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ga-event-category="navigation" ga-event-action="series label click" ga-event-label="Texas Legislature 2021">Texas Legislature 2021</a>  <h1 itemprop="headline" class="t-headline t-serif t-lh-s has-b-btm-marg">Analysis: When Texas legislators admit they don’t know what they’re doing</h1>  <div class="has-notch is-hidden-from-bp-s has-b-btm-marg has-bg-yellow"></div> <p class="has-s-btm-marg has-vert-bar has-vert-bar--from-bp-s t-size-b has-text-yellow"> <span class="has-text-gray-dark">When lawmakers find something in the law that they don’t like — or that their voters don’t like — they can always say they didn’t know what they were voting on. It happens more than you’d think.</span> </p>  <p class="t-byline has-text-vert-padding t-uppercase t-lsp-m t-size-xs has-text-gray-dark has-s-btm-marg"> <span class="t-byline__item l-display-ib">by <a href="/web/20211116214056/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/ross-ramsey/">Ross Ramsey</a></span> <time class="byline--item t-byline__item l-display-ib" datetime="Thu, 7 Oct 2021 05:00:00 -0500" title="2021-10-07 05:00 CDT">Oct. 7, 2021</time><time class="byline--item t-byline__item l-display-ib" datetime="Thu, 7 Oct 2021 05:00:00 -0500" title="2021-10-07 05:00 CDT">5 AM Central</time> </p> </div>  <div id="share_button_row" class="c-share t-align-center t-size-s" ga-tracker="social_shares"> <a class="c-button c-button--outline has-bg-facebook has-text-facebook has-text-hover-facebook l-align-center-children has-reset-padding" 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src="https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/3WqUpRBTr641wDbNckcj7lAdOdw=/850x570/smart/filters:quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/2ffb3b1f7c48bd6a6e16d0215a5d852d/ATX%20Winter%20Storm%20JV%20Feb%2016%20TT%2036.jpg" alt="The Texas Capitol grounds are covered in snow on Feb. 16, 2021." class="did-load c-image__img"> </picture> </div> </div> <figcaption class="c-caption t-links-underlined l-display-block t-size-xs"> <span> The Texas Capitol grounds, covered in snow on Feb. 16, 2021. </span> <cite> <span class="is-sr-only">Credit:</span><span class="c-icon c-icon--baseline"><svg aria-hidden="true"><use xlink:href="/web/20211116214056im_/https://www.texastribune.org/2021/10/07/texas-lawmakers/#camera"></use></svg></span> Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune </cite> </figcaption> </figure> </div>  <div class="story_body c-story-body t-size-b has-giant-btm-marg"> <div class="c-story-body"> <p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left"><sub><em>Editor's note: If you'd like an email notice whenever we publish Ross Ramsey's column, click<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056/https://us3.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=3d0ce87edeeb6df90043897db&id=d9a68d8efc"> here</a>.</em></sub></p> <p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left"><strong><sub><em>If you would like to listen to the column, just click on the play button below.</em></sub></strong></p> <div class="c-plugin c-plugin--default c-plugin--narrow is-hidden-print"> <div class="c-plugin__inner"> <div id="audio-2189011"> <div class="loading loading--s c-loading c-loading--s" aria-hidden="true"></div> </div> </div> </div> <p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left">State government in Texas is more of a slapdash operation than our high school civics teachers prepared us for. Some of the people working in and around the Texas Capitol definitely know what they’re doing. There are some real Jedis out there.</p> <p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left">Others — some of them in high elected places — leave you shaking your head. Some recent examples:</p> <div class="c-plugin c-plugin--flush "> <div class="c-plugin__inner"> <div id="ad-unit-6620" class="js-ad-unit"> <div class="c-ad-flex"> <div class="c-ad-flex__inner"> <div class="c-ad-flex__unit"></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left">• A legislative committee ripped into the state’s Railroad Commission last week for doing what it was supposed to do under a law passed by the Legislature earlier this year in response to the freeze and power outages that killed as many as 700 Texans in February.</p> <p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left">In a weird <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056/https://www.texastribune.org/2021/09/28/texas-power-grid-loophole/">do-what-we-meant-and-not-what-we-said moment</a>, as reported by The Texas Tribune’s Mitchell Ferman, members of a state Senate committee blasted the commission after learning that the agency hasn’t ordered gas companies to winterize their facilities before the weather turns cold again. But the agency was acting in accordance with a law passed by this Legislature earlier this year. The ink is barely dry. That law lets gas companies off the hook: If the companies don’t voluntarily designate themselves as “critical infrastructure,” they’re not required to weatherize.</p> <p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left">The Railroad Commission was just following the Texas Legislature’s instructions.</p> <p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left">• Here’s another one. The Legislature battled through <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056/https://www.texastribune.org/2021/09/01/texas-voting-bill-greg-abbott/">a highly contested set of restrictive voting measures</a> this year. The fight gobbled up their time before <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056/https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/30/texas-voting-restrictions-house/">failing during the regular legislative session</a>. The Republican majority prevailed in an overtime session this summer after weathering <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056/https://www.texastribune.org/2021/07/12/texas-democrats-walk-out-voting-bill/">quorum-breaking walkouts</a> by Democrats.</p> <div class="c-plugin c-plugin--default c-plugin--narrow is-hidden-print"> <div class="c-plugin__inner"> <div id="newsletter-subscribe-3762"> <div class="loading loading--s c-loading c-loading--s" aria-hidden="true"></div> </div> </div> </div> <p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left">Now Republicans <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056/https://www.texastribune.org/2021/09/30/texas-greg-abbott-voting/">already want to change something</a> in that legislation. The new law lowers the penalty for unintentional voter fraud. They knew that. The provision made news, along with other requirements in the legislation. This was the spectacle of the summer for anyone who was paying attention to the Texas Legislature.</p> <p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left">And now some high officials are claiming somebody snuck the reduced penalty into the law.</p> <p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left">That’s only true for lawmakers who don’t read this stuff before they vote.</p> <p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left">After the governor signed the new voting and election bill into law, complete with that penalty reduction, activists and former officeholders <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056/https://www.texastribune.org/2021/10/05/texas-senate-voting-election-audit/">chasing phantom election fraud</a> said felony penalties needed to apply. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056/https://www.texastribune.org/2021/09/30/texas-greg-abbott-voting/">The governor added</a> increasing penalties to the official agenda of the current special session. The lieutenant governor <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056/https://twitter.com/DanPatrick/status/1443702526319243267?s=20">tweeted in support</a>, and blamed the House for the reduced penalty — in the process proving the Senate doesn’t read the legislation it votes on.</p> <div class="c-plugin c-plugin--flush "> <div class="c-plugin__inner"> <div id="ad-unit-9201" class="js-ad-unit"> <div class="c-ad-flex"> <div class="c-ad-flex__inner"> <div class="c-ad-flex__unit"></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left">“Thanks @GovAbbott for placing a correction to an amd. on #SB1, which decreases the penalty for voting illegally, on the call. The House added last minute & went under the radar until Gov., @TXAG & I found it & agreed then it must be corrected. The Senate will pass next week.”</p> <p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left">The speaker of the House, who is as Republican as the other two, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056/https://twitter.com/DadePhelan/status/1443744435142074376?s=20">tweeted</a> — that’s how they squabble these days — that he and the House don’t want to mess with it, saying the bill “was passed by the Senate after both chambers and the Office of the Attorney General thoroughly reviewed and weighed in on the bill. With much acclaim from elected officials and voters, Governor Greg Abbott then signed the bill into law. Now is not the time to re-litigate.”</p> <p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left">What was a fight between Republicans and Democrats for most of the year is now a family feud within the GOP.