coverage of the election this fall.

Join us Oct. 8 in Longview or online to discuss the state’s water crisis and the November election.

Register for the free event here.

Texas’ water crisis explained

Water gushes from Rick Bradbury’s truck to Shannon Montague’s reservoir as the Bradbury’s make a delivery Saturday, March 16, 2024 in Terlingua.

The state’s water supply faces numerous threats. And by one estimate, the state’s municipal supply will not meet demand by 2030 if there’s a severe drought and no water solutions are implemented Read more

Understanding water lingo

The secondary clarifier at the Bustamante Waste Water Treatment Plant expansion in El Paso on March 5, 2025.

Water is complex. So are the terms used to describe it. Get to know the language as Texas debates how to save its water supply. Read more

How the state is trying to save its water supply

Treated water at the Walnut Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant on Tuesday, March 25, 2025 in Austin, TX. The treatment plant will undergo a billion dollar expansion starting this summer to meet the increasing demand due to the growth the city has faced. Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune

State lawmakers are poised to devote billions to save the state’s water supply. These are some of the ways the state could spend the money. Read more

Get the data and visuals that accompany this story →

Get the data and visuals that accompany this story →

[The one thing Texas won’t do to save its water supply]

[Toilet to tap: El Paso is about to embark on a whole new way to save its limited water supply]

[East Texans united to stop a water sale to Dallas suburbs — for now]

[As the Rio Grande runs dry, South Texas leaders look to new water supplies to sustain growth]

[Can Texas clean up fracking water enough to use for farming? One company thinks so.]

Shape the future of Texas at the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, happening Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin! We bring together Texas’ most inspiring thinkers, leaders and innovators to discuss the issues that matter to you. Get tickets now and join us this November.

TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.

[ad_2]

Source link

September 11, 2025
Texas voters have mixed views on redistricting and Trump’s megabill, poll finds

[ad_1]

Only one-third of Texas voters approve of the GOP-led effort to redraw the state’s congressional map, according to a recent statewide poll, which found that independent and Democratic voters overwhelmingly opposed the mid-decade redistricting and would rather give control of Texas’ political maps to an appointed commission.

Just 13% of independent voters approve of state lawmakers redrawing the congressional map, while 41% are against it, according to the survey released Tuesday by the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin. Overall, 34% of voters said they approved and 41% said they disapproved of the effort, with nearly two-thirds of Republicans voicing support.

The new map, signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott on Aug. 29, aims to net five GOP seats in the 2026 midterms. The poll surveyed 1,200 voters across Texas between Aug. 22 and Sept. 1, going into the field just before lawmakers sent the map to Abbott’s desk.

Attitudes on Trump’s megabill

The Texas Politics Project poll also measured where Texas voters stand on a range of other issues, including the GOP’s tax and spending megabill approved earlier this summer. The majority of Democrats and independents have decidedly negative opinions about the legislation, fueling its underwater rating — 32% approval vs. 45% disapproval — among statewide voters.

Republicans polled had more favorable views. Sixty-five percent of GOP voters approve of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, with 28% expressing strong approval.

Few voters expect the megabill to actually lower their taxes and health care costs. Democrats and independents think the bill will increase how much they pay, according to the poll. Almost half of Republicans expect the bill to lower taxes, but just 21% said they anticipated lower health care costs.

Texans are also concerned about the rising prices of food and consumer goods, especially as the impacts of Trump’s tariffs loom, the poll found. Only about a quarter of voters said their economic circumstances are better off now than they were a year ago.

Attitudes on THC and state marijuana laws

Voters said regulating THC products was the least important of the nine policy areas considered by the Texas Legislature this summer that were surveyed in the poll. More than 30% of voters said “comprehensively regulating hemp-derived products without banning them” is not important or not very important. Lawmakers gaveled out last week without banning or regulating most THC products.

Almost half of voters want the state’s current marijuana laws to be made less strict and another 16% of voters want the laws to be left alone. The majority of Republicans also want current laws left alone or made less strict, according to the poll, finding that most GOP voters remain at odds with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s push to outlaw products containing any amounts of the psychoactive compound in marijuana known as tetrahydrocannabinol.

Favorability and approval of Senate candidates

The poll also assessed the favorability of candidates in next year’s high-profile U.S. Senate race, which has attracted nationwide attention over Attorney General Ken Paxton’s primary challenge against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn.

Paxton won the highest marks among Republican voters, with 55% saying they held a favorable view of the three-term attorney general, while 42% think favorably of Cornyn. Multiple polls last month showed Paxton and Cornyn in a close race, with Cornyn narrowing Paxton’s early lead.

Half of Republicans said they did not know enough to form an opinion of Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Houston, who has been testing the waters of a Senate bid this summer. The National Republican Senate Committee — a powerful GOP fundraising group — urged Hunt last week to stop teasing a primary run.

