Residents and industry leaders at odds over transmission lines at legislative hearingThe growing backlash surrounding 765 kv lines, as well as data centers, was tackled at a nine-hour House hearing that included testimony and recommendations but no definitive answers.  Flashes of yellow were all around the Texas Capitol grounds on Wednesday as legislators gathered to consider two of the most controversial issues in Texas politics: data centers and transmission lines.The color — displayed on bandanas, pins, shirts and dresses — has become the symbol of a grassroots movement dedicated to blocking the buildout of 765-kilovolt transmission lines across the state. A coalition of those groups gathered on the steps of the Capitol building in the morning as testimony got underway for the House Committee on State Affairs’ interim meeting dedicated to the backlash against the transmission lines and data centers. view article

Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday he plans to call for a ban on school districts employing anyone with an H-1B visa, a move that could cost hundreds of Texas teachers their jobs.  At a news conference in Austin, Abbott said the ban was part of a sweeping effort to stamp out “indoctrination in the classroom” that includes forbidding schools from accepting gifts or partnerships with foreign governments.   “Bottom line is this: foreign influence of any kind has no place in our classrooms,” Abbott said at a Tuesday news conference in Austin. view article

Texas lawmakers will examine Tuesday whether colleges are doing enough to protect research from foreign adversaries, while Gov. Greg Abbott plans to unveil measures aimed at limiting foreign influence in education during a campaign event later that day.  The House Higher Education Committee’s agenda does not name a specific law. However, its focus on screening, reporting, oversight and the Higher Education Research Security Council closely tracks House Bill 127, which committee chair Rep. Terry M. Wilson, R-Georgetown, authored last year. The law created the new council and set safeguards for certain researchers, foreign gifts, academic partnerships and work-related travel.  Texas universities must screen foreign citizens who are not permanent residents, as well as people with certain work, training or institutional ties to a foreign adversary, before hiring them into research jobs or giving them access to research data, according to the law. view article

EDINBURG — At 50 years old, Abel Gonzalez says he’s happy to be involved in his eight-year dream career of filmmaking, something he sees as fostering the budding film industry in the Rio Grande Valley. But, he still has some anxieties.  He’s worried that a family member — who’s a U.S. citizen — will be targeted by immigration officials because he speaks minimal English. He’s concerned that rural parts of the Valley are not adequately represented politically, and that environmental concerns over pesticides and chemicals in those areas receive little attention.   He’s also frustrated over stagnant wages. He said businesses often don’t want to pay competitive wages for services because they believe they can find someone just a few miles south in Mexico to provide the service for a cheaper price.   Gonzalez believes in voting as an important way for communities to make their voices heard about their concerns, but said underrepresentation continues to be a problem. He doesn’t see that changing anytime soon.   “We’ve been under Republican governorship for so long,” he said. “It’s like a big tanker truck that you can’t just turn around. You just have to move slowly.”    view article

Democratic U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico unveiled a veterans and military agenda Friday aimed at ending forever wars, strengthening support for military families and increasing the resources available to veterans for health care, housing and employment. view article

The Trump administration declined to immediately appeal a ruling by a federal judge in Lubbock that invalidated parts of the 1934 National Firearms Act. view article

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers sent a letter this week to Gov. Greg Abbott asking for his help in stopping the Trump administration from moving forward with border construction projects in Big Bend National Park.  Forty Democrats and three Republicans serving in the Texas House of Representatives added their signatures to the letter that went to the governor Thursday. In the opening of the letter, they said they wanted to express their “deep concern and opposition to construction of border barriers in the Big Bend region, particularly in Big Bend National Park.” view article

Education experts say the numbers confirm their early warnings: Finding a private school is challenging. view article

Campaigning for the U.S. Senate, Paxton says he was “delivered by God” to protect Texas from leftists. Talarico’s focus  Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico portray their U.S. Senate campaigns as a fight for the soul of America — one in which God plays an active yet vastly different role.  Talarico, believing God is on the side of the oppressed and the marginalized, focuses his message to voters on equity and protecting personal freedom.  Paxton sees God as on his side — a force safeguarding his ability to protect Texas and the nation from disaster at the hands of the “radical left.” view article

Hemp businesses and consumers asked to block state regulations on THC, but their lawsuit remains pending. view article

What information is accessible about a data center project can differ from place to place and depend on whether a project seeks out tax breaks, whether it needs local rezoning or special permits, and how it will get its power and water. view article

The state has released the first in-depth look at the more than 85,000 students participating in Texas’ voucher program, shedding light on who will benefit from the state’s new $1 billion initiative. The report, which was required by the Legislature, provides high-level demographic data on recipients and where they live. But it leaves some questions about the program unanswered, and some data required by law wasn’t released. view article

Residents questioned whether officials in the closely watched purple county will make election decisions fairly in a “hyperpartisan environment.” view article

