State of Texas: ‘This is not over,’ next phase of redistricting battle looms

Date: Category:US Views:1 Comment:0


AUSTIN (Nexstar) — The battle over redrawing voting lines in Texas reached a crescendo at the Capitol this week. On Monday, most of the House Democrats who were breaking quorum returned to the state, clearing the way for a vote on the contentious plan.

For Wednesday’s vote, Democrats rallied outside the chamber, vowing to fight on. Inside the House, efforts to change the bill fell short, and the legislation passed along party lines. The bill passed the Senate early Saturday morning, after Republicans in the chamber made a procedural move that blocked a planned filibuster by State Sen. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston.

From the start, it was clear that Democrats did not have the votes to stop redistricting legislation at the Capitol. The focus now is on the next phase of the fight, with both sides looking to the courts and to redistricting efforts in other states.

California voters will decide in November whether to approve a redrawn congressional map designed to help Democrats win five more U.S. House seats next year, matching the Republican gains expected by redistricting in Texas.

California lawmakers voted mostly along party lines Thursday to approve legislation calling for the special election. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has led the campaign in favor of the map. The fight goes beyond California and Texas. Other states are also considering redistricting plans, including Indiana and Missouri, which lean Republican.

While the Texas plan will likely face legal challenges before taking effect, it is already having an effect on the 2026 elections. Hours after the bill cleared the House, State Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, announced he would run for the newly drawn Congressional District 9 in the Houston area. In central Texas, the new voting districts may push out a Congressman who has served for decades.

Lloyd Doggett was first elected to Congress in 1995. Rep. Doggett currently represents District 37, one of two Austin-area districts held by Democrats. The other is District 35 held by Rep. Greg Casar. The new map moves District 35 out of Austin to cover parts of San Antonio and counties south and east of the city. Voters in that new district favored Donald Trump by 10 points in the last election.

Doggett and Casar appeared together at recent rallies opposing redistricting. But both democrats faced questions about a potential primary showdown under the new maps. Casar leads the Congressional Progressive Caucus in Washington, and some progressives in central Texas started a vocal campaign in support of the younger congressman.

Thursday morning, a group led by former state senator Wendy Davis called for Doggett to step aside to clear a path for Casar.

“We want to make sure that we are not risking losing Congressman Casar and the incredible, incredible trajectory he’s on right now, and his ability to represent Texas, and honestly the country as a whole in the role that that he has right now,” Davis said.

Later that day, Doggett issued a news release, saying he would end his reelection campaign if the new district map survives court challenges. That would rule out a primary against Casar. Doggett said the statement from Davis highlighted division among Texas Democrats, which he believes would detract from progressive goals.

“What did affect me from that is that beginning at 4:00 AM in the morning, a Twitter storm started and social media battle on Democratic chat groups, and it was just indicative of the fact that we’re going to have a slug fest here if we have two Democratic members of Congress running against one another,” Doggett said, addressing reporters on Friday.

“That is not in our interest at a time our country is in such peril, and when we need everyone united against Trump autocracy. And so that’s why I decided to step aside, not because of what was written, but the reaction to it as an indication of what would lie ahead in a six month slug fest,” Doggett added.

After Doggett’s announcement, Casar had kind words for his fellow congressmen. He posted on social media, “Lloyd Doggett is an Austin institution. I’ve learned so much from him. I’m grateful to him. The fight for democracy continues.”

Doggett emphasized that he is still running for reelection to his current district. He believes that courts should reject the redrawn maps that Texas lawmakers passed.

Governor adds Ivermectin access to Special Session call

Gov. Greg Abbott is calling on lawmakers to pass more legislation during the ongoing Special Session. Wednesday evening, he announced that he added three items to the Special Session #2 agenda. Among them, a measure to allow over-the-counter access to Ivermectin.

State Rep. Joanne Shofner, R-Nacogdoches, has proposed a bill to give patients access to Ivermectin without a presccription. The drug, which is used for treating parasitic infections in animals and humans, gained attention when people began using it to treat symptoms of COVID-19. Current research from the CDC does not support claims that the drug is effective to treat COVID-19. Shofner said people should have freedom to choose to take the drug.

“This is one of the primary things when I ran that I wanted to have some sort of medical freedom. We have to be able to be free in order to select the medicine we need,” Shofner said.