On the Democratic side, former Dallas congressman and NFL linebacker Colin Allred heads into his second straight Senate bid with 63% of his party’s voters viewing him favorably, compared to 12% who held the opposite view. Thirty-one percent of Democratic voters said they have a favorable view of state Rep. James Talarico, who launched his Senate bid Tuesday, but more than 60% of polled Democrats did not know enough to have an opinion.

Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

Shape the future of Texas at the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, happening Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin! We bring together Texas’ most inspiring thinkers, leaders and innovators to discuss the issues that matter to you. Get tickets now and join us this November.

TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.

[ad_2]

Source link

September 9, 2025
Texas Legislature approves stiff penalties, fundraising limits for lawmakers who leave state to block bills

[ad_1]

Texas Republican lawmakers on Wednesday evening adopted a package of sharper penalties and new fundraising restrictions for members who leave the state to freeze legislative action, in a bid to deter future standoffs like what ensued when House Democrats absconded last month to delay passage of a new congressional map.

The array of new punishments includes a proposal to severely curtail how much lawmakers can fundraise should they leave Texas to deny their chamber the headcount required to conduct business. Under House Bill 18, absent members and their legislative caucuses will be prohibited from accepting daily political contributions beyond their per diem allocation — currently $221 a day, as set by the Texas Ethics Commission — and barred from spending any campaign cash on travel, food or lodging related to their out-of-state trip.

The measure passed the lower chamber Tuesday and was whisked through the Senate and on to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk late just after midnight Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Texas House also adopted new rules Wednesday that impose a handful of harsher punishments for lawmakers who break quorum, including erasing two years of legislative seniority for each day lawmakers are absent, starting after they miss three consecutive days of legislative business. The changes also include higher daily fines for lawmakers who flee the state and a new provision stripping them of committee leadership appointments.

The new rules are largely symbolic and aimed squarely at future quorum breaks, as Democrats have returned from their August protest against congressional redistricting. And the Legislature already passed the reconfigured map — ordered by President Donald Trump to secure the GOP more seats in the U.S. House — which was recently signed into law by Abbott and now faces legal challenges.

House members adopt rules anew at the beginning of each regular session on odd-numbered years. After Democrats left the state to delay a package of GOP voting restrictions in 2021, the House held off on updating the rules until 2023, by which time tensions had mellowed out.

House GOP hardliners for weeks urged state leaders to castigate Democrats for what they characterize as an abandonment of their duties, though the state Constitution permits quorum breaks.

“I think these penalties are reasonable,” Rep. Cody Vasut of Angleton, the rules package author, said Wednesday night. “I think they are strong to help deter a future quorum break.”

The calls for retribution were answered in short order. After Democrats returned and the House approved the new district lines, Abbott — who decides which topics can be considered during special sessions — expanded his agenda, giving lawmakers permission to enact the stiffer penalties.

Such legislation was needed, Abbott said at the time, “to ensure that rogue lawmakers cannot hijack the important business of Texans.”

On the House floor this week, Republican Rep. Matt Shaheen of Plano, the author of the fundraising restriction bill, argued that current law creates a financial incentive for members to protest with their absence, pointing to fundraising efforts touting the Democrats’ departure.

Democrats cast the penalties — particularly the new House rules — as vindictive and unnecessarily punitive.

In opposition speeches, they noted the “outside influences” — nodding to Vasut’s wording — that nudged the GOP into mid-decade redistricting. Some struck a defiant tone, arguing that voters could kick them out of office at the polls if they disapproved of their quorum breaking.

“When politicians change the rules of the game, it’s because they know they’re losing,” Houston Rep. Gene Wu, the House Democratic Caucus leader, said in a statement. “By breaking quorum, we exposed the corrupt deal between Trump and Abbott to rig Texas’ congressional maps, and turned it into a national movement.”

The fundraising clampdown sailed through the GOP-dominated Senate, though some Republicans who supported the measure said it would not solve the issue at hand, bemoaning that it stopped short of the upper chamber’s more aggressive approach of barring lawmakers from fundraising altogether during special sessions. That moratorium is already in place for the Legislature’s 140-day regular sessions that take place every other year.

During a Senate committee hearing Wednesday, Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, noted that quorum breaks generally do not happen on the spur of the moment and instead are preceded by weeks of chatter and planning, during which it will still be legal for lawmakers to raise money. Hall ultimately voted to advance the measure as part of a 9-1 committee vote.

More all-star speakers confirmed for The Texas Tribune Festival, Nov. 13–15! This year’s lineup just got even more exciting with the addition of State Rep. Caroline Fairly, R-Amarillo; former United States Attorney General Eric Holder; Abby Phillip, anchor of “CNN NewsNight”; Aaron Reitz, 2026 Republican candidate for Texas Attorney General; and State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin. Get your tickets today!

TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.

[ad_2]

Source link

September 3, 2025