Matt Hennie

Austin

Texas Chief Political Correspondent at Courier DFW

Texas Chief Political Correspondent for @couriertexas. Past: @phoenixnewtimes, @thebeaconICT and founder @ProjectQAtlanta. 🏳️‍🌈🐶🏀⚽

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Articles

Texas on verge of banning THC products, expanding medical marijuana program

3 weeks ago | couriertexas.com | Matt Hennie

Texas lawmakers banned THC products in Senate Bill 3, a controversial measure that threatens a state hemp industry that employs 50,000 people. When it comes to THC, the Texas Legislature giveth and taketh away. State lawmakers, under immense pressure from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, banned consumable THC products, an industry that has exploded around the state in recent years thanks to a loophole in a hemp bill the legislature passed in 2019.
Greg Abbott boosts Texas public school funding after years of holding it hostage

3 weeks ago | couriertexas.com | Matt Hennie

The $8.5 billion Texas public school funding law includes pay raises for teachers and staff, along with more money for special education, operations, and safety measures. Gov. Greg Abbott delivered $8.5 billion in new funding to the state’s struggling public schools on Wednesday, but only after blocking it for years in order to get his way on a private school voucher program.
Appeals court blocks weed decriminalization measures in 2 Texas cities

2 months ago | couriertexas.com | Matt Hennie

Attorney General Ken Paxton won injunctions against weed decriminalization ballot measures overwhelmingly approved by voters in Austin and San Marcos. A Texas appeals court in late April struck down voter-approved measures in Austin and San Marcos that decriminalized small amounts of marijuana. The state’s 15th Court of Appeals sided with Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has fought a series of ballot measures overwhelmingly approved by local voters in cities across the state.
Texas House passes $1 billion school vouchers bill in historic vote

2 months ago | couriertexas.com | Matt Hennie

Before the House approved school vouchers giving public funds for private schools, it passed a nearly $8 billion bill funding public education that provides the first per student funding increase since 2019. The Texas House passed a historic $1 billion school voucher plan early Thursday, delivering a key legislative victory to Gov. Greg Abbott that’s eluded him for years.
Ken Paxton jumps into US Senate race, sparking bitter GOP primary

2 months ago | couriertexas.com | Matt Hennie

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton hopes to unseat US Sen. John Cornyn, who is seeking a fifth term. (Photo by Matt Hennie) Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced his campaign taking on US Sen. John Cornyn in what will be a personal, expensive fight in the Republican primary. The upside is that Ken Paxton won’t seek a fourth term as Texas Attorney General. The downside? He stands a solid chance of becoming a US senator.
As Texas measles cases rise, Austin officials blame anti-vax rhetoric

Mar 10, 2025 | couriertexas.com | Matt Hennie

The Texas measles outbreak has reached nearly 200 cases, with additional cases in Austin, Houston and DFW. A growing measles outbreak in Texas — including the first reported case in Travis County — prompted elected officials in Austin to urge residents to get vaccinated. The elected officials — Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, Travis County Judge Andy Brown, and US Rep.
Texas Senate passes $1B school vouchers bill to spend public funds on private schools

Feb 7, 2025 | couriertexas.com | Matt Hennie

Democrats in the Senate didn’t have the votes to stop the school vouchers measure, which now moves to the Texas House. A bill that provides up to $11,500 in tax dollars per student for private schooling passed the Texas Senate on Wednesday, moving forward a top legislative priority for Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Senate Bill 2, the first approved by the Senate this year, now moves to the House, where similar measures died four times in 2023 during the last legislative session. Sen.
A closer look at Greg Abbott’s Top 7 legislative priorities

Feb 5, 2025 | couriertexas.com | Matt Hennie

The governor’s agenda includes school vouchers and property taxes while targeting trans students, migrants, and diversity programs. Gov. Greg Abbott made it clear on Sunday what he wants from state lawmakers in the coming weeks — from cutting property taxes to school vouchers, and help pouring fuel on the flames of the culture wars he’s spent years inflaming.
$1 billion school voucher bill clears first hurdle in Texas Senate

Jan 31, 2025 | couriertexas.com | Matt Hennie

The legislation provides vouchers of $2,000, $10,000, or $11,500 to 100,000 students. Critics assail it as a handout of public dollars to private school students. A $1 billion school voucher program that would award up to $11,500 in public dollars per student to go toward private education easily crossed its first hurdle in the Texas Senate on Tuesday. The 9-2 vote along party lines by the Senate Committee on Education K-16 — Democrat Sens.
Inauguration bromance: Trump praises Abbott as he promises deportations, more miles of border wall

Jan 20, 2025 | couriertexas.com | Matt Hennie

President Donald Trump pledged to fulfill campaign promises about immigration and the southern border during inauguration ceremonies in the US Capitol on Monday. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) President Donald Trump called Gov. Greg Abbott ‘phenomenal’ at the inauguration, adding that he now has a border wall partner. A beaming Abbott responded with a thumbs up.