Bill to protect against hairstyle discrimination sent to Texas governor
The CROWN Act would ensure protection for Texans who wear their hair in natural styles such as braids, locs, twists or knots. Full Story
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![State Rep. Ron Reynolds urges the passage of the CROWN act during a press conference held by the Texas Legislative Black Caucus in the state capitol on April 13, 2023.]()
Credit: Leila Saidane/The Texas Tribune -
As Texas college students struggle with affordability, UT-Austin launches program to offset on-campus housing costs
Demand for on-campus housing has gone up across the country as off-campus costs have skyrocketed and students seek more affordable options. Full Story
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![Students walk up the East Mall stairs at the University of Texas at Austin on Aug. 25, 2021.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Rift grows between Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan over how to cut property taxes
The Senate wants to raise the homestead exemption. The House wants to tighten the appraisal cap. Both chambers’ leaders are skeptical of each other’s proposal. Full Story
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![House Speaker Dade Phelan, left, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, center, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.]()
Credit: The Texas Tribune -
To tackle high housing costs, Texas lawmakers push to build more homes
Housing advocates, builders and real estate experts agree that the state simply isn’t building enough homes to keep up with its booming population and economic growth. Full Story
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![New home construction at a Longview subdivision on Dec. 17, 2021.]()
Credit: Michael Cavazos for The Texas Tribune -
The Texas House and Senate differ on how to cut property taxes. Here’s what their proposals say.
Cuts to school property tax bills. Bigger tax benefits for homeowners. A controversial idea to limit property tax growth. Here’s what you need to know about the brewing property tax debate at the Texas Legislature. Full Story
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![An Aerial image of a suburban neighborhood in San Marcos on October 18, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas renters got unprecedented help during the pandemic. The Legislature is unlikely to extend it.
Lawmakers will decide whether to keep protections that shielded tenants from eviction — or to ban them. Full Story
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![A leasing sign outside Garden Court Apartments in north Midland, where rent for a one-bedroom can run as high as $850 per month. Leasing signs were an uncommon sight in Midland as recently as 2014, when apartment occupancy nearly hit 100 percent. It's fallen to about 80 percent now, according to the Permian Basin Apartment Association.]()
Credit: Jerod Foster for The Texas Tribune -
Texas House’s property tax bill calls for $17 billion in cuts, tighter appraisal cap
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan’s proposal reveals the different roads the Texas House and Senate want to take on property taxes — and the fight that might emerge between the two chambers this session. Full Story
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![Construction workers build houses in the new Teravista neighborhood in Georgetown on May 18, 2016.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
Mayors in some of Texas’ biggest cities face little opposition this May
San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker face little opposition in their reelection bids. Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson doesn’t have any challengers. Full Story
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![From left: Mayors Eric Johnson of Dallas, Ron Nirenberg of San Antonio, and Mattie Parker of Fort Worth. All three are running unopposed in their upcoming elections.]()
Credit: The Texas Tribune -
Houston wanted to lead the nation in long-term affordable housing. Now it’s backpedaling.
