Remember when Austin had a plastic bag ban? Remember when it got overturned by the Texas Supreme Court? Today, we have a little update for you. State Representative Gina Hinojosa (who represents part of Austin in the state Legislature) just filed a bill that would allow Austin to reinstate...
It's over. The special session of the Texas Legislature ended last week, without the passage of many of the its most high profile bills. When Governor Greg Abbott called this special session, he listed 20 pieces of legislation he wanted to see passed. In the end, only about...
After a short break, the Texas Legislature has returned to Austin for a 30-day special session (which officially began on Tuesday). As a reminder, the Texas Legislature usually only meets for 140 days every other year. That is, unless the governor decides to call them all...
As we shared last week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott is bringing our state lawmakers back to the Capitol building next month for a special session, focused on a wide array of agenda items (from the bathroom bill to school finance). In Austin, one of the special...
From Austin-Area Texas State Representatives Eddie Rodriguez, Donna Howard, Celia Israel, and Gina Hinojosa - Join State Representatives Eddie Rodriguez, Donna Howard, Celia Israel, and Gina Hinojosa for a follow-up to the "2017: What's Next?" community engagement forum held in January. The event will begin with a...
It's not over yet. Last week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that he would be bringing back state lawmakers for a special session of the 85th Texas Legislature. (For those not as familiar with the inner workings of our state government...
From the First Unitarian Universalist Church - Luke Metzger is founding director of Environment Texas, a statewide, citizen-funded advocacy group for clean air, clean water, and open spaces. He has been involved in dozens of citizen-related environmental campaigns and regularly testifies before the Texas Legislature on...
Just over a year after they left Austin, Uber and Lyft have returned to the city (as of Monday, May 29th). That's the day when Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed HB 100, a bill that essentially overturns Austin's local ride-hailing app regulations and replaces them with a...
With less than a month left in the Texas legislative session, it seems like time for another update. Here's a few eco- and Austin-related bills that we've got our eyes on: The issue: Air Quality - As you might know, ozone pollution is a major problem...
Keeping up with everything going on at the Texas Legislature can be hard. That's why last week our radio partner, Shades of Green, brought in a panel of environmental activists to talk about one thing - the Texas Legislature. Our guests included Andrew Dobbs (Texas...