House Bill 26 advanced out of the Texas Legislature on Wednesday evening, two days after being added to the second special session’s agenda.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. complimented Texas as Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law a prohibition on using state tax dollars on specific products with additives, among other measures.
Herrera, a gun rights activist with millions of online followers, said he was “disgusted” to be mentioned by the shooter. Herrera is challenging U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales in the Republican primary.
Flores, who was going to challenge Rep. Henry Cuellar, is returning to her old district after a newly passed map improves Republicans’ chances of ousting Gonzalez.
A two-year delay on new mercury rules benefits coal-fired power plants, while chemical plants got an exemption from stricter air pollution standards.
Democrats say recent changes to the bill give too much power to the TEA and fall short of meaningfully easing the pressures of standardized testing.
In this week’s episode, Matthew and Eleanor talk to Texas Tribune climate reporter Emily Foxhall about the emotional pleas Camp Mystic parents made to state lawmakers and analyze the proposed new laws in response to the Kerrville floods.
The measure comes four years after the state’s highest criminal court ruled the agency could not bring election cases without an invitation from local prosecutors.
An enrollment drop could cost the Texas economy hundreds of millions of dollars, the reports say.
Experts say the Texas Energy Fund is facing an energy market that makes new power plants more expensive and less profitable.
Emails show how overwhelmed West Texas officials were as they asked CDC for guidance on how to respond to the explosive outbreak.
Legislation pushed by Gov. Greg Abbott would bar voters at the polls from immediately casting a ballot based on a last-minute update to their address.
A group of 13 Texas voters is suing the state over newly proposed congressional maps, claiming the redrawn districts unlawfully dilute the political power of Black and Latino voters and violate both the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act.
A Dallas businessman has proposed studying the aquifer to see if he can pump millions of gallons out of East Texas, a plan that residents distrust.
Texas cities and counties have already had their budgets compressed by a variety of factors, including the state’s current property tax limits.
Aaron Reitz and Chip Roy, positioning themselves as Paxton’s ideological heirs, have served as top aides for both the attorney general and Cruz.
Student fellows support vital initiatives like the Texas Tribune Festival and provide in-depth coverage of key issues.
Todd Smith was Miller’s longtime political consultant when he admitted to soliciting bribes for licenses the agency typically issues for $100. Miller then put him on the payroll at $218,000 per year.
Democrats said the walkout inspired a national protest against GOP redistricting. But it also greased the path for other bills they oppose and unified Texas Republicans.
Starting Sept. 1, cultured meat sales will be banned for the next two years even though the product isn’t ready to be sold at a large scale.
One lawsuit, filed by LULAC on behalf of 13 Texas residents, states that the redrawn districts in the new map are racially discriminatory and violate voter protection laws.
Senate Bill 8, which now heads to the House floor, would restrict which bathrooms in government buildings transgender people would be allowed to use.
Dallas businessman Kyle Bass has proposed exporting millions of gallons of water from East Texas to other parts of the state.
Republican lawmakers pushed the map through over fierce Democratic opposition, positioning the GOP to net up to five additional seats in Texas.
Casar moved quickly to coalesce Austin Democrats, launching his campaign for the 37th Congressional District Monday with endorsements from 42 current and former Texas elected officials.
The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country has a four-pronged recovery plan: rebuilding homes, supporting mental health, economic recovery, and reviving the area’s quality of life.
As speaker, Phelan oversaw passage of numerous conservative priorities, but he gave up the gavel under pressure from the far right over the House’s impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The Aransas County courthouse was supposed to open in 2023. But officials have faced voter backlash and a constant stream of design and construction problems that have delayed the opening.
The Houston-area district, currently occupied by Democratic Rep. Al Green, is being redrawn by GOP lawmakers to favor Republicans and cover almost entirely new territory.
Health insurers are hiking policy premiums in response to proposed federal cuts and rising costs in various parts of the health care sector.
From urban cores to rural regions, Texans' needs differ. Experts worry new districts encompassing geographically distant communities will dilute their voices.
The governor announced he was expanding his special session agenda shortly after the Texas House passed a congressional map that Democrats had delayed by leaving the state.
A new petition claims Anderson County judges acted unconstitutionally multiple times in both Roberson’s case and in recognizing custody of his daughter.
Senate Bill 1, which would require more oversight of emergency plans and evacuation procedures at summer camps, was advanced after the emotional hearing Wednesday.
The order bars Paxton from prosecuting O’Rourke’s nonprofit or otherwise bringing legal action aimed at revoking Powered by People’s charter.
“Our children’s lives were cut short because the safeguards in place were not enough,” a spokesperson for the Campaign for Camp Safety said in a news release. “We are asking lawmakers to make sure no other family ever has to endure the pain we have lived with every day since July 4th.”
Republican lawmakers are pursuing the unusual mid-decade redistricting plan amid pressure from President Donald Trump to protect the GOP’s slim majority in the U.S. House.
The GOP push to redraw the state’s congressional maps isn’t just a partisan move but one that deeply affects how Texans are represented in Congress.
The victims sued the employer of the alleged shooter, the former warden of a migrant detention center. Three different prosecutors have so far opted not to file criminal charges.
The state isn’t providing schools with guidance and advocates say students who still qualify for lower rates are being asked to pay thousands more.
Senators moved fast on Gov. Greg Abbott’s agenda for the second special session. With House Democrats back in Texas, bills can now move through that chamber.
In a split decision, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the school’s prohibition on drag performances, finding students are likely to prove it violates the First Amendment.
