Texas Politics & News
The Daily Signal highlights Texas as a leader in conservative policy and governance, covering Lone Star State legislation, elections, border enforcement, and energy dominance.
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opinion
This Altercation in Texas Exposes the Heart of Fake News
“Fake news” has become a widespread accusation, but what does it actually mean? Is it something that’s been invented out of whole cloth, like H.G. Wells’ planetary invaders? Different definitions abound, but I submit that fake news, at its core, is reporting in which the journalist selectively chooses and ignores facts, and interprets or paraphrases… -
news
Bill Protecting Faith-Based Adoption Agencies in Texas on Way to Governor’s Desk
The Texas Senate early Monday passed a bill to allow faith-based adoption and foster care providers to operate based on their religious beliefs. By a final vote of 21-10, state senators agreed with their counterparts in the Texas House of Representatives that society should continue to make room for adoption and foster care services associated… -
news
Texas Takes Steps to Protect Religious Convictions of Adoption, Foster Care Providers
Texas lawmakers are debating a bill that shows how states can protect faith-based adoption and foster care providers from religious discrimination, proponents of the legislation say. The Texas House of Representatives voted 93-49 Wednesday to pass a bill that would make room in a changing society for adoption and foster care providers associated with a… -
news
Texas Files Lawsuit Against Potential Opponents of New Anti-Sanctuary Law
Texas lodged a preemptive lawsuit Monday against local officials considered hostile to the state’s new anti-sanctuary cities law, the first salvo in an expected legal fight over the controversial measure. State Attorney General Ken Paxton said the federal lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, is necessary to protect… -
opinion
Texas Takes Strong and Needed Action on Sanctuary Cities
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott acted to protect the citizens of Texas on Sunday when he signed into law SB 4, a bill to punish (and deter) local cities and counties like Austin from implementing sanctuary policies. Abbott and the legislators who sponsored this bill are trying to stop the Lone Star State from being a… -
news
Texas Concealed Carry Holder Thwarts Potential Mass Shooting
Police in Texas say a concealed carry holder is a hero for shooting a crazed attacker Wednesday and preventing what could have been a slaughter inside a crowded sports bar. The man, who was dining with his wife at Zona Caliente in Arlington, Texas, sprang into action when he saw a gunman shoot and kill the bar… -
news
Texas House Passes Sanctuary City Ban With Stiff Penalty for Public Officials
The Texas House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that places a statewide ban on sanctuary cities and allows state officials to jail police chiefs and sheriffs who refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. The measure also lets police officers inquire about the immigration status of anyone they detain or arrest, including the subjects… -
news
Texas State Coalition Sends Letter to Trump Voicing Support for the Freedom Caucus
“For seven long years, we have been suffering from the rising costs of Obamacare.” That’s the opening sentence of the letter a Texas grassroots coalition has sent to President Donald Trump this week, in the wake of the House health care bill’s failure to pass and Trump’s criticisms of the House Freedom Caucus, which was… -
news
Texas Bathroom Bill Intended to Be ‘Model for Other States’
The Texas Legislature will be voting next week on a bill that will prevent men from entering women’s restrooms and the lieutenant governor of Texas says his state’s legislation is a model for the nation. “I think that our legislation can be a model for other states to follow and end this discussion once and… -
news
Texas Legislature to Consider Bill to Ensure ‘Public Safety’ in Bathrooms
Texas is taking measures to protect its citizens from laws that hinder “common sense and public safety” when it comes to transgender persons being allowed to use both men’s and women’s restrooms. “This is a public safety issue,” Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican, said during a conference call with reporters Friday. Legislation filed… -
news
Texas Governor Deprives Sanctuary County of $1.5 Million Grant
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott cut off state funds to a county that provides sanctuary to illegal immigrants Wednesday, following through on an earlier pledge to punish such sanctuary cities and localities. Travis County will no longer have access to $1.8 million in state criminal justice grants, Abbott announced in a letter to county officials, because of… -
news
Texas Governor Pledges to Sign Anti-Sanctuary City Bill
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says he expects the Legislature to pass an anti-sanctuary city bill this year, opening a new front in the battle over “local control.” Weighing in on the intensifying national immigration debate, the Republican governor pledged to sign S.B. 4, which would require municipalities to enforce migrant detainers at local jails and withhold state… -
news
Texas Looks to Bury Aborted Babies Despite Legal Objections From Abortion Groups
A new set of rules in Texas requiring aborted babies to be cremated or buried has prompted a legal battle in the Lone Star State. Pro-abortion groups are attempting to halt the law with a lawsuit, and its implementation has now been delayed by a court order. The abortion burial measure, which would also apply… -
opinion
How Texas Can Lead the Charge on Education Choice
The debate around school choice has shifted from whether states should enact education choice to how best to accomplish that goal. In a special report released on Monday—co-published by The Heritage Foundation and the Texas Public Policy Foundation—we discuss how this question will be especially important in Texas, which is considering adopting education savings accounts,… -
news
In Texas, Republicans Fight New Sanctuary Cities in Wake of Trump Victory
In the border state of Texas, the Republican governor and state Legislature are promising to combat a new trend since the election of Donald Trump, in which cities and localities vow to limit how much they assist federal authorities with removing immigrants living illegally in their communities. Sally Hernandez, the Democratic sheriff-elect in Travis County,… -
news
Texas Judge’s Ruling Undermines Obama Administration’s Transgender Bathroom Policy
Restrooms, locker rooms, and showers in public schools nationwide are allowed to remain separated by biological sex for the foreseeable future, a federal judge in Texas has ruled. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor blocked President Barack Obama’s administration’s bathroom mandate on Sunday evening, hours before students in the state woke up for their first day… -
news
Texas Judge Victorious Over Atheist Group in Prayer Dispute
Judge Wayne Mack, a justice of the peace in Montgomery County, Texas, recalls several people telling him they were initially worried about coming before his court, but after the chaplain’s prayer opened the proceedings, they felt better. “It was clear it would be a solemn event and they knew I would be fair,” Mack told… -
news
University of Texas Professors Sue Over Concealed Guns Allowed in Their Classrooms
Three professors are fighting a Texas law that allows students to carry concealed handguns in their college classrooms. Senate Bill 11, allowing concealed handgun license holders 21 and older (or 18 if active military) to carry in campus buildings, was signed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, in June 2015. The law went into… -
opinion
Texas Gets the Best Deal It Could With DOJ on Voter ID for the Election
It looks as if Texas, the Justice Department, and all of the other parties, including the NAACP, involved in the challenge to the state’s voter ID law have worked out an interim settlement—and the district court judge approved the deal today after a telephonic hearing Wednesday morning. That deal is probably about the best deal… -
news
Parents Beat Back Obama’s Transgender Bathroom Mandate in Texas Schools
Administrators of a Texas school district changed guidelines for transgender students to involve parents and work with families on a case-by-case basis, after an uproar among parents. The Fort Worth Independent School District announced the two new pages of guidelines dated July 19 after parents and others had a chance to speak at school board…