Inside the Texas Legislature

<p>Over the weekend, months of tension in the Texas Legislature came to a head. A group of Democratic lawmakers got up and left the building before a vote — an act of resistance amid the most conservative Texas legislative session in recent memory. </p><p>The population of Texas is becoming less old, less white and less Republican, so why is its Legislature moving further right?</p><p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/manny-fernandez?smid=pc-thedaily">Manny Fernandez</a>, the Los Angeles bureau chief for The New York Times. He spent more than nine years covering Texas as the Houston bureau chief.</p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/signup/NTTD?smid=pc-thedaily">Sign up here</a> to get The Daily in your inbox each morning. And for an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/the-daily?module=inline">subscribe to our newsletter</a>. </p><p>Background reading: </p><ul><li>The recent session that pushed Texas further to the right, at a time when it seemed least likely to do so — as the state<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/01/us/texas-republicans.html?smid=pc-thedaily"> becomes younger, less white and less Republican</a>.</li><li>After Democrats killed a bill to restrict voting in the state, Republicans pledged to pass it in a special legislative session. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/31/us/politics/texas-voting-bill-.html?smid=pc-thedaily">A new fight looms</a>. </li></ul><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily">nytimes.com/thedaily</a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.</p>