A judge has called a new law unconstitutional that passed in the GOP-led Texas Legislature that will dictate how elections are run in the state’s most populous county.

The impact of Texas’ near-total ban on abortion is coming into focus as patients and providers leave the state, legal challenges languish and the state’s social safety net braces for a baby boom.

Led by Andrew Murr, a West Texas rancher and lawyer, and Ann Johnson, a former prosecutor, the team of 12 includes 11 with law degrees.

Reps. Briscoe Cain and Steve Toth, who are usually ideologically aligned with Slaton, said the lawmaker needed to step down.

Davis, best known for her 13-hour filibuster of a 2013 abortion bill, sought to block the state’s ban on abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. A federal judge found Davis had not “articulated a credible, imminent threat.”

Fourteen GOP legislators warned Lyft that they’d seek to ban companies that pay for abortions from doing business in Texas. The extent of support for the idea is unclear.

State leaders say expanding a social safety net for children and prosecuting abortion funders are among their priorities. “We’ll continue to do our best to make abortion not just outlawed, but unthinkable,” said state Rep. Briscoe Cain.

Davis is best known for her 13-hour filibuster against another restrictive abortion law in 2013. Now, she’s suing to block enforcement of Texas’ current ban on abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy.

Cain has accused the nonprofits of being “criminal organizations” and has ordered them to stop funding abortions in Texas. Lawyers representing the funds are demanding a retraction.

It remains unclear whether Gov. Greg Abbott — the only official with the power to convene special sessions — will order state lawmakers back to Austin, or what issues he would include on the agenda.

After conservative complaints about the national results in the 2020 election, Texas Republicans have tried to anticipate everything that might play against them in 2022, right down to who’ll be at the helm.

The law requires social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram to produce regular reports of removed content and disclose their content regulations procedures.

Both Republicans in Austin and Democrats in D.C. have engaged in the political drama over the past two weeks, with the two camps battling it out on cable news interviews and social media over the quorum bust and who is to blame for it.

Members of the public arrived at the Texas Capitol as early as 6 a.m. to sign up to speak before lawmakers considering the legislation. In the House, public testimony wouldn't begin until early the next morning.

The lower chamber, led by House Speaker Dade Phelan, is trying to start off on a new foot with a controversial election bill that blew up during the regular session.

Texas remains on course to become the nation’s largest state to tighten restrictions on voting with GOP legislation just steps away from the Republican governor’s desk.

The optimism comes after a two-week stretch dominated by a tense standoff among the House, Senate and Gov. As of Thursday, more than half — 16 — had at least gotten a committee hearing. Senate Bill 25 would give nursing-home residents the right to have a designated caretaker visit them regularly during a public health emergency. On Thursday, a Senate committee approved legislation — SB 3 — that would overhaul the state’s energy industry. AdBy Friday afternoon, Cain’s bill was rescheduled for an April 1 hearing, according to a committee hearing posting notice.

Former Democratic congressman Beto O'Rourke speaks against new proposed voting restrictions at the Texas Capitol on Thursday, March 25, 2021, in Austin, Texas. Proposed legislation before the GOP-led state Senate and House mirrors a nationwide campaign by Republicans that aims to restrict voting even more, with rules Democrats say disenfranchise racial and ethnic minorities. AdAmy Litzinger, of Austin, is among Texans who say the very health issues keeping her from testifying before lawmakers in person will also penalize her if stricter voting legislation becomes law. Brian Kemp drew protests Thursday when he signed into law a sweeping GOP-sponsored overhaul of state elections — and the fights will undoubtedly end up in the courts. AdBack in Austin, Jose Colon Uvalles was back at the Capitol again Friday to advocate against voting restrictions.

Former Democratic congressman Beto O'Rourke speaks against new proposed voting restrictions at the Texas Capitol on Thursday, March 25, 2021, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Acacia Coronado)AUSTIN, Texas – A procedural gaffe on Thursday forced the abrupt end of a Texas House hearing on a Republican-backed voting restrictions bill and at least temporarily deprived more than 100 people of the chance to testify about it, including some who said they had driven hundreds of miles to be there. The bungled end to the hearing stunned an overflow room of people who had waited hours to address lawmakers, including some who said they had traveled for hours to speak against the measure known as House Bill 6. That Democrat was state Rep. Nicole Collier, the chairwoman of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus. “Any delay is good," said Emily Eby, an attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project who had traveled from Houston for the hearing.

Officials discussed election fraud and how they want to prevent it. Abbott has mentioned a number of times, especially during the 2020 election, that election fraud is “very real” and happens in different ways. Abbott did, however, say that former President Barack Obama prosecuted a voter fraud scheme in South Texas where cocaine was used to pay voter harvesters. “Election fraud is unacceptable.”AdA small group carrying signs protested against Senate Bill 7 outside Bettencourt’s office, calling the proposed bill voter suppression. “We should be focused on making voting more accessible and stop trying to create obstacles and distractions with unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud,” Turner said.

State Rep. Briscoe Cain, the new chair of the House Elections Committee, traveled to Pennsylvania to help the Trump campaign challenge the results of the 2020 election. Credit: Juan Figueroa/The Texas TribuneA conservative attorney who volunteered to help former President Donald Trump’s legal team as it attempted to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election will take the lead on election issues in the Texas House this year. With Texas’ Republican leadership cataloguing “election integrity” as a top priority this legislative session, House Speaker Dade Phelan on Thursday named state Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, as the chair of the House Elections Committee. Cain, who previously served on the committee, traveled to Pennsylvania in the days after Election Day to work with the Trump campaign. The legislation passed in the Senate and made it out of the House Elections Committee that year, but it floundered before being considered by the full House.

With the proper license, visitors to the Texas Capitol are allowed to carry open or concealed guns. There won't be fewer guns in the Texas Capitol this legislative session. Texans with handgun licenses can carry firearms into the Capitol openly or concealed and bypass the building’s metal detectors for entry within seconds. The Texas Capitol “is probably one of the most well-armed buildings in the state,” one then-state lawmaker told The New York Times in 2013. That year, dozens of Texas lawmakers routinely carried guns inside the Capitol, current and former lawmakers told The Times.

It’s unclear what typical functions at the Texas Capitol will look like in January, or whether they will even exist. Senate and House members spearheading logistical discussions say that while much remains up in the air, the two chambers are working together to implement session rules that are consistent for both chambers. Plexiglass dividers have been installed in several House committee hearing rooms, Geren said. Masks will be required to enter Rosenthal’s Capitol office, which will not allow more than six people inside at a time. In addition to addressing the billions of dollars in shortfalls to the state budget and other core issues during session, state lawmakers are also set to undergo the once-in-a-decade process of redrawing the state’s political maps.