The deeply conservative leader said he is looking forward to spending time with his family, church and business — but added that a return to politics is possible if a Texas Senate seat opened up.

Rather than accept the House legislation as is, senators passed their own — more expansive — proposals for border security. But unless the House convenes again, the bills can’t go to the governor’s desk.

The bill no longer targets drag performers, but LGBTQ advocates say the legislation’s vague language could still be used to criminalize such shows.

In a last-minute hearing Wednesday, Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, opened another avenue to get the bill passed, raising alarm among free-speech advocates.

The Texas Senate has passed similar legislation. But a key policy separates the two chambers.

Critics say Senate Bill 16 is overly vague and will create a chilling effect that will prevent important conversations about race and gender. But Republican supporters say the legislation is necessary to protect conservative students who are self-censoring in the classroom.

The Senate expanded the bill targeting drag queen story hours to target all public funding for libraries. The upper chamber also approved a bill limiting other drag performances kids can see.

Proposed legislation from Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, would criminalize explicit performances where children are present and strip libraries of state funding for hosting any event featuring performers in drag. Critics say the bill is discriminatory and unconstitutional.

The priority bill, backed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, reverses a change the Legislature made two years ago during an omnibus voting bill that made illegal voting a misdemeanor.

A lawmaker is accused of hypocrisy after it emerges that he once wore a dress. He says it wasn’t sexual.

Lawmakers lowered the penalty to a misdemeanor in 2021, but then almost immediately began discussing raising it back.

Conservative activists have pushed for legislative leaders to ban Democrats from leading committees.

At a senate committee hearing in Marshall, Texas Republican lawmakers accused investment firms of pulling back on fossil fuels, running afoul of a 2021 law that prohibits the state from contracting with or investing in companies that “boycott” oil, natural gas and coal companies.

After protesters solicited donations to distribute posters to schools across the state in Arabic, state Sen. Bryan Hughes sent a letter to the Texas Education Agency clarifying his legislation requiring schools to display signs with the national motto.

“In God We Trust” was adopted as the nation’s motto in 1956.

State Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, said his intention was never to gloss over American history or have negative effects on teachers and administrators. His comments to the State Board of Education come as members consider new social studies curriculum.

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.

An East Texas county commissioner and his wife have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor election fraud after reaching a plea deal that allows him to remain in office.

Mark Lee Dickson helped Texas towns ban abortion. On Friday, the Supreme Court declined to block a state law modeled on his ordinance. “We can go anywhere now,” he said.

Anti-abortion groups and reproductive rights activists faced off outside the U.S. Supreme Court as it heard Texas' abortion case.

Six justices — including two who voted against blocking Senate Bill 8 when it first went into effect — voiced concern that other states could replicate the controversial law’s enforcement mechanism.

The new political maps drawn by the Texas Senate don't just favor Republicans; that much was expected from a Republican majority. The maps help Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick pick which Republicans he wants in the Senate.

A prohibition on vaccine mandates was one of Gov. Greg Abbott’s priorities for the special session, but it did not have enough support in the Legislature.

State Sen. Bryan Hughes authored the six-week abortion ban and the elections bill and carried other conservative priorities that grabbed national attention.

Here are things to know for Wednesday, September 8:

Republicans in America’s largest conservative state for years racked up victories under the slogan “Keep Texas Red,” a pledge to quash a coming blue wave that Democrats argued was inevitable given shifting demographics.

Republicans in America’s largest conservative state for years racked up victories under the slogan “Keep Texas Red,” a pledge to quash a coming blue wave that Democrats argued was inevitable given shifting demographics.

Medical and reproductive health experts say the reference to a heartbeat is medically inaccurate as an embryo does not have a developed heart at six weeks’ gestation.

The Houston Democrat was on her feet speaking, not allowed to sit or lean against her desk, and unable to take bathroom breaks or drink water, since Wednesday evening. But ultimately the bill she opposed passed Thursday on an 18-11 vote.

Senate Bill 1 is nearly identical to legislation considered in the first special session, containing many of the provisions that have spawned a monthslong game of legislative brinkmanship with House Democrats, who continue to deny Republicans the quorum needed to enact the bill.

Hundreds of people packed the steps of the Texas Capitol at a protest rally to make the end of a four-day march in support of voting rights.

Republican Texas lawmakers have justified their efforts to limit how racism and current events are taught in school by saying that critical race theory judges people by the color of their skin. Martin Luther King III and experts disagree.

