Gov. Abbott Lifts COVID-19 Restrictions
In a press conference yesterday, Governor Abbott rescinded his previous executive orders which reduced business capacities, and imposed a statewide mask mandate due to COVID-19.
Gov. Abbott added that “Businesses can choose to operate as they would like. Businesses can limit how many people they have—but the state isn’t going to tell them to do it. If they want to require masks, they can.”
https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-lifts-mask-mandate-opens-texas-100-percent
Lawmakers Grill Energy Industry Stakeholders
Lawmakers questioned public regulators and energy grid officials last week about how power outages happened and why Texans weren’t given more warnings about the danger. Energy industry stakeholders testified for hours as they reviewed the failures in the state’s energy system that left millions of Texans shivering in the cold for days without power.
We expect to see a package of legislation developed by lawmakers this session related to winter storm relief and the state’s power reliability.
House Proposes COVID Pandemic Response Bill
Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, a lieutenant of Speaker Dade Phelan, filed an omnibus bill that would overhaul how the state responds to pandemics. The legislation was given a low bill number — HB 3 — indicating it is a priority of the Speaker.
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick has said the Senate’s version will be SB 6, the Pandemic Liability Protection Act.
Only in Austin…
After canceling the annual festival last year due to the pandemic, the annual Austin City Limits Music Festival will be held in-person this year on October 1-3 & 8-10.
Find Festival Information Here: