Governor Greg Abbott of Texas has prohibited school districts in the state from issuing face mask ordinances, despite CDC recommendations.
Earlier this December, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated Abbot’s prohibition on mask orders for public schools. As per the Texas Tribune’s Political Reporter James Barragán, the court found that the ban should be brought back into existence until officials could listen to and judge the case fully.
In other news, the Railroad Commission of Texas took some steps to make the electric grid in the state for winter. However, there are still concerns about what the commission failed to address.
Further, new legislation associated with the debate over the alleged tutoring of critical race theory (CRT) in state public schools also became effective over the first week of December. You can know more about the weekly events in state politics from the Texas Standard podcast.