It’s Friday, and that means it’s time to recap the week in Texas politics with with Alex Samuels, political reporter for The Texas Tribune.
COVID-19 continues to dominate national headlines, and the same goes for the news in Texas. Samuels told Texas Standard host David Brown Friday that there has been a lot of media coverage this week centered around Gov. Greg Abbott’s potential plans for reopening some businesses and services. His announcement is expected Monday.
“Abbott has suggested that the announcement’s implementation could vary by county, just depending on how prevalent the virus is in each place,” Samuels said.
Abbott has already lifted A COVID-19-inspired executive order prohibiting all elective surgeries. Samuels said that after several rounds of legal fights, it means that abortions are now available in Texas once more.
“With this now underway, the ban on all abortions in Texas during the pandemic appears to be over,” she said.
Meanwhile, in Houston, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s public health decree requiring citizens to wear masks in public has prompted political pushback from several Texas Republicans. The order was met with “pretty swift criticism from some GOP leaders,” Samuels said, chief among them Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
Web story by Wells Dunbar.
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