Texas Legislature

The public will gain access to information on COVID-19 and other communicable disease outbreaks in Texas nursing homes and assisted living centers under a bipartisan transparency bill Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law May 24. Senate Bill 930 by Sen. Judith Zaffirini and co-author Sen. Lois Kolkhorst came about after nursing home residents and their loved ones were unable to obtain information on coronavirus clusters in the living facilities when they began to emerge in spring 2020. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission eventually posted the outbreak information online after arguing unsuccessfully to the attorney general that the data should [...]

The Texas House State Affairs Committee unanimously approved two bills Wednesday addressing governments that quit responding to Texas Public Information Acts during the COVID-19 pandemic. The panel approved House Bill 1416 by Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, specifying which days are to be counted as business days for purposes of the Public Information Act. Currently, the law doesn't define TPIA business days. Many governments, citing long-ago attorney general guidance, decided on their own how to calculate business days when the pandemic set in. The legislation next moves to the full House. Committee members also voted in favor of House Bill 3627 by [...]

By Kelley Shannon With state lawmakers immersed in the COVID-19 pandemic response and Texas’ electricity failures, the public’s access to information must be at the forefront of the Legislature’s actions. Information allows citizens to watch over their government, to speak out and to ask questions. There’s no better time than Sunshine Week, starting March 14, to emphasize the importance of the people’s right to know.  The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas and other open government proponents are taking part in a Sunshine Week online discussion March 18 hosted by the Texas Public Policy Foundation as the Texas legislative session approaches its midway [...]