Tag Archives: The Lege

Three ridiculous voting and election stories

Posted on October 11, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

“Silly season” doesn’t begin to cover this stuff. Item 1: Paxton sides with Texas GOP, against secretary of state in lawsuit seeking to close primaries Last month, the Republican Party of Texas sued over a state law that allows anyone … Continue reading →

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Another Kerrville flooding lawsuit filed

Posted on October 11, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I wish them luck. The family of a man killed in the July 4 floods in Central Texas has sued the RV park where he and his wife were staying, alleging the campground’s owners knowingly placed its guests in an … Continue reading →

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The 2025 constitutional amendments

Posted on October 8, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

There’s a bunch of them, but not many I’d recommend. On Nov. 4, Texas voters will get the final say on 17 constitutional amendments — usually listed as statewide propositions at the top of the ballot — including billions of … Continue reading →

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Who asked for this task force?

Posted on October 6, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Other than Greg Abbott, anyway. State and Harris County law enforcement will join forces on a task force aimed at cracking down on repeat violent offenders, whom police leaders say are fueling much of the region’s crime problem, Gov. Greg … Continue reading →

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A brief news roundup from the current redistricting trial

Posted on October 5, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

What the label says, three news stories I could find that had coverage of the redistricting trial. From the Trib. When Texas first proposed redrawing its congressional map earlier this summer, critics decried it as a political power-grab to appease … Continue reading →

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Paxton says he’s gonna enforce that Ten Commandment law so hard, you guys

Posted on October 5, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. Attorney General Ken Paxton promised to “vigorously enforce” the state’s Ten Commandments display law in a legal advisory sent to Texas public school districts, his office announced Wednesday. Paxton said his office … Continue reading →

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Rep. Gina Hinojosa said to be running for Governor

Posted on October 1, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

All righty. Texas state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, an Austin Democrat, has told at least two donors that she’s running for governor next year, Axios has learned. Why it matters: A Hinojosa win in the Democratic nomination would set up a battle … Continue reading →

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Redistricting trial 2.0 begins

Posted on September 30, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

And they’re off. This week, a trio of federal judges will consider whether Texas can use its new congressional map in the 2026 election, marking the first legal test for the districts produced by a summer of intense partisan clashing. … Continue reading →

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Rep. Rosenthal to run for RRC

Posted on September 30, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

A bit of a surprise, at least to me. State Rep. Jon Rosenthal, D-Houston, announced Monday that he is running for a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission — the powerful agency that regulates the state’s oil and gas industry … Continue reading →

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State files its response to the redistricting lawsuit

Posted on September 27, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

They’re playing the oldies, not the new tune that the Trump Justice Department tried to woo them with. Texas officials acknowledged in a new court filing that the Justice Department’s rationale this summer for pushing them to redraw the state’s … Continue reading →

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The THC age limit is in effect

Posted on September 26, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Time to show your ID, I guess. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission on Tuesday approved an emergency rule to ban liquor license holders from selling THC products to anyone under the age of 21, the agency’s first step toward fulfilling … Continue reading →

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Third lawsuit filed against Ten Commandments law

Posted on September 23, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This one is a followup to the first one. Texas’ Ten Commandments law is facing another legal battle after a coalition of 15 families filed a lawsuit against their school districts to block the mandate to display the religious text … Continue reading →

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The revenue cap squeeze on first responders

Posted on September 22, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Great story, and an even better illustration of a couple of points I’ve been making for quite some time. Just weeks after flash flooding killed more than 100 people in Kerr County, many of the first responders who served on … Continue reading →

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How the hemp industry wooed Greg Abbott

Posted on September 21, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Some interesting stuff here, and a reminder that some things are eternal. Colton Luther, a 29-year-old from Houston who hosts the cannabis podcast “Puff and Prosper,” isn’t your typical Austin lobbyist. But in July, Luther sat across from Gov. Greg … Continue reading →

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Home Depot is watching you

Posted on September 21, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Beware the surveillance cameras. Hundreds of AI-powered automated license plate reading cameras paid for by Lowe’s and Home Depot and stationed in the hardware stores’ parking lots are being fed into a massive surveillance system that law enforcement can access, … Continue reading →

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The Trib profiles Talarico

Posted on September 20, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Good stuff. About 20 minutes into his appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Texas Rep. James Talarico started making his case that the Bible sanctions abortion. In the Book of Luke, the Austin Democrat noted, Mary has a vision from God … Continue reading →

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Still more on Elon’s flood tunnels

