Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who chairs the Senate, and State Representative Matt Schaefer, who drafted the bill, released celebratory statements on Friday, without providing details of what is in the bill. final version. The content will likely become public in the next few days.

The compromise paves the way for Texas to become the latest state to lift gun licensing rules, despite opposition from law enforcement officials.

“Working together, the House and Senate will send Governor Abbott the strongest Second Amendment law in Texas history and protect the right of law-abiding Texans to carry a handgun as they exercise their right.” of self-defense and defense. of their families, ”Schaefer, a Republican from Tyler, said in a statement.

The House and Senate passed different versions of postponement without a permit and had to resolve their differences in a conference committee.The final version of the 1927 House bill still needs a vote in the House and the Senate before they can go to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who said he would sign it. The 2021 legislative session ends on May 31.

—The Dallas Morning News

Biden cuts price of infrastructure plan to $ 1.7 trillion in bid to strike deal with Senate government

White House negotiators presented Republican senators on Friday with a watered-down version of President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan that would cost $ 1.7 trillion instead of the original $ 2.3 trillion, as both sides seek to lock in a compromise on the massive spending bill.

Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, told reporters that the Biden team’s counter-offer removes some funding proposals for research and development efforts related to infrastructure, manufacturing and small companies and transfers that to other spending measures being considered by Congress.

The updated plan also cuts funds offered to expand broadband access and repair roads, bridges and other physical infrastructure to more closely align with price tags offered by a group of moderate Republicans led by West Virginia Senator Shelly Moore Capito, Psaki said.

“In our opinion, it’s the art of finding common ground,” Psaki said.

Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Biden’s chief negotiators in the infrastructure talks, unveiled the counter-offer in a meeting with Republicans on Friday afternoon, according to the White House .

Republicans did not immediately respond to the adjusted infrastructure proposal.

Ammon Bundy files paperwork to run for Idaho governor as Republican

BOISE, Idaho – Ammon Bundy, a far-right activist who cannot legally walk on Idaho Capitol grounds or be in the building, is running for governor, according to a file filed with the Secretary of State for the ‘Idaho.

Bundy filed the necessary documents on Friday to collect donations to campaign in the governor’s race. He’s entering an already crowded race of Republican candidates, including Lieutenant Governor Janice McGeachin. Governor Brad Little has not officially announced a run for re-election.

Bundy, of Emmett, was arrested twice last month in two hours for trespassing on the Statehouse building, last August he was banned from Capitol Park for a year and banned from entering the public spaces of the building.

He was arrested during the August special session, in which he and others refused to leave the reserved seats of the press corps during a meeting. He was taken to Ada County Jail twice in 24 hours after the Capitol arrests, and has been arrested at least three more times since.

Bundy is a frequent protester of mask warrants and other health and safety measures taken during the coronavirus pandemic. He refused to wear a mask during an Emmett High School football game. Several people at the time called threatening 911 and officials at Caldwell’s school, where the game was being played, called it off at halftime. After that, Caldwell School District administrators voted to deny him access to district grounds until the end of this school year.

Bundy also backed an unsuccessful effort to recall Little after the governor issued a stay-at-home order last year in response to the pandemic.

Bundy is known for his anti-government views and for the 2016 armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, which left one of his cohorts dead.

Burmese junta to dissolve Suu Kyi’s political party, report says

Myanmar’s junta-appointed electoral authorities will dissolve the political party of detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, local media reported, while ensuring that the military and its proxies win elections scheduled for next year.

Thein Soe, chairman of the Union Election Commission, said on Friday that the National League for Democracy would be dissolved over allegations of fraud in last year’s election and that its leaders would be prosecuted as traitors , local news outlet Myanmar Now reported. The NLD won a landslide in the vote, which was deemed credible by international observers.

Suu Kyi, who has been confined to her home since the February 1 coup, has been formally charged with six criminal offenses, including incitement and violation of the Official Secrets Act.

The announcement comes a day after reports broke that the junta lifted the mandatory retirement age from 65 for its leaders in February, according to the Irrawaddy. This would allow army chief Min Aung Hlaing, 64, to continue in his post. He is now chairman of the State Administrative Council formed during the coup, making him the de facto leader of Myanmar.

Any move to dissolve Suu Kyi’s political party would show an additional challenge to the United States and its allies, Europe and even neighbors in Southeast Asia who have attempted to negotiate a dialogue with the groups. opposition. Security forces killed more than 800 protesters and arrested more than 5,300, according to the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners.

Following the coup, the military pledged to hold new elections following a state of emergency that could last up to two years. Western governments have imposed sanctions on key military leaders and their families in response to the junta’s takeover.