NEW: Two more Texas House Democrats in D.C. have tested positive for the coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases among the nearly 60 members here up to five. All of the lawmakers here are vaccinated. @statesman w @nicolecobler #txlege https://t.co/3rnGJwDTOn
— Madlin Mekelburg (@madlinbmek) July 19, 2021
Re: Covid and the absent Texas Dems -
— Dan Isett (@DanIsett) July 19, 2021
They've been vaccinated and are asymptomatic or nearly so - so why are they getting Covid tests?#txlege
Guess they shouldn’t return to #txlege special session, huh? Sure would hate for Dan Patrick to be positive … about anything. https://t.co/xsvViapss5
— John Bridges (@JohnBridges) July 19, 2021
“Forget the filibuster,” Manchin told reporters after the meeting with @TexasHDC. https://t.co/ebWhh3uhLg #TXLege
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) July 16, 2021
.@JoeManchinWV is slated to head to Texas today.
— Rebekah Allen (@rebekahallen) July 16, 2021
Wealthy GOP oil donors are throwing him a fundraiser in Houston, a day after TX Dems met with him urging him to allow his party to press forward on fed voting rights bills.
scoop via @TexasTribAbby https://t.co/vo0DsoBlLc
Around 6,000 years ago, North Africa was covered in huge lakes that were home to microscopic creatures. The Saharan dust that visits us in Texas every summer is made up of the remains of those ancient lake-dwellers.
— KUT Austin (@KUT) July 18, 2021
It’s mind-boggling. https://t.co/mCIHS4w5Bg
Here’s what is planned for the 4-day ‘Trae Day’ celebration in Houston > #hounews https://t.co/okb6cXf8qW
— KPRC 2 Houston (@KPRC2) July 19, 2021
Out of options in Austin, House Democrats fly to Washington, D.C., where they plan to press Congress to pass federal legislation protecting ballot access. The behind-the-scenes story:https://t.co/cWMCkad8UI
— Texas Monthly (@TexasMonthly) July 12, 2021
POLL: Do you approve of Texas Democrats leaving the state to stall the special session?https://t.co/0JkIEtQF2I pic.twitter.com/BKUhG5uwfI
— CBS Austin (@cbsaustin) July 12, 2021
...state Rep. Dustin Burrows, a Lubbock Republican who chairs the powerful House Calendars Committee ... said in a statement to The Texas Tribune that “unfortunately, the siren call of social media fame and fundraising” had lured Democrats to D.C.
A Texas Senator who wants to be Mayor of Houston would probably break quorum, you'd think #txlege
— Scott Braddock (@scottbraddock) July 13, 2021
Meanwhile, the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services continues to hear from the public on #SB2, which would bar transgender public school/higher ed students from competing on teams that match the gender identity. #txlege https://t.co/vk9F3tPaU3 pic.twitter.com/Zvko2zCFeJ
— Taylor Goldenstein (@taygoldenstein) July 12, 2021
Sen. Perry just testified that intersex people have “two full sets of genetalia that they can choose from”…. Someone get this man a science book. #txlege #sb2 #sb32 #protecttranskids
— Dr. Annaliese Cothron (@AECothron) July 12, 2021
And the same Senate committee just approved the paired resolution - SJR3 - that would (with voter approval) change the TX Constitution to allow courts to more often keep defendants in jail without any opportunity to bail out - with cash or otherwise. #txlege
— Jolie McCullough (@jsmccullou) July 10, 2021
Never been more happy to have hours of work made irrelevant. The #txlege wasn't doing policy this year, anyway, just politics; quorum busting was the only leverage that existed to stop the bail bill. That wasn't why Dems left, but it's why I'm glad they're gone. https://t.co/LESFP5y1N2
— Grits for Breakfast (@Grits4Breakfast) July 12, 2021
If you for some strange reason weren't glued to the 9+ hours of bail debates in #txlege on a Saturday, I broke it down for you:
— Jolie McCullough (@jsmccullou) July 11, 2021
https://t.co/qb3erl5L2s
In another First Amendment lawsuit of elected officials getting sued for blocking constituents, Texas Attorney General @KenPaxtonTX has agreed to stop blocking people on Twitter based on their viewpoints, @reeseoxner reports. #txlege https://t.co/fDq8Cu37uV
— James Barragán 🌟 (@James_Barragan) July 12, 2021
When he was a state rep., newly elected state GOP Chairman Matt Rinaldi stood on the floor of the #txlege and threatened to “put a bullet in the head” of a Latino colleague.
— Progress Texas (@ProgressTX) July 11, 2021
That was in 2017. https://t.co/AwoZRcR0z6
CPAC in Dallas Was, Well, a Different Kind of Strange https://t.co/ps8fiy84ra
— Dallas Observer (@Dallas_Observer) July 13, 2021
With members of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers in attendance and QAnon T-shirts for sale, there was no shortage of xenophobic, anti-semitic conspiracy theories. https://t.co/x2fzQQKCrD
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) July 10, 2021
Matthew @McConaughey hints at 'centrist' 🙄 Texas governor bid https://t.co/bxQuzensK8 #TXLege #TX2022
— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) July 10, 2021
During the 66th #txlege session, 12 State Senators hid off-site to prevent two bills from being voted on.
— David Logan (@A_DavidLogan) July 12, 2021
The Texas House would receive messages from a Senate, "Bee Man"
Lt. Governor Hobby, nicknamed them the Killer Bees pic.twitter.com/dHePlcjrmo
Good morning to everyone but NYC, #SquadUp fans & absentee fathers everywhere. Man up and embrace your responsibilities…just like @JoseAltuve27 does every time he sees @TheJudge44. Only poverty franchises are 8 games out. (Grand finale photoshop: @Northside_Mike) #ForTheH🔥🤘🏼 pic.twitter.com/o178rRQAaX
— Adam Clanton (@adamclanton) July 12, 2021