Benjamin Wermund

17 hours ago | houstonchronicle.com | Benjamin Wermund

Legislation endorsed by Gov. Greg Abbott and House Speaker Dustin Burrows banning teens from acting like animals in schools is likely dead after failing to clear a House committee ahead of a key deadline this week. The “Forbidding Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying in Education (F.U.R.R.I.E.S) Act,” which would prohibit any “non-human behavior” by a student, including wearing animal ears or barking, meowing or hissing, did not advance out of a House education committee by Monday’s deadline.

1 day ago | houstonchronicle.com | Benjamin Wermund

A bipartisan deal to restrict bail is headed to the House floor after clearing a key committee Monday night with Democratic support — a sign that reforms long sought by Gov. Greg Abbott could be within reach. But the version of the bill advancing in the House does not go as far as the Texas Republican has pushed in recent weeks as he ratcheted up pressure on lawmakers to force judges to prohibit pretrial release to defendants accused of several violent offenses.

6 days ago | houstonchronicle.com | Benjamin Wermund

With his signature voucher legislation signed into law, Gov. Greg Abbott is going all in on a massive bail crackdown as the legislative session enters the final stretch. The Texas Republican wants lawmakers to prohibit pretrial release to defendants accused of several violent offenses, which would require a constitutional amendment — and the support of House Democrats, many of whom have opposed the effort in the past.

1 week ago | houstonchronicle.com | Benjamin Wermund

For the first time, President Donald Trump has a negative approval rating in Texas over his handling of the economy, according to a new poll. The University of Texas at Austin’s Texas Politics Project survey, released Wednesday, found that 46% of Texans do not approve of how Trump is handling the country’s economy amid new tariffs and escalating trade wars. Just 40% support Trump’s economic moves.

2 weeks ago | houstonchronicle.com | Benjamin Wermund

A lawmaker pushing to ban non-human behavior in schools says he based his bill on a conversation with a school administrator, who has since denied so-called furries are a problem in her district. During an at-times tense hearing Tuesday night, Republican state Rep. Stan Gerdes said he filed the bill after hearing “reports of the presence of a furry” in a Smithville school.