A northeast Tennessee school board this week became at least the third in the state to approve the display of the Ten Commandments in its public schools since a new GOP-backed law giving districts the option took effect July 1.   With little debate, the Washington County Board of Education voted unanimously Wednesday in favor of the text’s display in a “prominent” place in each of its 15 schools, alongside the preamble to the U.S. Constitution and an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence, in accordance with the new state law.   Last month, the Wilson County Board of Education voted to post the same documents in common areas of its schools. In anticipation of the then-bill becoming law, the Rutherford County Schools in April also voted to approve displaying the documents in all of the county’s K-12 public schools.   On Wednesday, only one member of the Washington County Board expressed reservations about the measure, but said he felt compelled to cast a “yes” vote after an “overwhelming response” from constituents in favor of it, including “a couple personal visits to my front door.”   Vince Walters, another board member, said he had no reservations. view article

In the survey released Tuesday, just 7% of Black Texans who voted in recent elections said they are less likely to vote in November due to Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s Democratic primary loss.  Most Black Texas voters back Talarico over Paxton, poll finds, despite Senate primary tensions view article

Members of the hemp industry are suing Texas, claiming that the ban on hemp-derived THC products impose an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce..Three members of the hemp industry are suing the state of Texas for violating commerce protections after it was announced last week that nearly all hemp-derived THC products are illegal.   On Friday, two hemp retailers and a distributor filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas against the Texas Department of State Health Services; Attorney General Ken Paxton; and the Galveston County criminal district attorney and sheriff, alleging that classifying hemp-derived substances as illegal violates the 2018 Farm Bill, which removed it from the federal Controlled Substances Act. view article

The parents' suit leverages Texas law — versus federal First Amendment arguments — in the latest legal case involving the classroom posters. view article

Students and professors who say SB 37 led to censorship are holding a news conference before the Texas Senate’s hearing.   Texas university leaders on Tuesday will share their progress and challenges in carrying out a new state law that gives governor-appointed regents more control over what students learn.   A Texas Senate committee will hear invited testimony only. However, students and professors who say they experienced censorship and other effects under Senate Bill 37 are planning a news conference at the Capitol beforehand. view article

The poll found the Austin Democrat with a commanding lead among independents and a surprising edge with non-college-educated voters, who have consistently favored Republicans.  WASHINGTON — The latest survey of the U.S. Senate race from Texas Public Opinion Research shows Democrat James Talarico leading Republican Ken Paxton, 45% to 40%, marking the Austin state representative’s largest lead in any public poll taken during the general election period. view article

Texas may expand use of the Classical Learning Test despite a new report finding less evidence its scores predict college success than the SAT or ACT.  Texas’ higher education commissioner signaled last week that the state could expand the use of the conservative-favored Classic Learning Test in public university admissions even though an independent review found far less evidence linking the exam’s scores to college performance than SAT and ACT scores. view article

The laws, which make it easier to build apartments, face stiff resistance from North Texas suburbs. State lawmakers vow to force cities to comply. view article

Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state agencies to investigate birth tourism, a rare practice under scrutiny by Republican lawmakers.  Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday escalated a statewide crackdown on so-called birth tourism, a rare practice that has inflamed Republicans and drawn ire in the debate over immigration.   Abbott signed an executive order directing several state agencies to investigate health care providers accused of helping foreigners travel to Texas to give birth. Penalties include suspending or revoking licenses and losing state contracts.  "U.S. citizenship is not for sale, and Texas will put a stop to individuals seeking to profit from birth tourism," Abbott said in a statement. Birth tourism refers to pregnant women who travel to the United States to give birth so their baby has American citizenship. It is not illegal for foreign nationals to give birth on U.S. soil, although the law says tourist visas cannot be granted for the primary purpose of obtaining U.S. citizenship. view article

Commissioners are expected to make their next decision on the proposed extra-high-voltage transmission lines in August. view article

Transmission Companies Push Forward Controversial 765-kV Lines  The same week state senators have planned to hear testimony on the impact 765-kilovolt transmission lines will have on private landowners, a transmission company is moving forward with its proposed transmission line and is holding a public meeting in Wharton County.   Another company has scheduled its own public meeting the evening before in Refugio County.   This centers on the Electric Reliability Council of Texas’ (ERCOT’s) 765-kilovolt Strategic Transmission Expansion Plan (STEP), a key part of the Permian Basin Reliability Plan (PBRP). Phase one is the STEP-Permian, which proposes three extra-high-voltage transmission lines, spanning over 1,200 miles to move power from East Texas into the natural gas-rich Permian Basin, with routes crossing North, Central, and South Texas. A pro-landowner group called this “akin to hauling water to the sea.” view article

