On January 10, 1901, a well in Spindletop struck oil. A lot of oil. The black liquid spewed out at a rate of 100,000 barrels a day for nine days straight, the largest such gusher the world had ever seen up to that point. This marked the beginning of Texas’ days as an...
In a 3-2 vote, Harris County Commissioner’s Court voted to adopt the Fair Chance Policy, also known as “ban the box” for Harris County government job applications. This policy specifically removes the question of criminal history in the initial hiring process so...
Like many Texans, I’ve spent the past few days kicking around resolutions for 2022. Reading more, cursing less, eating better, limiting the anger-inducing midnight scrolls through Twitter — the list of things I’d like to improve on is long, sprawling, and,...
Ken Paxton, who is still under indictment for felony securities fraud and is under investigation by the FBI for a separate incident, ringed in the New Year the only way he knows how: by cheering on the spread of COVID-19. Specifically, the attorney general celebrated...
Voting rights experts at the nonprofit The Brennan Center for Justice recently released their roundup of restrictive voting laws passed in 2021. At least 19 states passed 34 bills into law restricting voting access, including Texas’ Senate Bill 1, which banned...
Gov. Greg Abbott changed everything when he signed Texas’ Senate Bill 8 into law in May. He knew that ratifying the nation’s most restrictive abortion ban wasn’t just a publicity stunt — not with a 6-3 supermajority for conservatives the Supreme Court. It was a...
House Democrats recently passed President Biden’s $1.75 trillion infrastructure plan, a step in the right direction as millions of Americans continue to grapple with the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. As Congress returns to work this week, Democrats have...
On Wednesday, federal judge Robert Pitman blocked House Bill 20, a bill signed into law in September, that prohibits large social media platforms from censoring a user based on their viewpoints. Republican officials like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney...
After six years on the job, Gov. Greg Abbott has little to show for when it comes to marijuana policy. Unsurprisingly, the incumbent governor is oceans apart on the issue compared to his Democratic opponent Beto O’Rourke, who authored a book about legalizing weed back...