Join Elvia Limón for The Texas Legislature, Explained — an Instagram Live series from The Texas Tribune to help you learn more about how what goes on at the Texas Capitol affects your lives and the issues you care about. Follow The Texas Tribune on Instagram and join us twice a month to dive into the issues at play during the session.
If you're new to Instagram Live, visit our profile on the day of our events at noon Central, and you should see a pink circle around our profile icon with a "Live" label at the bottom. Tap on this icon to join the conversation. A recording will be uploaded to our Instagram profile immediately following the live portion. The conversations will also be available to watch below.
The Texas Legislature, Explained: What Happens Now?
On June 4, the Tribune’s engagement producer, Elvia Limón, talked to politics reporters Cassi Pollock and James Barragán and Managing Editor Matthew Watkins about the 2021 legislative session’s dramatic end, priority bills that failed to pass and what happens next.
Watch the full conversation below and join us on Instagram weekly to preview themes and recap highlights of the Legislature.
This event was presented by Lone Star College and Texas State Technical College and sponsored by Invest Texas Council.
The Texas Legislature, Explained: The Final Sprint
On May 28, Elvia Limón talked to news editor Rebekah Allen about what's happening in the last days of the Texas Legislature, including what lawmakers got done this session and what’s left to do.
Watch the full conversation below and join us on Instagram weekly to preview themes and recap highlights of the Legislature.
This event was presented by Lone Star College and Texas State Technical College and sponsored by HCA Healthcare, Invest Texas Council and Mach 1 Group.
The Texas Legislature, Explained: Where Bills Stand
On May 21, Elvia Limón talked to Cassi Pollock, a politics reporter for the Tribune, about what happened at the Texas Legislature the week of May 17-21, including bills Gov. Greg Abbot has signed and is expected to sign and how these will affect Texans.
Watch the full conversation below and join us on Instagram weekly to preview themes and recap highlights of the Legislature.
This event was presented by Lone Star College and Texas State Technical College and sponsored by Invest Texas Council, The Education Trust, and Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas.
The Texas Legislature, Explained: Race Against the Clock
On May 14, the Tribune's director of audience, Bobby Blanchard, talked to James Barragán, a politics reporter for the Tribune, about what to expect during the final sprint of the Texas Legislature, including — but not limited to — deadlines approaching, points of order and the likelihood of a special session.
Watch the full conversation below and join us on Instagram weekly to preview themes and recap highlights of the Legislature.
This event was presented by Lone Star College and Texas State Technical College and supported by Texas Infrastructure Now and Invest Texas Council.
The Texas Legislature, Explained: Health Care
On May 7, Elvia Limón talked to Shannon Najmabadi, the Tribune’s women’s health reporter, about anti-abortion bills and efforts in the Texas Legislature to cover more Texans who don’t have health insurance.
Watch the full conversation below and join us on Instagram twice a month to preview themes and recap highlights of the Texas Legislature.
This event was presented by Lone Star College and Texas State Technical College and supported by Texas Hospital Association.
The Texas Legislature, Explained: Voting Restrictions
On April 23, Elvia Limón talked to Alexa Ura, the Tribune’s demographics reporter and associate editor, about sweeping changes to voting laws in the state, including proposed restrictions on how and when voters can cast ballots, and what these would mean for Texans.
Watch the full conversation below and join us on Instagram twice a month to preview themes and recap highlights of the Texas Legislature.
This event was presented by Lone Star College and Texas State Technical College and supported by League of Women Voters and Secure Democracy.
The Texas Legislature, Explained: The George Floyd Act
On April 9, Elvia Limón talked to state Rep. Nicole Collier, D-Fort Worth, about police and criminal justice reforms and how the George Floyd Act, a bill spearheaded by members of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, could change policing in Texas.
Watch the full conversation below and join us on Instagram twice a month to preview themes and recap highlights of the Texas Legislature.
This event was presented by Lone Star College and Texas State Technical College and supported by the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs.
The Texas Legislature, Explained: Protections for LGBTQ Texans
On March 26, Elvia Limón talked to state Rep. Mary González, D-Clint, about LGBTQ advocacy in the Texas Legislature, including efforts by the LGBTQ Caucus to expand nondiscrimination protections.
Watch the full conversation below and join us on Instagram twice a month to preview themes and recap highlights of the Texas Legislature.
This event was presented by Lone Star College, Texas State Technical College and Human Rights Campaign.
The Texas Legislature, Explained: The pandemic’s effect on Texas schools
On March 11, Elvia Limón talked to Tribune public education reporter Aliyya Swaby about how the pandemic has impacted employees, parents and students in Texas schools, how the Legislature plans to mitigate those effects and the future of the historic school finance reform bill from 2019.
Watch the full conversation below and join us on Instagram twice a month to preview themes and recap highlights of the Texas Legislature.
This event was presented by Lone Star College and Texas State Technical College and supported by Raise Your Hand Texas, Philanthropy Advocates, Educate Texas, Texas Association of School Business Officials, TTU K-12 and Texas Classroom Teachers Association.
The Texas Legislature, Explained: Why a winter storm devastated the state, and what's next
On Feb. 26, Elvia Limón talked to Tribune environment reporter Erin Douglas about the winter storm that left millions of Texans with power and water outages — and what lawmakers can do this session to better prepare for extreme weather in the future.
Watch the full conversation below and join us on Instagram twice a month to preview themes and recap highlights of the Texas Legislature.
This event was presented by Lone Star College and Texas State Technical College.
The Texas Legislature, Explained: Gun Control
On Feb. 12, Elvia Limón talked to Tribune immigration and border security reporter Julián Aguilar about the chances for gun control measures in this year’s session after Gov. Greg Abbott stressed protections for gun owners but made no mention of the 2019 mass shootings in El Paso and Midland-Odessa in his State of the State speech.
Watch the full conversation below and join us on Instagram twice a month as we preview themes and recap highlights of the Texas Legislature.
This event was presented by Lone Star College, Texas State Technical College and Law Office of Carlos Eduardo Cardenas, P.C.
The Texas Legislature, Explained: Redistricting
On Jan. 29, Elvia Limón talked to Tribune demographics reporter Alexa Ura about redistricting — a once-a-decade process to redraw the state’s political maps. While Republicans will largely control that process, redrawing districts will be complicated given the state's recent demographic shifts, ongoing legal battles, Texas' history of voter suppression and the ongoing public health crisis.
Watch the full conversation below and join us on Instagram twice a month as we preview themes and recap highlights of the Texas Legislature.
This event was presented by Lone Star College, Texas State Technical College and supported by DoorDash.
The Texas Legislature, Explained: An Intro to the 2021 Session
For the first episode of our series about the Texas Legislature, Elvia Limón talked to Tribune Executive Editor Ross Ramsey about how the Texas Legislature works, the issues lawmakers are prioritizing this session, how members of the public can access the proceedings, the impact of COVID-19 on the state budget and more.
Watch the full conversation below and join us on Instagram twice a month as we preview themes and recap highlights of the Texas Legislature.
This event was presented by Lone Star College and supported by DoorDash.
Disclosure: DoorDash, Educate Texas, Human Rights Campaign, Lone Star College, Raise Your Hand Texas, Texas Association of School Business Officials (TASBO), Texas Classroom Teachers Association, TTU K-12 and University of Houston have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.