By Sahar Chmais Limiting campaign contributions for state officials and state candidates is the goal set by State Representative Erin Zwiener. House Bill 121, initiated by Zwiener, proposes to limit contributions to $5,000 per election, per individual, and $10,000 per election, per political action ...

By Sahar Chmais  Jane, 22 years old at the time, thought she was six weeks pregnant when she went to have her abortion; to her surprise, she was eight weeks along. Under the newly passed Heartbeat Bill, Jane would not have had a chance to even consider that option.  (Jane is not her real name, as sh...

By Sahar Chmais Employees at firms with 14 or fewer employees currently cannot file a sexual harassment claim with the Texas Workforce Commission. This may soon change if Senate Bill 45 gets signed by Governor Greg Abbott. Under the current law, legal protections against sexual harassment in the wor...

By Sahar Chmais  A bill that incentivizes nature-based infrastructure passed in the Texas House on April 21. HB 2350 was introduced by District 45 Representative Erin Zwiener and encourages nature-based infrastructure through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. The bill targets communities seeking...

By Sahar Chmais In a rare occurrence, Hays County Commissioners were in sync on a decision opposing the language of a bill that would affect groundwater conservation rules in Hays County. Constituents have sent letters to County Judge Ruben Becerra and commissioners Lon Shell, Walt Smith and Debbie ...

By Megan Wehring Many Texans were left in the dark about what happened last week. District 45 Representative Erin Zwiener hosted a virtual town hall with climate and energy consultant Doug Lewin on Wednesday, Feb. 24. Viewers were able to ask any unanswered questions they still had following the win...

By Chase Rogers Local candidates looking for a win during the March 3 Texas primaries showed up in force at the Hays County League of Women Voters candidate forum Feb. 13. But only one of five candidates seeking the State Rep. District 45 positions showed up at the event. Candidates vying for Hays C...

Our local state representative Erin Zwiener stopped by the Hays Free Press/News-Dispatch office to present our publisher Cyndy Slovak-Barton a resolution in recognition of her induction to the Texas Newspaper Foundation Hall of Fame. Congratulations Cyndy! RESOLUTION WHEREAS, Cyndy Slovak-Barton, aw...

LGBTQ advocacy organization Equality Texas celebrated its 30th anniversary on Nov. 16. The five founding members of the Texas Legislature’s LGBTQ Caucus were honored at the celebratory gala for their work championing equal rights during the 86th Legislative Session. Representative Erin Zwiener (D-Dr...