SUMMARY: On May 16, 2025, Williamson and Fort Bend County district attorneys filed a lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over a new rule requiring them to submit case files to his office. Williamson County DA Shawn Dick called the rule costly, confusing, and a threat to separation of powers. The same rule is being challenged by district attorneys in Travis, El Paso, Dallas, and Harris counties. Paxton defended the rule as promoting transparency and public safety, accusing DAs of releasing criminals. The lawsuits, filed in Travis County District Court, argue Paxton’s rule is an unconstitutional power grab undermining local authority.

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SUMMARY: The Texas Senate advanced an amended House Bill 2, allocating $8.5 billion in public school funding over two years, focusing on teacher support, school safety, and student opportunities. Key investments include $1.3 billion for basic costs, $850 million for special education overhaul, $430 million for safety, and a fully funded full-day pre-K program. Teacher raises totaling $4.2 billion prioritize experienced staff, expand incentive programs, and offer bonuses for rural teachers. While praised for historic funding, critics like Rep. James Talarico argue the bill was a backroom deal restricting local control, insufficient for inflation impacts, and neglecting newer teachers, demanding broader raises amid a large state surplus.

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“It’s “Texas Time”: Legislature OKs permanent daylight saving time, but Congress must also act” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

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Texas lawmakers want to stop changing the clocks.

Texas senators approved House Bill 1393 on Thursday, which adopts permanent daylight saving time, doing away with the current practice of changing the clocks by an hour every spring and autumn.

Introduced by state Rep. Will Metcalf, a Republican from Conroe who introduced a similar bill during the last legislative session, the bill would eliminate the biannual clock changes for both parts of the state on Central Standard Time and on Mountain Standard Time. The law requires that this new time standard be referred to as “Texas Time.”

The bill now heads to Gov. Greg Abbott to be signed into law.

However, the bill cannot yet take effect because of a superseding federal law, the Uniform Time Act, that states that daylight saving time must begin and end on federally mandated dates.

“This is effectively a trigger bill waiting for change with the federal government,” state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican who sponsored the bill, said before a Senate debate.

With the bill’s passage, Texas joins 18 other states that have adopted similar laws and there is interest to make the change at the federal level.

Last month, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz advocated for eliminating the time changes during a Senate committee hearing on commerce, science, and transportation.

U.S. Sens. Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat, and Rick Scott, a Florida Republican, also introduced a bill adopting permanent daylight saving time, the Sunshine Protection Act, earlier this year.

This would not be the first time the U.S. adopted permanent daylight saving time. The country experimented with the lack of time changes in the 1970s during the Nixon administration as a way to conserve energy. But the experiment, which was meant to last two years, ended early as public opinion soured on permanent daylight saving time over concerns that children heading to school in the darkness were more susceptible to traffic accidents.

While polling shows most Americans support eliminating the time changes, state Sen. Nathan Johnson, a Dallas Democrat, urged lawmakers to rethink their support for the bill, pointing to studies that show that standard time is healthier as it aligns with the body’s natural circadian rhythms, which regulate sleep-wake cycles.

Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.

First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/22/texas-daylight-saving-time/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

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Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

This article presents factual reporting on Texas lawmakers’ efforts to adopt permanent daylight saving time, referencing bipartisan support including Republicans and Democrats at both state and federal levels. It quotes legislators from both parties and provides historical context and scientific concerns without editorializing or promoting a partisan perspective. The tone remains neutral and informative, simply outlining the legislative process and viewpoints without framing the issue through a clear ideological lens. Therefore, the content maintains a balanced and centrist stance.