</p> <p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left">Amid these displays of legislative prowess, lawmakers are <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056/https://www.texastribune.org/2021/10/05/texas-house-redistricting-committee-map/">drawing new political maps</a> — a job required after <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056/https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/12/texas-2020-census/">the 2020 census was delivered</a>, with its revelation that Texas has almost 4 million more people than it did 10 years ago and that 95% of the new Texans are people of color. Ten years ago, the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056/https://www.texastribune.org/2011/02/18/minorities-drove-texas-growth-census-figures-show/">2010 census found</a> the state had grown by 4.3 million people over a decade and that 89% of that growth was attributable to people of color.</p> <div class="c-plugin c-plugin--flush "> <div class="c-plugin__inner"> <div id="ad-unit-5627" class="js-ad-unit"> <div class="c-ad-flex"> <div class="c-ad-flex__inner"> <div class="c-ad-flex__unit"></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left">Then and now, Republican lawmakers are <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056/https://www.texastribune.org/2021/10/04/texas-senate-redistricting-map/">trying to draw maps</a> that allow them to hold their majority — and to do so without violating the U.S. Constitution or federal voting laws. It’s going the way you might expect. In a state where non-Hispanic white people make up less than 40% of the population, the majority of eligible voters in 59.3% of the proposed House districts are white. In the proposed Senate districts, it’s 64.5%. In the proposed Texas congressional districts, it’s 60.5%.</p> <p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left">If these turn out to be the final maps, and the voters or the courts turn up their noses at the differences between population and representation, lawmakers needn’t worry.</p> <p class="t-copy t-links-underlined t-align-left">They can always say they didn’t know what they were voting on.</p> </div> <div class="c-plugin c-plugin--default c-plugin--narrow is-hidden-print"> <div class="c-plugin__inner"> <section class="t-serif"> <div class="has-notch has-bg-yellow has-b-btm-marg" aria-hidden="true"></div> <h2 class="t-sans t-uppercase t-lsp-b t-size-b has-b-btm-marg has-text-black"> Related News </h2> <ul class="has-l-btm-marg"> <li class="has-b-btm-marg">  <article class="c-story-block c-story-block--read-more c-story-block--stack-until-bp-m"> <header class="c-story-block__text t-links-underlined-hover"> <h3 class="has-tiny-btm-marg"> <a href="/web/20211116214056/https://www.texastribune.org/2021/10/04/texas-redistricting-racial-representation/" ga-on="click" ga-event-category="read more" ga-event-action="curated" ga-event-label="story page"> <strong>Analysis: In the drive to get new Texas political maps, racial representation takes a back seat</strong> </a> </h3> <p class="t-byline t-uppercase t-lsp-b t-sans t-size-xs has-text-gray-dark is-hidden-until-bp-m"> <time class="t-byline__item l-display-ib" datetime="Mon, 4 Oct 2021 05:00:00 -0500"> Oct. 4, 2021 </time> </p> </header> <figure class="c-story-block__image-wrap is-hidden-until-bp-m"> <a href="/web/20211116214056/https://www.texastribune.org/2021/10/04/texas-redistricting-racial-representation/" class="l-display-block" tabindex="-1" ga-on="click" ga-event-category="read more" ga-event-action="curated" ga-event-label="story page"> <div class="c-image"> <div class="c-image__placeholder has-bg-white-off"> <noscript> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/knLQOxsLrQYZ2iT4Dlt0mh2tY2c=/850x570/smart/filters:quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/64ab417757535c60e6d2d01b6c11aa41/Lege%202021%20Opening%20Day%20MG%20TT%2004.jpg" alt="A view inside the state Capitol on the opening day of the Legislative Session. 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data-srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/DWHdiZFjMh9XKyYs9rHtgarl8EY=/3000x2010/smart/filters:quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/64ab417757535c60e6d2d01b6c11aa41/Lege%202021%20Opening%20Day%20MG%20TT%2004.jpg 3000w, https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/9MGiakrMXHvg80cANWXDabWeKqI=/2500x1675/smart/filters:quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/64ab417757535c60e6d2d01b6c11aa41/Lege%202021%20Opening%20Day%20MG%20TT%2004.jpg 2500w, https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/xl55rpHbCJreincTkA1Br1UZCDg=/1550x1038/smart/filters:quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/64ab417757535c60e6d2d01b6c11aa41/Lege%202021%20Opening%20Day%20MG%20TT%2004.jpg 