Houston’s community land trust was once touted as an innovative way to address its housing crisis. But city leaders slashed its funding by half as bureaucracy bogged down the program and enthusiasm dwindled. Full Story
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![A home purchased through the Community Land Trust, a nonprofit organization that aims to make homeownership affordable for low-income households, sits in Acres Homes in Houston, on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. Despite its goal of creating more than 1,000 permanently affordable homes in five years, the Community Land Trust has only 100 homes in its trust and the city of Houston may cut its funding significantly.]()
Credit: Callaghan O'Hare for The Texas Tribune -
Here’s what you need to know about the fight over property tax cuts in the Texas Legislature
Republicans are wrestling over how much of the state’s nearly $33 billion budget surplus to spend on property taxes. Democrats have their own ideas about what to do with the cash. Full Story
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![An Aerial image of a suburban neighborhood in San Marcos on October 18, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas shelters prepare for twin emergencies: arctic cold and an increase in migrants
Cities and nonprofits are using a variety of strategies to keep unhoused people warm. But some organizations warn they’re already at capacity as El Paso sends migrants across the state. Full Story
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![The Dallas skyline during the wintery weather on Feb. 3, 2022.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Austin voters elect Kirk Watson, who served as mayor two decades ago, to lead the city again
Watson, a former state senator who was Austin’s mayor from 1997 to 2001, pitched himself as a back-to-basics candidate who could ease the city’s growing affordability crisis. Full Story
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![State Rep. Celia Israel and former State Sen. Kirk Watson debate on ATX Decides, hosted by Austin PBS at Studio 919 on Monday, Dec. 5, 2022.]()
Credit: Azul Sordo/The Texas Tribune -
On the margins of downtown San Antonio, a maligned neighborhood mobilizes to save itself
Born of segregation and redlining, the near West Side has long been mostly Latino, mostly low-income. Redevelopment pressures are closing in, and neighbors are working to keep it affordable for some of the city’s poorest residents. Full Story
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![Attendees watch as the Dia De Los Muertos procession continues down the Alazan-Apache neighborhood in San Antonio, TX on Nov. 1.]()
Credit: Azul Sordo/The Texas Tribune -
Some Texas cities and counties had to return millions meant to help renters after COVID
For some local relief programs, a lack of staffing, political support and effective community outreach got in the way of spending federal funds to prevent evictions, a new report found. More than $30 million went unspent and had to be returned. Full Story
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![Demonstrators gathered outside the Harris County Courthouse in Houston to protest ongoing evictions on Aug. 21, 2020.]()
Credit: Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribune -
How Austin’s housing crisis has shaped the race for a new mayor
The capital city’s mayoral race is something of a test case in how the state’s rising housing costs might influence local races in major cities. Full Story
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![State Rep. Celia Israel and former State Sen. Kirk Watson debate on ATX Decides, hosted by Austin PBS at Studio 919 on Monday, Dec. 5, 2022.]()
Credit: Azul Sordo/The Texas Tribune -
Herschel Walker, running for U.S. Senate in Georgia, still gets tax break on $3 million Texas residence
Under Texas law, homeowners can claim a homestead exemption only on their primary residence. The GOP Senate candidate registered to vote in Georgia last year. Full Story
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![Herschel Walker, candidate for U.S. Senate in Georgia, speaks during a campaign stop on Thursday Nov. 18, 2022 in Savannah, Georgia.]()
Credit: Richard Burkhart/USA TODAY NETWORK via REUTERS -
With rents rising fast, Texas homeless shelters see more families seeking help
Amid rising housing costs and relentless inflation, an increasing number of Texans are struggling to pay their rent and stay in their homes. Full Story
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![Jade Barron sits inside the learning center at The Family Gateway shelter in downtown Dallas on Oct. 4, 2022.]()
Credit: Hunter Lacey for The Texas Tribune -
Mandatory home buyouts are dismantling a flood-prone Houston community
Harris County’s mandatory program to buy homes in six neighborhoods that have found themselves under flood waters over and over is quickly tearing apart the community fabric of Allen Field. Full Story
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![A flooded neighborhood near the Buffalo Bayou and the Barker Reservoir dam on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ housing market shows signs of cooling down after the pandemic drove it to new heights
Texas had more houses on the market in July than any time since late 2020 as home sales declined in the state’s major metros. Sellers have had to cut prices to entice buyers. Full Story
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![A recently sold new home in east Longview's Mission Creek subdivision on Dec. 17, 2021.]()
Credit: Michael Cavazos for The Texas Tribune -
Dallas landlord made record profits while evading eviction moratoriums, U.S. House committee says
Four corporate landlords, including Dallas-based Invitation Homes, tried to evict thousands of tenants during a federal ban on evictions, according to an investigation by a congressional subcommittee. Full Story
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![An aerial view of the Kelly Village housing complex in Houston on Sept. 16, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune