Sergio Martínez-Beltrán
Sergio Martínez-Beltrán is Nashville Public Radio’s political reporter. Prior to moving to Nashville, Sergio covered education for the Standard-Examiner newspaper in Ogden, Utah. He is a Puerto Rico native and his work has also appeared on NPR station WKAR, San Antonio Express-News, Inter News Service, GFR Media and WMIZ 1270 AM.
In his free time (once in a blue moon), Sergio can be found playing volleyball or in Flamenco Beach in Culebra, Puerto Rico. He is a graduate of Michigan State University and the coolest uncle (feel free to fact-check) to Olivia and Jimena.
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Bill author Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, said the measure is coming in response to what he called “an explosion” of local ordinances adding regulations. -
State Rep. James Talarico, D-Round Rock, said his bill would be the largest salary increase for teachers in the state’s history. “That's the kind of bold action this moment requires. And we can do this,” Talarico said. -
Bills range from prohibiting insurance companies from covering gender-affirming care to revoking the license of a doctor who performs a gender-affirming surgery on a minor. -
Historically, in sessions after a mass shooting in Texas, bills seeking to restrict guns have gone nowhere. -
Conservatives want to use part of the money to provide property tax relief. Progressives want to boost funding for public education. -
Patrick, a Republican from Houston who holds the most powerful position in the state Legislature, said he believes his priorities could be accomplished if the state is “smart” in how it uses its over $27 billion surplus. -
While many Uvalde families backed Democratic candidates, the city and county have long been a Republican stronghold. Now, some of the school shooting victims’ families say they’ll continue fighting for changes to the state’s gun laws. -
Two years after 2020, the Big Lie — the false claim that the presidential election was stolen — is as alive as ever in Texas. And with early voting for the midterm elections underway, many worry democracy will be tested this year like never before. -
Sharon Navarro, a professor of political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said the messages Republicans are using to target Latino voters — about immigration and the economy — seem to be working. -
In the aftermath of the Uvalde shooting, families of victims asked Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special session. They wanted him to direct the Texas Legislature to increase the minimum age limit for purchasing a semi-automatic weapon to 21. But Abbott refused.
