Hooray for Women! Hooray! The Violence Against Women Act (finally) passes after a year long battle with Republicans. This bill includes provisions that would protect Native American women living on reservations, LGBTQIA, and undocumented women who are victims of domestic and intimate partner abuse. Did we mention it is the most inclusive? Hooray! Read More >>
D.C. Court Court nominee Caitlin Halligan should receive a crucial cloture vote as early as Tuesday March 5, but today in a Roll Call story, Senator Chuck Grassley indicated that Senate Republicans plan to block her confirmation - again. Urge Cornyn & Cruz to support this extraordinarily qualified nominee today.Read More >>
In a supposed effort to protect Christian extracurricular clubs, freshman State Representative Matt Krause proposes HB 360 which would allow discriminatory practices within student organizations at both private and public universities on college campuses.Read More >>
Thousands of parents, students, teachers and activists gathered at the Texas Capitol on Saturday to demand a greater investment in public schools, an end to high-stakes testing, and a full rejection of school vouchers. Here's a look at some of the best signs from the rally!Read More >>
Thank you, Senator Davis. In January, State Senator Wendy Davis filed SB 248, a bill that would bring the Lilly Ledbetter Act to Texas. Yesterday at the state legislature’s economic development committee, supporters testified on behalf of the bill. Read More >>
A new statewide poll released today by the Texas Freedom Network Education Fund shows broad support in Texas for state-funded family planning services and women's access to birth control. Check out our blog post for the latest numbers and figures.Read More >>
In recent weeks, Republican governors in New Mexico, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio and Michigan have all ended their partisan opposition to Medicaid expansion - a key provision in President Obama's historic Affordable Care Act legislation. Can Texas be next? Absolutely, but we need your support and action to make it possible.Read More >>
The GOP is quickly turning cabinet confirmation into a circus. First, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) claimed that Hagel received money from North Korea and Saudi Arabia, now his own party is preventing him from becoming Secretary of Defense days before a NATO summit.Read More >>
Sen. Nelson slammed Sen. Cruz during an Senate Armed Services Committee meeting today saying he had "gone over the line." During a hearing on Hagel’s Defense Secretary nomination, Cruz objected to moving forward on the nomination and made wild and strange accusations against Hagel. Read More >>
The Lone Star Project has released a 30-second radio ad in California informing businesses that they are welcome to move to Texas, but they should "check the fine print" on Rick Perry's promises. The ad is airing while Governor Rick Perry is traveling in California attempting to lure businesses to Texas. Read More >>
Yesterday, the Pentagon announced that it would begin extending benefits to gay and lesbian service members and their families. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) praised yesterday's announcement but said the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) still prevents gay and lesbian military families from enjoying full equality.Read More >>
Despite Governor Rick Perry’s irresponsible insistence that Texas will not expand Medicaid, it is becoming more and ore apparent that he's going against what the most Texans want. The slow warming to the idea of Medicaid expansion can be seen across the country in several GOP-governed states.Read More >>
Perhaps the GOP forgot, but Native American women are Americans too. They blocked the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act because of control given to tribal authorities in prosecuting non-Native American offenders. Read More >>
Earlier this week, CNN's Piers Morgan hosted a discussion on gun control. One of the panelists, Texas radio personality Ben Ferguson, said something that caught our attention. While discussing the need for firearms during a time of crisis, Ben Ferguson made an astonishingly ignorant and offensive statement.Read More >>
In a landmark decision, Judge John Dietz of the Texas 250th Judicial District Court ruled against the state and in favor of more than 600 schools that sued after the Texas Legislature cut funding to public schools in 2011. The battle for funding is not over yet though.Read More >>
Disgusting. Ted Cruz was one of only 8 Senators today who voted not to consider the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), a bill that protects victims of domestic violence. Sadly, it seems like Ted Cruz is on a mission to embarrass Texas in DC any chance he getsRead More >>
This month's Progress Texas Monthly features our Progressive Guide to the 83rd Texas Legislature, a look at a few very exciting statics from our annual analysis and report, and an overview of current campaigns and actions we're asking our membership to take. Take a moment and see what we are working on and how you can get involved.Read More >>
Earlier today, State Sen. Kirk Watson filed Senate Joint Resolution 24 (SJR 24) that calls for a constitutional amendment prohibiting the diversion of statutorily dedicated revenue. SJR 24 would end the state's deceptive, long-standing practice of diverting money away from the necessities it’s meant for and using it for other, less transparent purposes.Read More >>
Have you ever wondered where and how you can learn more about the issues in the Texas Legislature? Not just what the major ones are - but the details behind them, and how you can get involved? This post is a starting point - places you can dig deeper and learn more about the major issues facing Texas.Read More >>
On Wednesday, Republican (surprise!) state Representative Cathrynn Brown (actually, a surprise) introduced House Bill 206 that would “legally require victims of rape to carry their pregnancies to term in order to use the fetus as evidence for a sexual assault trial."Read More >>
Texas Senator Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound), head of the Health and Human Service Committee, has come out and said that Texas may not say no to federal Medicaid expansion funds as part of the Affordable Care Act after all. So what's the catch?Read More >>
Texas Republican Legislator Rep. Bill Zedler (Arlingyon) filed House Bill 650 on Wednesday, January 23 - the Birther Bill. The law would require Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates to submit their birth certificates to the Texas Secretary of State before they are allowed on the ballot.Read More >>
On Sunday, Texas Senator Ted Cruz went on "Meet The Press" and said that the gun show loophole does not exist, refused to condemn the NRA ad attacking the President's children, accused the President of exposing the Sandy Hook massacre, and attacked Gen. Colin Powell for speaking his mind about the current GOP. Read More >>
Reports for this year's auto sales were recently released by the National Auto Dealers Association on NADA.org and the results put a smile on my face. According to their statistics, sales on electric vehicles were up by 13.4 percent from what they were last year and 3.5 million electric vehicles were sold and this amount adds up to 2.4 percent of the entire auto industry.Read More >>