An education bill that was recently passed along party lines by the Texas Senate removed, among other things, a teaching requirement about “the history of white supremacy… and the ways in which it is morally wrong.”

It's largely symbolic, but the Texas Senate is nearing the end of its work on Republican priorities for the special legislative session after passing bills limiting "critical race theory" and abortion access Friday.

If the House Democrats who skipped town to block voting legislation don’t return before the special session ends, the Senate bills will languish without becoming law.

The bill would also remove a requirement to teach that white supremacy is "morally wrong." One Democratic lawmaker said the bill’s attempts could lead to a “frightening dystopian future.”

Senate Bill 7 includes provisions to limit early voting hours, curtail local voting options and further tighten voting-by-mail. The upper chamber suspended its own rules to approve it after debating it for hours overnight.

Texas educators worried the bill would have a chilling effect on tough conversations about race and racism. GOP lawmakers said they wanted to ensure teachers' personal biases stay out of their lessons

The bill aims to ban critical race theory in public and open-enrollment charter schools. Supporters say it merely ensures students aren't taught that one race or gender is superior to another. Critics say it limits how race in America is taught.

The Texas Senate passed a controversial new voting bill Thursday morning.

Senate Republicans on Thursday cleared the way for new, sweeping restrictions to voting in Texas that take particular aim at forbidding local efforts meant to widen access.

The Texas Senate on Tuesday gave initial approval to a measure that would prohibit social media companies with at least 100 million monthly users from blocking, banning, demonetizing, or discriminating against a user based on their viewpoint or their location within Texas. Senate Bill 12, sponsored by Republican state Sen. Bryan Hughes of Mineola, was approved on second reading by a vote of 18-13. Facebook, Twitter and Google, which owns YouTube, did not respond to requests for comment. The bill will require one more vote from the Senate, an action that is usually just a formality after it is passed on second reading. Hughes in 2019 filed a similar measure that won Senate approval, but it ultimately died in committee in the Texas House.

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.

The proposed bill would strip Texas officials of their typical enforcement role — and open the door for any Texan to sue providers they thought weren’t complying with state abortion laws. The proposed bill would strip Texas officials of their typical enforcement role — and open the door for any Texan to sue providers they thought weren’t complying with state abortion laws. By pushing enforcement to the civil court system, anti-abortion activists hope to make it harder to sue state officials to stop an unconstitutional law. SB 8 would let anyone in Texas sue an abortion provider if they believe they violated state laws. AdThe Texas bill goes further, but Cohen said the precedent would apply if the Texas bill passes.

Senate Bill 2142, sponsored by state Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, had not even been filed when the day started Monday — and the full Senate hadn’t been scheduled to convene. But the bill was quickly read on the Senate floor and referred to the Senate Jurisprudence Committee for a hearing on Monday morning. PUC and ERCOT leaders say the prices were intentionally left high to incentivize generators to send power during widespread outages. The PUC’s sole serving member, Arthur D’Andrea, told the state Senate last week that he does not have the authority to retroactively adjust prices. The other two spots on the PUC are vacant because their prior occupants resigned after the winter storm.

Greg Abbott joined Sen. Bryan Hughes on Thursday to discuss Senate Bill 12 (SB12), which prohibits social media companies from “censoring Texans based on viewpoints they express”. “Too many social media sites silence conservative speech and ideas, and trample free speech. “We need to recognize that when we see the First Amendment under assault by social media companies, it is not going to be tolerated in Texas,” Abbott said. Senate Bill 12 will not only prohibit social media companies from censoring Texans’ viewpoints, but it will also allow Texans to file a lawsuit if they believe they were wrongfully blocked from a social media site for expressing their opinions. The government cannot force social media platforms to distribute other parties speech and it can’t tell social media platforms what to publish,” Huddleston said.

Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas TribuneTwo years ago, Texas Sen. Charles Schwertner voluntarily relinquished a prominent post chairing the Senate’s Health and Human Services Committee after an allegation of sexual harassment. @DanPatrick’s trust in my ability to lead this important committee.”The Senate committee Schwertner will lead is not as prominent as the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services he once oversaw. “No one works harder than the members of the Texas Senate,” Patrick said in a statement. Houston Democrat John Whitmire, the Senate longest-serving member, will continue to chair the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice. Democrat Eddie Lucio Jr. of Brownsville will serve as vice chair of the Senate Finance Committee, a change Patrick announced in December.