Jef Rouner
Jef Rouner is an award-winning freelance journalist, the author of The Rook Circle, and a member of The Black Math Experiment. He lives in Houston where he spends most of his time investigating corruption and strange happenings. Jef has written for Houston Press, Free Press Houston, and Houston Chronicle.
Influence Looms as Texas Political Fundraising Moratorium Ends
The Texas Ethics Commission places a moratorium on political donations during the regular Texas legislative session as a way to minimize financial influence on...
Gov. Greg Abbot’s Veto Day Is Coming, Here’s What to Expect
“Veto Day” is a tradition in Texas. By constitutional law, the governor has 20 days (excluding Sundays) to issue vetoes once the legislative session...
ERCOT Issues Warning about Electricity Usage
In a move that is sure to be very triggering to Texans after the disastrous winter storm this past February, the Electric Reliability Council...
The Texas Legislature Needs More Transparency
It’s said that democracy dies in darkness, and it’s no secret that many pieces of unpopular legislation try to fly under the radar to...
Texas Evangelical Women May Hold the Key To Herd Immunity
Anti-vaccine sentiment and evangelical Christianity have been known to go hand in hand. Even before the outbreak of COVID, many Texas evangelicals resisted vaccination,...
Texas Republicans Play Blame Game Over Failure of Voter Rights Restriction Bill
The dramatic failure of Senate Bill 7, which would have been one of the largest rollbacks of voter rights in America, has left Texas’...
Parental Leave: Texas Has Dismal Protections for New Parents
Right here in the middle between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day is a good time to point out that our state has no specific...
Medical Marijuana Bill Headed for Law, Other Reforms Stall
This legislative session was full of hope for marijuana reform advocates, but as time ran out over the weekend all but one of the...
How the Democrats Tried to Water Down the Permitless Carry Bill
House Bill 1927, which would do away with the need for Texans to have a license to carry a gun in public, is on...
The Bills That Died in the Texas Legislature This Year
Texas has one of the shortest legislative sessions out of all the states, with the regular congress meeting just five months every two years....