Rep. Shofner authored a similar bill in the regular session, which failed to advance. She said the biggest hurdle is what she described as big pharma.

“Back in 1994 is when the patent went out, so there’s no money to be made on it, so they’re not pushing it,” Shofner said.

Dr. Zeke Silva with the Texas Medical Association testifited against the original version of Shofner’s bill. He said a doctor should be involved in making the decision whether a patient should take Ivermectin.

“You could imagine a scenario where a medication interacts with another medication. In this case, imagine Warfarin, that might lead to a bleeding complication,” Silva said.

Shofner is optimistic about the chances for her legislation. She noted that at least three other states have approved over-the-counter access to Ivermectin.

“That sends a huge message,” she said.

A news release from the Governor’s office outlined the additional items added to the special session call, which Abbott described as “important issues that will benefit Texas.”

  • Legislation to impose penalties or punishments for legislators who willfully absent themselves during a session

  • Legislation to authorize a person to purchase Ivermectin at a pharmacy

  • Legislation relating to a groundwater study of East Texas aquifers by the Texas Water Development Board prior to the issuance of permits or permit amendments by certain groundwater conservation districts

Camp Mystic families advocate for flood safety legislation

Dozens of families packed inside a small room at the Texas Capitol Monday shared tragic stories — and where their lives are now — after learning their daughters died in July floods at Camp Mystic.

Flash flooding claimed more than 130 lives in Central Texas. Here’s what we know about the victims

“My anguish is as infinite as the stars in the sky … a black hole of pain,” 8-year-old Virginia Hollis’ mother said. “We don’t know when she died, we don’t know how, we really don’t know anything … Camp Mystic families advocate for flood safety legislation at Capitolall we do know is our daughter was at camp, she was not protected, she was not safe.”

After 25 campers and two counselors were swept away by fast-rising water, lawmakers are looking to pass legislation to create uniform flood safety measures, protocols and standards. This, after Camp Mystic, along the Guadalupe River, has been criticized by parents and officials for not doing enough to keep kids safe.

Senate Bill 1 relates specifically to camp ground and youth camp safety. It would require a number of changes:

  • An online list of licensed youth camps

  • Prohibit the state from issuing renewing a license to a youth camp that operates one or more cabins located in a floodplain

  • Additional health and safety standards, including making sure staff and volunteers are trained on the camp’s emergency plan

  • Camp emergency plans would be required to be stored in a state data base that the Texas Department of Emergency Management can access

  • Give parents access to the emergency plan upon request

  • A mandated safety orientation conducted by a camp operator or staff no more than 48 hours into camp for all campers

The reality for families who lost their girls is dark, as they work to honor their daughters who were lost in what has been deemed a preventable loss. After their testimony, senators also heard from other camp that do have effective safety measures, to help with determining best practices.

Both the Senate and the House moved quickly to pass legislation to create more uniform safety standards for camps.

One day after the Senate hearing, many of the families returned to the Capitol. They sat in the gallery for the vote on House Bill 1, which requires youth camps to submit detailed emergency preparedness plans for floods. It also bans camps from building cabins in 100 year flood plains.

“When I speak on this bill and for this bill, I hope I’m not just speaking for myself, but for the lost children, the grieving families who have called us met with us and shared their heartbreaking grief with us,” State Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo said from the House floor, looking up at the parents seated in the gallery.

Rep. Darby authored HB 1, a bill that had strong bipartisan support.

“Let me be clear, nobody could have anticipated, nobody could have anticipated what happened that weekend, but we could have been better prepared,” State Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin said. Her voice broke as she spoke, which happened to several other lawmakers who spoke in support of the bill, recognizing the grief of the affected families.

Before the vote, House members paid tribute to the 27 girls who died at Camp Mystic, reciting their names and recognizing their families in the gallery. “Members this bill is for Heaven’s 27,” Darby said, leading up to the vote to pass the legislation.

Hours later, the families returned to the Capitol, this time to watch Senators pass SB 1, the Senate version of the camp safety bill.

“I can tell you that on a bipartisan basis, the members of this floor and this Senate are here to take action so that this never happens again,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told the families sitting above in the Senate gallery.

Bill author Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, said he worked closely with the families to shape the legislation, and he addressed them before the final vote.

