Texas House lawmakers on Tuesday voted in favor of a bill that would only allow pet stores to obtain cats and dogs from animal shelters, animal rescue organizations, or animal control agencies. The bill aims to crack down on puppy mills and prevent widespread...
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Bill criminalizing homelessness gets sent back to committee
On Monday, a Texas House bill that would have prohibited camping in public places — effectively criminalizing homelessness — was knocked back down to committee. HB 1925 was bumped back to the House State Affairs Committee shortly after Rep. Joe Deshotel...
Texas House passes preliminary $246.8 billion state budget
After 175 amendments and more than 10 hours of debate on Thursday, Texas House lawmakers unanimously passed a preliminary $246.8 billion state budget for the next biennium. The approved budget bill will now return to the Senate, and then to a conference committee...
Workers continue to battle University of Houston over wage theft claims
Construction workers Omar Zuniga and Bolivar Pineda Ortiz (right) protest wage theft at the University of Houston, Tuesday, April 20, 2021. Workers Defense Project. A year after more than a dozen construction workers accused a contractor employed by the University of...
Texas businesses denounce anti-LGBTQ bills in Texas Legislature
A coalition of Texas companies is calling on the GOP-led Texas Legislature to scrap its anti-LGBTQ legislation. During a Monday morning press conference convened by Texas Competes, an LGBTQ advocacy group for the Texas business community that includes backers like...
How Texas taxes sustain inequality
On Thursday, policy experts with the left-leaning think tank Every Texan (formerly the Center for Public Policy Priorities) held a panel discussion over Texas, taxes, and social justice. The discussion was moderated by the Signal’s very own David Lee and joined by...
Castro, Warren urge Biden to include immigration legislation in infrastructure plan
Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) are among 22 members of Congress urging Biden to include a pathway to citizenship in his major infrastructure plan and legislative package, the American Families Plan. The lawmakers penned a letter...
Asian American Pacific Islander Victory Fund announces new think tank
Asian American Pacific Islander Victory Fund, a PAC dedicated to electing Asian Americans around the U.S., announced this week it would be launching AAPI Victory Alliance, an organization dedicated to empowering the AAPI electorate and fighting for progressive issues....
Texas Senate committee considers bill to criminalize transgender child care
On Monday, the Republican-led Texas Senate State Affairs Committee began considering a bill that would make it illegal for parents and doctors to consent or administer transition-related care to children. If signed into law, SB 1646 would criminalize transition...
Activists push for bill offering direct payments to Texans hurt by freeze
Advocacy groups including Workers Defense Action Fund, the ACLU of Texas, and MOVE Texas gathered in a virtual town hall Thursday to make noise for the POWER Act, a bill that would provide between $1,000 to $2,500 to Texans affected by the February snowstorm. ...