A Texas judge on Thursday ordered a New York doctor to pay more than $100,000 in penalties for prescribing abortion pills to a woman near Dallas, a ruling that could test “shield laws” in Democratic-controlled states where abortion is legal.

A Texas state judge on Thursday ordered a New York doctor to pay a penalty of at least $100,000 and stop providing abortion pills to women in Texas, in a win for the state's Republican attorney general,

There were only so many chair positions to go around, with 30 committees for 88 Republicans, making it inevitable that some would miss out on plum appointments.

Lubbock, announced the assignments for the standing committees in the House of Representatives for the 89th legislative session. The Speaker said it is the first time in the state's history that every standing committee will be chaired by a Republican during a regular session.

State Representative Brooks Landgraf (R-Odessa) has been reappointed by Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows to serve as chairman of the influential Texas House Committee on Environmental Regulation. In addition to this key leadership role,

It is now in the hands of the Texas House to decide what to do about a new property tax cut plan. The author of the Senate's plan calls it the largest exemption increase in state history. While it could save many people hundreds of dollars on property tax bills,

If the Legislature approves SB 4, Texas voters would have to approve the amendment to the state Constitution to make the tax cut permanent.

The Texas Senate gave unanimous approval Thursday to proposals to cut property taxes by raising the Texas homestead exemption to $140,000, sending the measures to the House. Senate Bill 4 and Senate Joint Resolution 2,