Winners and losers from the Texas House speaker’s race
The new speaker’s power over the budget and committee assignments is expected to bolster established Republican leaders and some Democrats who supported the winner.
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U.S. Supreme Court weighing constitutionality of Texas’ age-verification requirement for porn sites
The Supreme Court’s decision on Texas’ law, which adult entertainment website attorneys said were the most overreaching in the country, could determine the fate of similar laws in more than a dozen other states.
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environment
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Congress
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Criminal appeals court to rehear election wrongdoing case involving Washington County Republican
The Court of Criminal Appeals will rehear a case it threw out last year. Three of the judges became targets of Attorney General Ken Paxton over another ruling and lost reelection. Full Story
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![The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Jan. 15, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas should close prisons and jails with staffing challenges, state oversight panel says
A report found up to 70% of guard positions were unfilled at some prisons. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has a 26% staff turnover rate. Full Story
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![The Polunsky Unit on Jan. 31, 2024. The Livingston prison is where men on death row are housed, but they are executed at the prison in Huntsville, about 40 miles away.]()
Credit: Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune
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TribCast: Power and influence under the pink dome
The Texas Tribune’s politics podcast digs into what the speaker’s race tells us about the next 140 days in Austin. Full Story
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![State Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, is sworn in as speaker of the Texas House by Secretary Of State Jane Nelson at the Capitol in Austin on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Texas GOP chair claims church-state separation is a myth as lawmakers, pastors prep for “spiritual battle”
Abraham George’s comments are the latest sign of the state GOP’s embrace of fundamentalist ideologies that seek to center public life around their faith. Full Story
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![Landon Schott, pastor of Mercy Culture, leads a worship service in the state Capitol extension auditorium on the first day of the 2025 state legislative session in Austin on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune
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Rep. Dustin Burrows voted Texas House speaker in blow to insurgent GOP movement
Burrows defeated Rep. David Cook with a coalition of Republican and Democratic votes. Full Story
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![State Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) shakes hands with Rep. Jeff Leach, R- Plano, during opening day ceremonies on the House floor on Tuesday, Jan. 14th, 2025.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott threatens Texas A&M president’s job over claim that university broke DEI ban
Abbott's comments came after A&M invited staffers and students to attend a conference that a conservative activist said broke the state’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Full Story
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![Governor Greg Abbott, speaks about Centerpoint Energy during a press conference at Gallery Furniture, Houston, Thursday, Sunday July 14,2024. Doug Sweet Jr. for Texas Tribune]()
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Republican infighting flares after Burrows elected speaker
The Texas House kicked off the 2025 session by electing an establishment Republican to lead the chamber, drawing criticism from within the GOP. Full Story
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![Republican Party of Texas Chair Abraham George speaks to the press on the steps of the state Capitol following the vote for House speaker on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. Looking on are Republican freshman state Reps. Wes Virdell, David Lowe, Andy Hopper and Brent Money.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune
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See how Texas House members voted in the speaker race
The race pitted state Reps. David Cook and Dustin Burrows against each other. Here’s how each representative voted. Full Story
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![A vote of 85 in favor of State Rep. Dustin Burrows decides the next Speaker of the Texas House Of Representatives on the first day of the 2025 Texas Legislature in Austin on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Texans only Democrats in Congress to vote for bill restricting trans athletes
Republicans accused Rep. Vicente Gonzalez of supporting gender transitions for children throughout the 2024 election cycle, which he said took a political toll. Full Story
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![Demonstrators protest SB14, a bill to eradicate gender transition healthcare for trans kids in Texas, while the bill is heard in the House at the state Capitol on May 2, 2023.]()
Credit: Leila Saidane/The Texas Tribune -
EPA report says “forever chemicals” in sewage-based fertilizer pose cancer risk
Fertilizers that contain treated sewage tainted with toxic PFAS chemicals can be spread on farmland and pose a health risk to people who consume milk, eggs and beef, the agency says. Full Story
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![Bar screens are used to remove large portions of solids and garbage during the wastewater treatment process at SAWS’ Steven M. Clouse Water Recycling Center in San Antonio on Aug. 23, 2024.]()
Credit: Chris Stokes for The Texas Tribune
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Texas House to pick new speaker, concluding brutal proxy war
The new speaker will have a dramatic impact on the direction of this year’s lawmaking — and potentially the future of the Legislature. Full Story
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![The House Chamber on June 21, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
The Texas Legislature is back. Here’s what we’re watching.
From debating school vouchers and improving the state’s water supply to reining in property taxes, the GOP-led body will look to pass its conservative priorities amid fighting within the party. Full Story
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![State Representatives and their families gather on the House floor on the opening day of the 88th Legislative Session at the state Capitol in Austin on Jan. 10, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Watch a conversation with Comptroller Glenn Hegar
The state’s economic output will slow, but a recession isn’t expected, Hegar said. Full Story
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When is a business to blame for over-serving? Texas Supreme Court weighs the line in drunk driving case
The court’s ruling could boost a state law that allows drunk driving victims to sue businesses that over-serve alcohol to intoxicated individuals. Full Story
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![The Texas Supreme Court on Jan. 15, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott appoints Democrat-turned-Republican Rep. Shawn Thierry to juvenile justice board
Thierry became a Republican cause celebré for breaking with Democrats over her views on transgender rights. Full Story
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![State Rep. Shawn Thierry, D-Houston, speaks to press after her legislation, aimed at reducing pregnancy-related deaths, passed to second reading on Juy 31, 2017.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
An education ecosystem is being built in Elon Musk’s image. It starts in Bastrop County.
Ad Astra promises to be Musk’s biggest foray into education to date, and, if successful, will add to his already massive footprint in Central Texas. Full Story
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![Ad Astra, a Montessori school being opened by Elon Musk in Bastrop, Texas, on Dec. 11, 2024.]()
Credit: Patricia Lim/KUT News
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Texas lawmakers will have $194.6 billion to spend for the next budget, comptroller projects
The estimate includes $23.8 billion leftover from the current budget cycle. Full Story
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![Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar discusses the biennial revenue estimate with audience members at Texas Tribune’s Studio 919 in Austin on Jan. 9, 2023.]()
Credit: Pu Ying Huang/The Texas Tribune -
Texas Supreme Court to decide legal battle over El Paso migrant shelter’s future
Justices on Monday heard arguments from Annunciation House, which is fighting to stay open, and the Texas Attorney General’s office, which claims the shelter’s work with migrants violates state law. Full Story
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![Bishop Mark Seitz (right) speaks at a press conference in El Paso alongside Ruben Garcia, director of the Annunciation House (left) on Feb. 23, 2024.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Legislature 101: How bills become laws — and how you can participate in the process
Here’s a rundown of how legislation moves through the Capitol, the ways lawmakers operate and who the power players are. Full Story
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![State representatives meet on the House floor at the state Capitol in Austin on Jan. 11, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune - More News