1550w, 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" class="c-image__img l-width-full l-display-block did-load"> </noscript> <picture> <source data-srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/VsKvbxJDkpyNPUaeN-TD0NzsR9s=/3000x2010/smart/filters:format(webp):quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/dc1551e2ee4c042de615212766192934/MLK%20Day%20JV%20TT%2029.jpg 3000w, https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/HjODAbluZMOglypE1LavqgfSLLQ=/2500x1675/smart/filters:format(webp):quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/dc1551e2ee4c042de615212766192934/MLK%20Day%20JV%20TT%2029.jpg 2500w, https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/qq1mscEHg3IJ8gJYXex-DSj8dT4=/1550x1038/smart/filters:format(webp):quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/dc1551e2ee4c042de615212766192934/MLK%20Day%20JV%20TT%2029.jpg 1550w, https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/EX-nDQA5aBWto7y0jKLq3yyUb0w=/1200x804/smart/filters:format(webp):quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/dc1551e2ee4c042de615212766192934/MLK%20Day%20JV%20TT%2029.jpg 1200w, https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/EnpoQrdP1V-C_0Vk885on6IxkOE=/1000x670/smart/filters:format(webp):quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/dc1551e2ee4c042de615212766192934/MLK%20Day%20JV%20TT%2029.jpg 1000w, https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/IvuQILRJgJ_pav5WiwXH1YcwkzQ=/850x570/smart/filters:format(webp):quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/dc1551e2ee4c042de615212766192934/MLK%20Day%20JV%20TT%2029.jpg 850w, https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/9R9fshgSKNGEtt4ofGq_oiTzfd8=/640x429/smart/filters:format(webp):quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/dc1551e2ee4c042de615212766192934/MLK%20Day%20JV%20TT%2029.jpg 640w, https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/kdQOw4nDtO05DFTXdCCzEEOLT-Q=/375x251/smart/filters:format(webp):quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/dc1551e2ee4c042de615212766192934/MLK%20Day%20JV%20TT%2029.jpg 375w" type="image/webp"> <source data-srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/VFMzR-wzfcW4hlpjP1_TG6CvHvs=/3000x2010/smart/filters:quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/dc1551e2ee4c042de615212766192934/MLK%20Day%20JV%20TT%2029.jpg 3000w, https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/I-HEw4YwaYI7zzSd1MFL33JW4PA=/2500x1675/smart/filters:quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/dc1551e2ee4c042de615212766192934/MLK%20Day%20JV%20TT%2029.jpg 2500w, https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/LM6uH91NBT2QZ_7LR1SvBG-bjQM=/1550x1038/smart/filters:quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/dc1551e2ee4c042de615212766192934/MLK%20Day%20JV%20TT%2029.jpg 1550w, https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/hkdCi2CsrVT_nmqczvGNpq4ocZ8=/1200x804/smart/filters:quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/dc1551e2ee4c042de615212766192934/MLK%20Day%20JV%20TT%2029.jpg 1200w, https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/Xh9QGPcokc1APvRX0OuajVd_Il0=/1000x670/smart/filters:quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/dc1551e2ee4c042de615212766192934/MLK%20Day%20JV%20TT%2029.jpg 1000w, https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/UrQxnxADtyIinAiNMi0tJ2Ftqmc=/850x570/smart/filters:quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/dc1551e2ee4c042de615212766192934/MLK%20Day%20JV%20TT%2029.jpg 850w, https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/VRtEq_ShfGjdszHzQRP_hEgGneo=/640x429/smart/filters:quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/dc1551e2ee4c042de615212766192934/MLK%20Day%20JV%20TT%2029.jpg 640w, https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/FI2aTKGViquqDVLH170WaNuDnWM=/375x251/smart/filters:quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/dc1551e2ee4c042de615212766192934/MLK%20Day%20JV%20TT%2029.jpg 375w"> <img data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/UrQxnxADtyIinAiNMi0tJ2Ftqmc=/850x570/smart/filters:quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/dc1551e2ee4c042de615212766192934/MLK%20Day%20JV%20TT%2029.jpg" alt="Crowds march through Austin in celebration of Martin Luther King Day on Jan. 20, 2020. " class="js-lazy-image js-lazy-image--target c-image__img" data-sizes="auto"> </picture> </div> </div> </a> </figure> </article> </li> <li class="has-b-btm-marg">  <article class="c-story-block c-story-block--read-more c-story-block--stack-until-bp-m"> <header