“You’ve acknowledged your strengths comes from your kiddos, and it will be with you forever, and don’t ever, ever forget to lean on that in your bad days. But what you’ve done for me was your testimony and witness of faith in action,” Perry said from the Senate floor.

Perry asked the families to stand as he read tributes to each of 27 girls who died at Camp Mystic. Then, Senators took the voted unanimously to pass Senate Bill 1.

Scrapping STAAR: Plans to replace standardized test advance at State Capitol

The Texas House committee on public education advanced a plan that would eliminate the state’s current standardized test and replace it with a new type of testing that is designed to hopefully reduce anxiety and stress for students in the classroom. But it doesn’t appear to have bipartisan support.

House Bill 8 — authored by State Rep. Brad Buckley, R – Salado, would repeal the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, test at the start of the 2027-2028 academic year. Buckley said it would be replaced with a series of shorter assessments throughout the school year.

“To eliminate the high-stakes, one test, one day environment,” Buckley said to his colleagues on the committee as he laid out the bill. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree the STAAR test needs to go. During the regular session this year, the original STAAR-repeal proposal almost received unanimous support in the Texas House, but disagreements with the Senate ultimately killed the bill.

The added pressure placed on students with the STAAR test became apparent in the committee meeting after a seventh grade student from Fort Worth ISD testified.

“The STAAR test creates that major weight on my brain where I can’t think while the teacher is giving me information,” the student said. “I don’t sleep well and I don’t eat well. Now you tell me if that seems healthy for a child’s brain and body.”

The current proposal would create three different tests spaced throughout the school year. A beginning of the year test, a middle of the year test, and an end of year test. The first two tests will be adaptive, meaning the questions will change for each student depending on if they got the previous question correct. This will provide data to show what grade level of a subject each student is testing at.

Those test results will be available to both teachers and parents 48 hours after the assessment. Mary Lynn Pruneda, the director of education policy at Texas 2036, a nonpartisan public policy group, said the proposed testing system will help educators track how their students are progressing throughout the school year.

“An adaptive test goes up and it goes down, and it can get you a really full picture of where exactly your child is performing,” she explained.

The end of year assessment will be the same for all students and will be pushed back to later in the year to give teachers more time to teach. HB 8 also bans over testing and sets a limit on the number of preparation tests a district can give a student.

The bill passed out of committee with eight ayes and one no, with six members not present. State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D – Austin, was the lone dissenting vote and the only Democrat of the present members. Her main concern with the testing proposal centers on who is making the test. The proposal would require the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to do the job.

“I just have no faith that our state will do a good job of it as it has not done a good job with the creation of the STAAR test,” Hinojosa said. She instead is advocating for a nationally norm-referenced test that would show how Texas students are doing in comparison to other states.

Hinojosa points out students in Texas who are not in the public education system are tested with a national test instead of a test created by the state.

House Bill 4 — the original plan to repeal the STAAR test in the regular session — did replace the STAAR with three nationally norm-referenced tests. However, Buckley, who wrote HB 4 earlier in the year, decided to go with a criterion-referenced test for the end of year exam. So what’s the difference?

Pruneda explains the difference with the analogy of two different types of scales. She equates the norm-referenced test with a balance scale, which shows you the comparison of weight between two different objects. In terms of education, it shows you who is better or worse in test scores.

The criterion-referenced test is like a scale you step on to see how much you weigh, Pruneda explained. It shows you exactly how much you weigh down to the ounce.

“A norm-referenced test, which was talked about during the regular legislative session, actually requires that 50% of kids don’t pass. But a criterion-referenced test is a lot more useful to moms and dads, because it tells them exactly if their kid is on grade level and anything that they’re specifically struggling with,” Pruneda said.

State Rep. John Bryant, D – Dallas, asked Buckley during the meeting why there was a drastic change from HB 4 in the regular session and HB 8 in the special session. Buckley said he had been able to speak with stakeholders over the past couple of months to find the best pathway forward, and he felt a norm-referenced test would not accurately assess Texas students on the state’s education standards.

“I think this is a fair sort of marriage of the two ideas that gives flexibility to districts that can move for growth throughout the year, but also gives us the opportunity to know whether or not kids are achieving at the at a level they should be on the state standards.”

An almost identical bill already passed out of the Texas Senate. The House bill now moves to the floor for a vote.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.

Comments

I want to comment

◎Welcome to participate in the discussion, please express your views and exchange your opinions here.