Posted on September 19, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I once again call your attention to an episode of CityCast Houston, in which host Raheel Ramzanali chats with the host of the CityCast Las Vegas podcast about the experience they’ve had with Elon Musk and the Boring Company and … Continue reading →

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The sports gambling loophole

Posted on September 18, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. With football season ramping up, various social media sites have seen a swarm of new advertisements urging users to download various apps that would allow them to win big on the outcomes of upcoming sporting events. Some ads make … Continue reading →

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Powered by People gets another win in court

Posted on September 17, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This is all still temporary and preliminary, but it’s also still good. Every time it looks like Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is getting the best of Beto O’Rourke in court, the former El Paso congressman pulls off another victory. … Continue reading →

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More on Elon’s flood tunnels

Posted on September 16, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Insecure man makes defensive response to fair questions about his wild idea. Film at 11. Billionaire Elon Musk is taking issue with a recent investigation by the Houston Chronicle and The Texas Newsroom that raised questions about a flood tunnel … Continue reading →

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Some reactions to the THC executive order

Posted on September 14, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron is not impressed. By issuing an executive order banning THC products for minors, Gov. Greg Abbott ensured nobody would be fully satisfied. When crafting legislation, that’s often a good thing. Compromise, by definition, means both sides don’t get everything they … Continue reading →

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A brief note about a poll

Posted on September 13, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This poll. 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 … Continue reading →

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Paxton drops one gender affirming care lawsuit

Posted on September 13, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Good, and bad at the same time. One of the nation’s first doctors accused of illegally providing care to transgender youth under GOP-led bans was found to have not violated the law, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office says, nearly a year … Continue reading →

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THC vape pens are now illegal

Posted on September 13, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

For those who need to know. Vapes containing THC and other hemp-derived cannabinoids like Delta-8 [are now] illegal to sell in Texas […] under a law passed earlier this year. Senate Bill 2024, while narrower than efforts to outlaw all … Continue reading →

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Abbott bans THC for those under 21

Posted on September 11, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Why didn’t we just do this first? THC products will remain largely legal in Texas, but will be banned for minors and current regulations further enforced under a new executive order by Gov. Greg Abbott. Abbott on Wednesday directed the … Continue reading →

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The Summer Willis Act

Posted on September 11, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Too much of what we got from the Legislature this year was garbage. Wingnut Republican priorities are the only things that really matter to them, and we got a lot of it. But some decent things made it through, and … Continue reading →

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The latest abortion news

Posted on September 7, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll start here. The Texas Senate passed new bounty hunter-style abortion legislation Wednesday night to quash mailed abortion pills, targeting a method that has slipped through the cracks of abortion bans and contributed to the slight rise in the total number of … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed against anti-student protest bill

Posted on September 6, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

This is the time in the calendar when bills from the last legislative session that are now in effect get sued for various reasons. This one is particularly head-scratching. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression sued the University of … Continue reading →

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Lege fails to pass disaster emergency response bill

Posted on September 5, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

What a bunch of jokers. Efforts to overhaul local emergency response to disasters failed after the Texas Senate concluded its business early Thursday without taking up the House’s version of a bill that would have mandated new training and licensing … Continue reading →

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More on the lawsuit over the latest DEI ban

Posted on September 3, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I mentioned this in passing last week but wanted to give it its own post. 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 … Continue reading →

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Nobody knows what to do about the dumb Ten Commandments law

Posted on September 2, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a mess. Texas school districts must decide whether to display Ten Commandments posters in every classroom before a new law requiring them to goes into effect Monday, even as its fate remains tied up in court. A federal judge enjoined 11 school districts from displaying … Continue reading →

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Ivermectin for everyone!

Posted on September 1, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

Sure, why not? The Texas House on Wednesday passed a bill that would make ivermectin — a drug used mostly in this country to treat livestock for parasites — available to Texans without a prescription. The latest legislative action moves … Continue reading →

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Camps oppose floodplain restriction

Posted on August 31, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

I gotta say, I’m not sure who they think will be sympathetic to this. Leaders of three Kerr County youth camps wrote to Texas House lawmakers Friday opposing legislation that would prohibit the state from licensing camps with cabins in … Continue reading →

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Paxton throws a fit over being slowed down by Republican judges

Posted on August 31, 2025 by Charles Kuffner

There sadly isn’t a good straight news (non-paywalled) story about this, but Raw Story has a decent summary. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton took to X on Wednesday to rage against state appeals court judges after they paused discovery in … Continue reading →

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