With the March 5 election just a few days away, six anti-voucher House GOP incumbents managed to sidestep Abbott’s revenge warpath.

Led by Andrew Murr, a West Texas rancher and lawyer, and Ann Johnson, a former prosecutor, the team of 12 includes 11 with law degrees.

The long list of accusations were outlined as part of 20 charges of impeachment adopted by the Texas House.

Facing a rigid deadline, gaming supporters were unable to get the supermajority support needed to move the legislation forward.

Weeks after the committee issued four subpoenas without disclosing what they were for, it moves forward with its investigation into an unnamed lawmaker.

House Speaker Dade Phelan selected Democrats to chair eight of the 34 standing committees, down from the 13 he appointed at the start of the last legislative session.

The radio ad, which criticizes Phelan for appointing Democratic committee chairs, prompted pushback from Republican colleagues in the House over why the state party would use resources to attack its own member.

House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, snuffed out a monthslong push Wednesday to end the chamber’s longtime tradition of having committee chairs from both parties.

Alcohol to go is now law in Texas after Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday signed a bill to permanently allow Texans to include alcohol in take-out orders from restaurants, achieving a shared goal of Abbott and restaurateurs.

The Barn Door restaurant during dinner service in San Antonio on May 18, 2020. Credit: Christopher Lee for The Texas TribuneThe Texas House on Wednesday gave initial approval to legislation that would allow restaurants to sell alcohol to go beyond the coronavirus pandemic. AdHB 1024 was filed by Republican state Rep. Charlie Geren, a restaurant owner in Fort Worth, and co-authored by Democrats. His wife, Texas lobbyist Mindy Ellmer, has been paid for lobbying work by the Texas Restaurant Association, which is backing the legislation. According to the Texas Restaurant Association, 700,000 restaurant employees in Texas lost their jobs in the early days of the pandemic, and thousands of Texas restaurants have closed. Disclosure: Texas Restaurant Association has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors.

Texas lawmakers are pushing to permanently allow restaurants to sell alcohol for pickup and delivery orders, which Gov. The Texas Restaurant Association, which is backing the legislation, paid Ellmer between $25,000 and $49,000 for lobbying work from September through December, according to the Texas Ethics Commission. “The real issue is that Texas’ ethics law is weak,” Shelley said. According to the TRA, 700,000 restaurant employees in Texas lost their jobs in the early days the pandemic, and more than 10,000 Texas restaurants have already closed. With business hampered due to continued increases in infections, 30% of Texas restaurant operators still in business said in December they were concerned about the fate of their operations.

If a House member tests positive for the virus, he wrote, "arrangements will be made ... to allow them to take the oath of office." "The duration of the ceremony will be shortened," he wrote, "and there will be a significant reduction in the number of people admitted to the House floor and gallery." Access to the House floor will be restricted to lawmakers, essential staff, ceremony participants, temporary officers and approved guests, according to Geren. Each lawmaker or incoming member will have two guest seats for family or friends either on the chamber floor or in the gallery. That spacing, coupled with the requirement of a face mask, "is acceptable to medical professionals consulted by the House," he wrote.

Those medicines won’t be widely available at first, and the pandemic will be with us until they are, but they’re on the way. More than half of the state’s 254 counties were in the pandemic “red zone.”The news is mixed. This pandemic is going to be with us for a while longer, and we know how to control the spread. You can see it in the planning underway at the Texas Capitol. And while they wait for the vaccines, their attention is on keeping the pandemic at bay.

Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. And state Sen. Bryan Hughes, a Mineola Republican who chairs the Senate Administration Committee, did not respond to requests for comment. Plexiglass dividers have been installed in several House committee hearing rooms, Geren said. Masks will be required to enter Rosenthal’s Capitol office, which will not allow more than six people inside at a time. In addition to addressing the billions of dollars in shortfalls to the state budget and other core issues during session, state lawmakers are also set to undergo the once-in-a-decade process of redrawing the state’s political maps.

The Texas Capitol Building, Feb. 10, 2015. Credit: Todd Wiseman / The Texas TribuneEditor's note: If you'd like an email notice whenever we publish Ross Ramsey's column, click here. The Texas Capitol has a capacity of 6,000 if you throw the doors open, according to state Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth. The disinfecting was complicated by the artwork and antiques in the building, which would have been ruined by fogging machines. Geren says the public, the lobby and the media might all be forced out, left to follow the action online. The Senate might have its galleries open, but while were in this pandemic, there will be rules for social distancing.