SMU political science professor Matthew Wilson explains the rarely enforced rules being applied during this second special session of the legislature.

Texas Republicans mandated that Democratic lawmakers not be allowed to leave the state house without a permission slip and a police escort.

A Fort Worth lawmaker’s sit-in on the Texas House floor picked up steam late Tuesday as fellow Democrats flocked to her side for the second night of her round-the-clock vigil after she refused to allow a state trooper to shadow her until the chamber could vote on a new congressional map.