Texas lawmaker shares his pleas with colleagues to end Confederate Heroes Day. Is anyone listening?
The Watchdog shows how state lawmakers lobby one another for pet bills.
Watchdog columnist Dave Lieber turns a Houston lawmaker s quest to stop Jan. 19 from being recognized as Confederate Heroes Day into a one-act play.(Courtesy of Texas House of Representatives)
Mindset in the Hallways, a one-act play by The Watchdog.
Cast of Characters: State Rep. Jarvis Johnson, a Houston Democrat, who filed House Bill 36, which would remove Jan. 19, Confederate Heroes Day, as an official state holiday. The bill is stalled in committee.
Other characters, voices offstage, represent Republican House lawmakers whose support Johnson seeks.
Texas GOP walks back Monday testimony against renaming Negrohead Lake, other sites
FacebookTwitterEmail
Water Oak Gully empties to Ijams Lake, which is just south of Negrohead Lake, photographed Monday, Feb. 8, 2021, in Baytown, Texas. Rodney Ellis and other city, county, state and federal officials gathered are demanding that Negrohead Lake be renamed Lake Henry Doyle as envisioned in the state law.Godofredo A. Vásquez, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
Hours after an official with the Texas Republican Party testified that the GOP opposes a bill in the state Legislature that would remove offensive names from geographic locations such as Negrohead Lake in Baytown, state party leaders said that testimony was not correct
The $5 million bison center in Custer State Park galloping toward ground-breaking
While designs for the newly-funded center are expected to unveiled this week, it s not clear if the park, or designers, are seeking input from tribes to tell the bison s story. Written By: Christopher Vondracek | ×
Riders maneuver the buffalo into the corrals for their vaccinations during the 51st Annual Custer State Park Buffalo Roundup in 2016 in Custer State Park. Matt Gade / Republic
PIERRE, S.D. South Dakota s legislature chipped in $500,000 during the recently completed legislative session for a bison interpretive center in Custer State Park, and state officials say plans for the structure are moving along briskly.
Credit AP
Idaho House lawmakers contentiously debated an appropriations bill funding the state’s higher education institutions Wednesday. At the unique request of the sponsor, legislators voted down the spending bill, so it could be returned to the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee.
The turmoil is centered around a myriad of diversity and social justice educational or other programs on state campuses. Rep. Brent Crane (R-Nampa) read an email he received from a music student at Boise State, who said they had been shunned and persecuted by peers and teachers alike for expressing conservative political viewpoints.
Multiple lawmakers condemned the use of public funding for state university programs they said were indoctrinating students with critical race theory or social justice ideas. Rep. Bruce Skaug (R-Nampa) said his daughter quit classes at Boise State after he said she was forced to “walk the tunnel of shame” because someone said her naturally curly hair was cultural
Texas lawmakers consider restructuring state pandemic response
By Rudy Koski
Texas lawmakers consider restructuring pandemic response
A year ago, when Austin and the rest of Texas was in lockdown, most state lawmakers were also locked out. That left Governor Greg Abbott to contain the outbreak by issuing executive orders and declarations. Now with the lockdown lifted lawmakers are addressing accusations that Abbott did too much.
AUSTIN, Texas - A year ago, when Austin and the rest of Texas were in lockdown, most state lawmakers were also locked out. That left Governor Greg Abbott to contain the outbreak by issuing executive orders and declarations.