U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela will resign early from Congress
The South Texas Democrat announced last year that he wouldn’t seek reelection. He’s leaving early to take a job at a law firm. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, attends a roundtable discussion on unaccompanied minor shelters in Brownsville on June 18, 2018.]()
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Abortion funds bring new legal challenges to overturn Texas ban
The Texas law has proven largely impervious to judicial review. But lawyers representing abortion advocacy groups believe opponents may have given them an opening to challenge the law in a more friendly federal court. Full Story
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![Abortion rights supporters hold signs that read, “Bans off our bodies” outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 1.]()
Credit: Eric Lee for The Texas Tribune -
Watch: Fort Worth’s Republican mayor criticizes GOP, pushes for Medicaid expansion and defends trans kids
“I could not run in a Republican primary because I just couldn’t look myself in the mirror and do it,” Mattie Parker said during an event with Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith. Full Story
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Ted Cruz clashes with Democrats during heated confirmation hearing for Ketanji Brown Jackson
Cruz argued with the committee’s chair over procedure, leading to an accusation that he was performing for the television cameras. Full Story
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![Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin looks on as U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, R-TX, speaks during the third day of U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 23, 2022.]()
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Attorney General Ken Paxton asks Texas Supreme Court to let investigations into transgender families continue
The temporary injunction was issued as part of a lawsuit brought on behalf of parents being investigated by child welfare workers for letting their transgender teenager access gender-affirming health care. Full Story
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![Transgender, pride progress and nonbinary flags are passed out during the Trans Kids Cry for HELP! rally in front of the Governor's Mansion in Austin on March 13, 2022.]()
Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune -
What is harm reduction, the drug-treatment program that Sen. Ted Cruz has criticized?
A $30 million grant program aims to mitigate the fallout from drug addiction and overdoses. Officials say Cruz’s comments about it are misleading. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks during a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on "Big Data, Big Questions: Implications for Competition and Consumers" in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 21, 2021.]()
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Nancy Pelosi affirms support for U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar after FBI raid, primary runoff berth
The U.S. House speaker said during a stop Wednesday in Austin that she always supports her incumbents — “from right to left.” Full Story
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![Speaker of the U.S. House Nancy Pelosi campaigns with Congressman Henry Cuellar at Cuellar's campaign headquarters in Laredo on Feb 02, 2020.]()
Credit: Robin Jerstad for The Texas Tribune -
North Texas superintendent orders books removed from schools, targeting titles about transgender people
The Granbury superintendent’s comments, made on a leaked recording, raise constitutional concerns, legal experts said. Full Story
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![Granbury ISD Superintendent Dr. Jeremy K. Glenn discusses agenda items with school board trustees at a GISD school board meeting in Granbury, TX on March 21, 2022.]()
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Beto O’Rourke touts his oft-overlooked background — small-business owner — as Greg Abbott attacks him as job-killer
Abbott’s campaign has argued O’Rourke would “destroy the Texas miracle.” O’Rourke argues he’s the one who has run a business. Full Story
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![Gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke answers questions from journalists following a town hall as part of his ‘Keeping the Lights On’ road trip on Feb. 4, 2022 in Odessa.]()
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Former U.S. Senate candidate Amanda Edwards announces run for Houston mayor
Edwards joins a field that already includes two well-known names: veteran state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, and Chris Hollins, the former Harris County clerk who oversaw election changes in 2020 that became a lightning rod for Republicans. Full Story
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![Houston City Councilwoman and U.S. Senate candidate Amanda Edwards outside of 919 Congress Avenue in Austin on Feb. 7, 2020.]()
Credit: Angela Piazza for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Texas government’s favorite local tax
State lawmakers will tell you they hate property taxes as much as anyone. But the state itself doesn’t levy the tax — local governments do. And lowering it in a meaningful way would require state officials to raise taxes or cut programs. For them, talking about it is easier than doing something. Full Story
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![An Aerial image of a suburban neighborhood in San Marcos on October 18, 2021.]()
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Ted Cruz and John Cornyn question Ketanji Brown Jackson about anti-racism books, Supreme Court’s gay marriage ruling
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, the other Republican senator from Texas, asked the nominee about the court case legalizing gay marriage and questioned her defense of Guantánamo Bay detainees who allegedly faced mistreatment. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX, holds up the book "How To Be an Antiracist" as he questions Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson during her testimony before a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on her nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, at Capitol Hill in Washington, on March 22, 2022.]()
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After deadly tornadoes tear through Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott declares disaster for 16 counties
At least 20 tornadoes tore through homes and buildings in Texas and Oklahoma on Monday. At least two dozen people were injured and a woman died, authorities said. Full Story
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![A man inspects the damage to his home after a tornado moved through Round Rock on March 21, 2022.]()
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T-Squared: María Méndez is joining The Texas Tribune as service and engagement reporter
She will connect readers with resources, demystify politics and public policy and look for ways to reach Texans whose questions often go unheard. Full Story
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![María Méndez has reported from Austin, Dallas and Laredo.]()
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Texas health providers are suspending gender-affirming care for teens in response to GOP efforts
Hospitals across the state have already started restricting critical treatment as health care providers fear legal consequences and worry they could lose their medical licenses. Meanwhile, teenagers are already leaving the state to get care or avoiding medical care altogether. Full Story
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![Psychotherapist Monrovia Van Hoose in her office on Friday, Mar. 11, 2022. Van Hoose began working with transgender youth in 2008, a time when few doctors offered gender affirming care. Now, the state’s largest providers of medical care for transgender children have recently rolled back services, bending to pressure from Republican leaders.]()
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Explore Texas public schools’ college readiness, demographics and teacher salaries
Use our database to learn about Texas public school districts and campuses, including hundreds of charter schools and alternative campuses. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the state waived accountability ratings for the 2020-21 school year. Full Story
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![Students work at their desks at Blanco Vista Elementary School in San Marcos on Aug. 23, 2021.]()
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Founder of state-contracted child abuse shelter hopes to reopen after employee was accused of exploiting two girls
Brooke Crowder said The Refuge is working to incorporate a deeper employee screening process with the help of a company recommended by the governor’s and attorney general’s offices. Full Story
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![Col. Steven C. McGraw, Director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, testifies during a House Human Services Committee hearing at the Capitol on March 21, 2022. The committee is investigating reported allegations of sexual exploitation at a facility in Bastrop.]()
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Texas child welfare official resigns, saying top agency leaders scapegoated employees
The former child care investigations director said there are agency-wide communication issues that led to a breakdown in relaying key information, but two of his staff members are the ones who suffered the consequences. Full Story
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![A Texas Department of Family and Protective Services employee’s desk at the agency's Austin office on Nov. 14, 2019.]()
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See how many Texas hospital ICUs were filled to capacity during coronavirus surges
After increasing in January due to the COVID-19 omicron variant, the number of hospitals reporting full ICU units declined after falling short of the August peak, which was caused by the delta variant. Full Story
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Help us investigate Texas border security initiatives
We’re looking into Texas’ border security initiatives, including what has worked, what hasn’t and how they affect residents. If you have experience on the border, we’d like to hear from you. Full Story
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![A member of the Texas Army National Guard holds a flashlight as migrants crawl over rocks after wading across the Rio Grande into the United States from Mexico, in Roma, on March 4, 2022.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Adrees Latif
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