Jul 10, 2017 | breaking-news, Legislation
Gov. Greg Abbott issued a proclamation calling a special session of the Legislature to convene at 10 a.m. on July 18 to extend the expiration dates of several healthcare occupational licensing agencies. He also published “an unsigned working draft” of a “supplemental...
Jun 17, 2017 | Legislation
Three election-related bills were among 50 vetoes issued by Gov. Greg Abbott. House Bill 2410 by Rep. Celia Israel (D-Austin) would have permitted a primary runoff to be conducted by mail if fewer than 100 votes were cast in the county’s primary election and no...
Jun 1, 2017 | Legislation
Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law bills that conform the state’s Voter ID law to recent judicial rulings and end the option to cast a single-punch, straight-party ballot after the 2018 general election. Senate Bill 5 by Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston) codifies a process...
May 29, 2017 | Legislation
This post had been updated to reflect Gov. Abbott’s subsequent actions on these bills. The 85th Legislature, Regular Session has adjourned sine die. While there are rumors of a special session in the air, one is not likely to include election-related issues....
May 27, 2017 | breaking-news, Legislation
Updated. The conference committee on Senate Bill 5, the Voter ID fix, largely kept to the Senate’s version and rejected House language calling for a voter turnout strategic plan and a report on voter education expenditures. The conference committee report (pdf) was...
May 23, 2017 | Legislation
The House gave preliminary approval to a bill that largely conforms the state’s Voter ID law to a court decision requiring a process for people to vote who lack an acceptable form of identification. The 95-54, almost party-line vote capped a lengthy debate over the...
May 20, 2017 | Legislation, Straight-ticket Voting
The House concurred in the Senate’s amendment to House Bill 25 by Rep. Ron Simmons (R-Carrollton), sending the measure to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk. The bill would end the practice of voting for all of a party’s candidates using a single punch, mark or other action....
May 14, 2017 | Legislation
The 85th Texas Legislature, Regular Session is down to its final two weeks. We have already passed two of the session’s most significant end-of-session deadlines: the last day a House committee may report a House bill (May 8) and the last day the House may consider a...
May 11, 2017 | Legislation
The Senate Business & Commerce Committee heard testimony on, and ultimately approved, a bill that would end single-punch, straight-ticket voting in Texas: House Bill 25 by Rep. Ron Simmons (R-Carrollton). It passed the House last week on a near party-line vote....
May 5, 2017 | Legislation
The House gave tentative approval to a bill that would eliminate the single-punch option to vote a straight ticket. House Bill 25 by Rep. Ron Simmons (R-Carrollton) was passed to engrossment (third reading) by and following a series of largely party-line votes. The...
Mar 13, 2017 | Legislation, Straight-ticket Voting
The House Elections Committee approved a bill to end the “single-punch” option for straight-party voting by a 5-2 party line vote following more than an hour of public testimony. Rep. RonSimmons Rep. Ron Simmons (R-Carrollton) explained that House Bill 25 was about...
Feb 21, 2017 | Legislation
Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston), chair of the Senate State Affairs Committee, filed Senate Bill 5 to update the state’s Voter ID law. The chamber’s other 19 Republican are listed as co-authors. The bill would largely codify the “reasonable impediment” declaration that...
