Gov. Greg Abbott and local officials are fighting several legal battles over mask mandates. Here’s what you need to know.
The Texas fight over mask mandates is confusing. We’re here to help. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott holds a press conference in Dallas on unaccompanied minors crossing the southern border on March 17, 2021.]()
Credit: Carly May for The Texas Tribune -
Texas court orders release of more than 200 migrants imprisoned in Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security clampdown
The men were arrested by state troopers and held for weeks without facing formal charges, a violation of state law. It’s the latest misfire in Abbott’s hastily assembled effort to involve Texas in patrolling the border. Full Story
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![A group of migrants wait near a private road after being apprehended by Department of Public Safety officers at a train depot in Spofford on Aug. 25, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
“It just keeps on happening”: Texas parents fight legislation targeting their trans children for the fourth time this year
The Texas Senate has passed a bill restricting transgender youth from playing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity four separate times in 2021. Full Story
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![Eight-year-old Sunny Bryant climbs on a dome at her Waldorf-inspired school as her mother Rebekah looks on, in Houston on Sept. 23, 2021.]()
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GOP state Rep. Phil King announces he'll run for new Republican-friendly Senate seat held by Democrat Beverly Powell
Within half an hour of declaring his bid, King got the endorsement of the Senate's presiding officer, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Full Story
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![State Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, questions a fellow lawmaker regarding a proposed amendment to HB 10 on March 30, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
John Wray fights for old Texas House seat against Brian Harrison in special election that has turned personal
The two Republicans are fighting to replace former state Rep. Jake Ellzey, R-Waxahachie, who is now a congressman. Full Story
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![The House floor at the end of day one for the third special session on Monday, Sept. 20, 2021.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez/The Texas Tribune -
Texas reduces Black and Hispanic majority congressional districts in proposed map, despite people of color fueling population growth
The proposed congressional map also increases the number of districts where Trump would have had a majority of voters over Biden in 2020 and protects Republican incumbents who might have been vulnerable by packing their districts with more Trump voters. Full Story
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![The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 13, 2021.]()
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Texas has a constitutional amendments election this year. The last day to register to vote is Oct. 4.
A statewide election on Nov. 2 will feature eight constitutional amendments that address topics ranging from religious freedom to taxes to judicial eligibility. Here’s what you need to know to vote. Full Story
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![Voter registration tables were set up at the ‘For the People’ voting rights rally at the Texas Capitol on June 20, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Migrants arrested by Texas in border crackdown are being imprisoned for weeks without legal help or formal charges
Defense attorneys have started asking courts to set migrants free because local justice systems, overwhelmed by arrests under Gov. Greg Abbott's border security push, are routinely violating state law and constitutional due process rights. Full Story
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![A migrant is readied to board a law enforcement van after being apprehended by Department of Public Safety officers at a train depot in Spofford on Aug. 25, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Texas politicians are thinking what they think their voters think they should think
It’s fashionable to gripe about polls, but they can expose voter sentiment and reveal, sometimes, why elected officials act the way they do. Full Story
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Texas county officials call election audits an unnecessary partisan ploy while voicing confidence in 2020 results
Officials in some counties targeted by audits accuse Republican Texas leaders of pandering to conspiracy theorists and undermining faith in elections. They also say the secretary of state’s office hasn’t provided details on what the audits entail. Full Story
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![Supporters of President Trump gathered at the State Capitol in Austin to protest the victory of Presidential-elect Joe Biden. The two groups began arguing and yelling at each other in front of the Capitol. Nov. 7, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Watch U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona talk about the effects of the pandemic and more at The Texas Tribune Festival
Cardona spoke about how students, teachers, schools and districts have fared during the pandemic — and what happens now. Full Story
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![U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona at a press briefing in the White House Press Briefing Room on Aug. 5, 2021.]()
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Watch state Reps. Jeff Leach and Joe Moody discuss lawmakers’ criminal justice work at The Texas Tribune Festival
Leach, a Plano Republican, and Moody, an El Paso Democrat, co-chair the House Criminal Justice Caucus. Full Story
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![State Reps. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, and Joe Moody, D-El Paso.]()
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Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick blast state bar investigation into Ken Paxton as “politically motivated”
The Texas attorney general is being investigated for professional misconduct for his filing of a lawsuit challenging the 2020 presidential elections in battleground states. Fellow Republicans say the probe encroaches on Paxton’s executive branch authority. Full Story
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![Ken Paxton at the inauguration ceremony of Judge Michelle Slaughter at the state Capitol in Austin on Jan. 11, 2019.]()
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Texas law restricting access to abortion medications goes into effect Dec. 2 after governor signs bill
The new law narrows the window in which physicians are allowed to give abortion-inducing medication to patients from 10 weeks to seven weeks into pregnancy, bucking FDA guidelines. Full Story
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![A bottle and pills of Misoprostol, made by Lupin Pharmaceuticals, sit in a counting tray at a pharmacy on June 19, 2019, in Provo, Utah.]()
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A Republican wants to add exceptions for rape and incest to Texas’ new near-total abortion ban. He faces an uphill climb.
The proposal comes almost two weeks after Gov. Greg Abbott’s comments that the state would “eliminate all rapists.” Full Story
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![Pregnancy and abortion related brochures from The John Paul II Life Center in Austin. June 4, 2021.]()
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Beto O’Rourke on Matthew McConaughey: “I don’t know how he feels about any of the issues”
In a Texas Tribune Festival interview, the former member of Congress discussed the fight for voting rights, his takeaways from his last two runs for office and speculation about his becoming a candidate for governor. Full Story
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![Beto O'Rourke.]()
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All migrants have been cleared from encampment in Del Rio, homeland security secretary says
As many as 15,000 migrants, mostly from Haiti, crossed the Rio Grande at Del Rio and spent days under the international bridge, sparking a crisis for President Joe Biden. Full Story
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![Makeshift shelters at a temporary migrant camp under the international bride in Del Rio on Sept. 17, 2021.]()
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U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas is lone Democrat to vote against federal bill protecting abortion rights
The U.S. House is trying to override Texas’ near-total ban on abortions. But Democrats likely lack the support they need in the U.S. Senate. Full Story
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![House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke during a news conference about the House vote on H.R. 3755, the "Women's Health Protection Act" legislation to "establish a federally protected right to abortion access" at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 24, 2021.]()
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Texas lawmaker defends new permitless carry law against criticism from gun control advocate
The law that went into effect Sept. 1 allows anyone 21 years or older to carry a handgun in public without need for a permit or training. Full Story
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![Comptroller Glenn Hegar discusses the Biennial Revenue Estimate for the 2020-21 biennium at the state capitol in 2019.]()
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Texas bill restricting transgender student athletes’ sports participation has enough votes to pass, House Speaker Dade Phelan says
Three times this year — in the regular session and in two subsequent special sessions — legislation targeting transgender student athletes sailed through the Senate only to falter in the House. Full Story
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![House Speaker Dade Phelan sits on an interview with The Texas Tribune at the Capitol on Aug. 24, 2021.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune
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