Texas lawmakers redrew congressional districts in a partisan bid to give Republicans five additional U.S. House seats. The move set off a bipartisan war across the U.S.
Now that the Texas House has a quorum following Democrats’ two-week absence, lawmakers are back to debate a wide range of issues, including redrawing congressional maps to benefit Republicans.
While some districts are preparing to comply, others await guidance amidst ongoing legal battles challenging the law's constitutionality.
After two weeks out of state, Democratic lawmakers returned to Austin, paving the way for Republicans to pass their proposed congressional map.
Federal funding cuts to immunization efforts and a new law that allows exemption forms to be downloaded, instead of mailed, could drive up exemptions in the future.
The state can take control of a school district if at least one of its campuses receives a failing grade five years in a row.
More than 500 schools are using four-day school weeks, a dramatic increase from two years ago driven by fierce competition for educators amid a statewide teacher shortage.
In the 2024-25 school year, 14% of Texas school districts got an A, 71% got a B or a C, and 15% got a D or an F, new state data shows.
Mounted patrol officers, known as tick riders, who typically patrol the southern border to protect cattle from fever tick, will also now serve as the first line of defense against screwworm.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called for another Texas Legislature’s special session after the first session was adjourned Friday morning after failing to make a quorum.
The second session is set to consider the same agenda that stalled in the first, with redistricting and disaster response at the top of the governor’s priorities.
The Amarillo businessman said he would tap into the $20 million political action committee he launched last year to preserve ballot access for censured Republicans.
The third-term governor appears determined to win any battle — even if it means scorched-earth primary crusades or trying to boot duly elected legislators from office.
Texas law bans the sale of synthetic kratom, but it isn’t enforced. Earlier this year, legislation died in the Texas House to ban the natural plant, too.
In a statement, the House Democratic Caucus said its lawyers had advised returning “to build a strong public legislative record for the upcoming legal battle” against the GOP’s map.
The contest would unearth brewing Democratic tensions over age and experience, forcing Austin politicos to choose between two well-liked progressives.
Sweeping and sudden funding changes this year put two revered after-school programs for low-income Texans and a rural teacher training initiative at risk of closure.
The Fourth of July flood bore a striking similarity to the Hill Country flood that killed 10 summer campers in 1987. In the following years, officials took little action to protect against the next storm.
Senate Bill 11 would shield victims from prosecution from some crimes if they’re threatened or coerced into the act by their trafficker.
Judge Scott Larson ruled that the Texas speaker and attorney general had “failed to present a legal basis for the court” to take up the issue.
Crime lab officials told lawmakers Wednesday they are struggling to keep up with deadlier drugs like fentanyl and a THC ban or new regulations would add to the challenge.
Increasing tariffs on foreign goods and the impact of deportations on the work force cited as job growth slows in Texas.
Most of the camps were built decades ago, before modern modeling and flood maps. Counties have little power to regulate construction flood plains.
Republicans believe population increases in red states, such as Texas, would offset losses from not counting immigrants who lack legal status.
Five years ago, during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, the board voted to change the high school to Legacy High. On Tuesday, it reversed course.
A bill filed in the aftermath of the devastating July 4 Texas Hill Country floods which aims to install outdoor warning sirens in areas with a history of flash flooding has passed the Texas Senate.
With Democrats’ walkout over redistricting bringing the House to a standstill, both parties are accusing each other of abandoning Central Texas flood victims.
In this week’s episode, Matthew and Eleanor ask University of Houston law professor David Froomkin to help them break down the legal cases seeking to remove 13 Democrats from the Texas House.
Democrats' absence has halted work in the Texas House, which must also approve the new boundaries, for more than a week.
The leaders of both chambers said they would adjourn for the session Friday if Democrats do not return, while the governor said he might add more items to his agenda.
Paxton sued O’Rourke and his political group, Powered by People, last week, arguing that the group was deceptively fundraising for and illegally supporting Texas Democrats’ walkout.
The governor and attorney general have asked the court to find that Democratic lawmakers abandoned their seats when they left Texas to delay a new congressional map.
Reps. Caroline Fairly and James Talarico, along with Texas attorney general candidate Aaron Reitz, also join us to talk Texas’ future this November
Since Democratic lawmakers left Texas to delay Republicans’ new map, state leaders have challenged the limits of traditional democratic norms to break the impasse.
Allred says he has learned to show up more in his attempt at a Senate do-over. But critics contend he’s not generating enough attention.
Local records released this week — after a yearslong lawsuit —affirm previous reporting about law enforcement’s flawed response to Texas’ deadliest school shooting.
Herrera, who came within 400 votes of ousting Gonzales in a 2024 runoff, is once again positioning himself to the right of the incumbent.
The Midland school district rebranded Robert E. Lee High as Legacy High in 2020, part of a nationwide trend to distance public places from the Confederacy.
They lost homes and summer cabins to the July 4 flood in Kerr County. Now they are weighing whether it makes sense to rebuild.
Republicans who are censured by their county party leaders may be blocked from the primary ballot under a new party rule passed last year, that is expected to be tested by the courts.
The order came at the request of Attorney General Ken Paxton, who O’Rourke accused in a separate lawsuit of going on a “fishing expedition, constitutional rights be damned.”
Most victims were Texans, but some were visiting from other states like California, Florida and Alabama. The youngest victims were 1 year old; the oldest was 91.
The North Texas city councils said hundreds of millions of dollars were in jeopardy if they didn’t shut certain programs to comply with the Trump administration.
