As of May 21, members of the Texas State Legislature, which includes the Texas House of Representatives and the Texas State Senate, have passed two bills related to election administration since the beginning of the year. Of those two bills, legislators passed one during the week of May 15-21. A bipartisan group of legislators sponsored…
The Texas State Legislature voted to send a constitutional amendment that would authorize the legislature to provide for a property tax exemption on equipment and inventory manufactured by medical or biomedical companies to the November ballot. The legislature also passed the enabling legislation, Senate Bill 2289 (SB 2289), which would take effect if the amendment…
The Texas Constitution provides that the office of county treasurer may be abolished via a constitutional amendment. Galveston County may be the next county to join nine others that previously abolished the office of treasurer in November. The last time Texans decided on such an amendment was in 1987 with the abolition of county treasurers…
The Texas Supreme Court issued six opinions from May 8-14. As of May 14, the court issued 57 opinions — nine fewer than this point a year ago. Three of six opinions are below: In re Kappmeyer (Opinion), where the court “conditionally granted relief in this mandamus proceeding arising out of a dispute between Property…
The Texas State Legislature voted to send a constitutional amendment to the Nov. ballot that would increase the mandatory retirement age for state judges and justices from 75 to 79—the second-highest retirement age in the country, excluding those with no mandatory retirement ages. Vermont adopted in 2003 the highest retirement age for state judges at…
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued five opinions from May 1-7. The Texas Supreme Court issued four opinions from May 1-7. Both courts are the state’s courts of last resort. As of May 7, the court of criminal appeals issued 130 opinions in 2023 — 33 more than this point a year ago. The…
Local elections took place across Texas on Saturday, May 6. Ballotpedia covered 47 ballot measures on May 6. That was nearly three times more than we covered in May Texas elections in 2019 and 2021, mainly due to an increase in bond measures and charter amendments this year. As of this writing, results for some…
As of May 7, members of the Texas State Legislature, which includes the Texas House of Representatives and the Texas State Senate, have passed one bill related to election administration since the beginning of the year. A bipartisan group of legislators sponsored the bill. The bill is: TX SB1052: Relating to the compensation of an…
As of May 7, Ballotpedia has tracked 183 election-related bills in the Texas House of Representatives since the beginning of the year. Of the 183, Ballotpedia tracked one from May 1-7. Democrats sponsored the bill. The bill is: TX HJR15: Proposing a constitutional amendment establishing an independent redistricting commission to establish districts for the election…
As of May 7, Ballotpedia has tracked 114 election-related bills in the Texas State Senate since the beginning of the year. Of the 114, Ballotpedia tracked one from May 1-7. Republicans sponsored the bill. The bill is below: TX SB2620: Relating to authorizing certain political subdivisions to change the date on which their general election…