class="c-story-block__text t-links-underlined-hover"> <h3 class="has-tiny-btm-marg"> <a href="/web/20211116214056/https://www.texastribune.org/2021/09/27/texas-elections-abortion-guns-legislature/" ga-on="click" ga-event-category="read more" ga-event-action="curated" ga-event-label="story page"> <strong>Analysis: Texas politicians are thinking what they think their voters think they should think</strong> </a> </h3> <p class="t-byline t-uppercase t-lsp-b t-sans t-size-xs has-text-gray-dark is-hidden-until-bp-m"> <time class="t-byline__item l-display-ib" datetime="Mon, 27 Sep 2021 05:00:00 -0500"> Sept. 27, 2021 </time> </p> </header> <figure class="c-story-block__image-wrap is-hidden-until-bp-m"> <a href="/web/20211116214056/https://www.texastribune.org/2021/09/27/texas-elections-abortion-guns-legislature/" class="l-display-block" tabindex="-1" ga-on="click" ga-event-category="read more" ga-event-action="curated" ga-event-label="story page"> <div class="c-image"> <div class="c-image__placeholder has-bg-white-off"> <noscript> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/vse8FGD8esaG9LEVOkfyBa7Gn7Y=/850x570/smart/filters:quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/83d1da5a58bac0fc2c145c930e9c1f44/Abbott%20Border%20Announcement%20SP%20TT%2001" alt="Flanked by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan, Gov. Greg Abbott held a press conference at the Capitol to pr…" class="c-image__img l-width-full l-display-block did-load"> </noscript> <picture> <source data-srcset="https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/CDoROtZTl8tJeUS_idM65SXLYSQ=/3000x2010/smart/filters:format(webp):quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/83d1da5a58bac0fc2c145c930e9c1f44/Abbott%20Border%20Announcement%20SP%20TT%2001 3000w, https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/hVqfXqNanPnH4UFruoGFolt4JXk=/2500x1675/smart/filters:format(webp):quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/83d1da5a58bac0fc2c145c930e9c1f44/Abbott%20Border%20Announcement%20SP%20TT%2001 2500w, https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/l31aU7Wbv5jWxpI1dBTpOb67f7w=/1550x1038/smart/filters:format(webp):quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/83d1da5a58bac0fc2c145c930e9c1f44/Abbott%20Border%20Announcement%20SP%20TT%2001 1550w, https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/SP_AdZ9LhthyB52CAjQ7F0biGOc=/1200x804/smart/filters:format(webp):quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/83d1da5a58bac0fc2c145c930e9c1f44/Abbott%20Border%20Announcement%20SP%20TT%2001 1200w, https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/ZvwevtPjoCk75mGviKI_CovLrRI=/1000x670/smart/filters:format(webp):quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/83d1da5a58bac0fc2c145c930e9c1f44/Abbott%20Border%20Announcement%20SP%20TT%2001 1000w, 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https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/AsgFtQExfGM_XLjSVbKbSkXKEWM=/640x429/smart/filters:quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/83d1da5a58bac0fc2c145c930e9c1f44/Abbott%20Border%20Announcement%20SP%20TT%2001 640w, https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056im_/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/CzAdeZllvCy9AlleJec5qzRi2yY=/375x251/smart/filters:quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/83d1da5a58bac0fc2c145c930e9c1f44/Abbott%20Border%20Announcement%20SP%20TT%2001 375w"> <img data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20211116214056/https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/vse8FGD8esaG9LEVOkfyBa7Gn7Y=/850x570/smart/filters:quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/83d1da5a58bac0fc2c145c930e9c1f44/Abbott%20Border%20Announcement%20SP%20TT%2001" alt="Flanked by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan, Gov. Greg Abbott held a press conference at the Capitol to pr…" class="js-lazy-image js-lazy-image--target c-image__img" data-sizes="auto"> </picture> </div> </div> </a> </figure> </article> </li> </ul> <div id="ad-unit-2998" class="js-ad-unit"> <div class="c-ad-fluid"></div> </div> </section> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="c-plugin c-plugin--default c-plugin--narrow "> <div class="c-plugin__inner"> <div class="has-vert-bar has-vert-bar--padded-xxl has-vert-bar--thin has-text-yellow"> <h2 class="t-headline t-serif t-lh-s t-size-l has-b-btm-marg has-text-black-off">Quality journalism doesn't come free</h2> <p class="t-size-b t-serif t-links-underlined has-b-btm-marg has-text-black-off">Perhaps it goes without saying — but producing quality journalism isn't cheap. 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