U.S. Rep. Brandon Gill and U.S. Sen. Jim Banks have filed legislation in their respective chambers to end the awarding of citizenship to the children of illegal aliens and foreign nationals temporarily in the country.  Entitled the Citizenship Act of 2026, the bill seeks to define “any person who enters the United States illegally or for birth tourism” as an “invader,” and amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to exclude the children of individuals designated as invaders from birthright citizenship.  Birth tourism is the practice of pregnant foreign nationals entering the country in order to have their children in the United States, thereby making them American citizens.   This practice is especially popular in nations like China, with conservative lawmakers warning it creates a large national security risk as American-born Chinese nationals would have the ability to influence U.S. elections in the future. “I have officially introduced the ‘Citizenship Act’ with Senator Banks, under which individuals who enter the United States illegally or for birth tourism would be classified as ‘invaders’ and therefore would be excluded from birthright citizenship,” wrote Gill in an X post.  Sen. Jim Banks (R–IN) has filed companion legislation in the Senate.  view article

During an interim hearing on Monday, members of the House Land and Resource Management Committee heard testimony on recently enacted housing reforms and considered additional proposals aimed at speeding permitting, trimming fees, and expanding pre-approved building plans.  The hearing comes as housing affordability remains a concern across much of Texas.    Ed Pinto of the American Enterprise Institute’s Housing Center said housing is traditionally considered affordable when the median home price is roughly three times the median household income.    Many Texas markets exceed that benchmark, with committee Chairman Gary Gates (R–Richmond) noting the state’s median income is about $94,600 while median home prices in many of the state’s largest metropolitan areas range from the mid $300,000s to nearly $600,000.  view article

U.S. Rep. Beth Van Duyne proposed a resolution condemning Imam Omar Suleiman for celebrating the senator’s death.​  U.S. Rep. Beth Van Duyne moved to condemn a Texas imam after he celebrated Lindsey Graham’s death on social media due to Graham’s support for Israel. view article

U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson wrote a letter to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson backing the Trump administration’s investigation into two proxy advisory firms over concerns that they are pushing a woke agenda on companies.  Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis currently make up 90 percent of the advisory market, which Jackson argues means they dominate it.    Jackson (R–Amarillo) said he is demanding answers over potential antitrust law violations. view article

In her bid for the governor's seat, Rep. Gina Hinojosa is advocating against school closures and school district takeovers. view article

Critical race theory and identity politics research is lavishly funded in Aggieland.  Texas Scorecard has previously reported on the Race and Ethnic Studies Institute (RESI) and its professors, whose output runs the gamut of left-wing grievance studies.  As part of the initial reporting on RESI, Texas Scorecard filed an open records request for its budgets over the past five years.  Based on those records, RESI receives $100,000 in annual support from Texas A&M for “Operating funds.”   It has also received a series of smaller amounts for “tuition support,” “dean’s initiatives,” “payroll support,” and “salary support.”   With this funding, RESI’s advisory board, faculty affiliates, and graduate student affiliates produce grievance-studies-themed content. RESI financially supports this content through a series of fellowships and grants.   Texas A&M did not respond to multiple, detailed requests for comment. A question regarding future plans for this institute was asked multiple times. view article

Republican leaders say the spending restraint will help preserve funding for priorities while supporting additional property tax relief.  Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and House Speaker Dustin Burrows are directing most state agencies to reduce their baseline budget requests by 3 percent, as Republicans push for meaningful property tax relief during the upcoming legislative session.  In joint guidance issued to state agencies, institutions of higher education, and other state entities, the three leaders outlined priorities for preparing Legislative Appropriations Requests for the 2028–29 biennium.   The guidance calls on agencies to reduce their base appropriation requests by 3 percent, while exempting several priorities, including the Foundation School Program, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, foster care, adoption assistance, and the Texas Education Savings Account Program. view article

Pine Tree ISD Superintendent Steve Clugston will not appear on the November ballot after falling short of the required signatures needed to run for Texas Senate District 1, a seat currently held by Republican State Sen. Bryan Hughes. Clugston had planned to run as a conservative independent. He said he submitted 640 signatures to the Texas Secretary of State, but the state invalidated 162 of them, leaving him with 478 — short of the 500 required to qualify. It was not immediately clear why the state invalidated the signatures. view article

Daniel Hamlin will assume the position on Aug. 16, ahead of the upcoming semester. view article

After much deliberation and debate in the 89th Regular Session, the Texas Legislature approved Senate Bill 2 (SB2) in 2025, the state’s first-ever universal voucher program. This new $1 billion taxpayer-funded program is structured as an Education Savings Account (ESA), allowing eligible students to use $10,330 in fiscal year 2027 for private school expenses. Homeschooled students will be eligible to receive approximately $2,000, and students with special education needs will get up to $30,000. Texas parents will be able to use vouchers for the first time beginning in the 2026-27 school year. view article

The Republican National Committee chairman discusses why the party is holding its first-ever midterm convention, what delegates can expect, and the role the Texas GOP will play. view article