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.]()
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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 -
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.]()
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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.]()
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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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![The Texas Capitol on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, in Austin.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/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 -
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.]()
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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 -
Mexican cattle banned from Texas due to screwworm threat
Since cattle imports were cut off in November, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and some ranchers worry about the ban’s economic impact on beef producers and consumers. Full Story
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![Forty to fifty head of cattle down from 5,000 due to restrictions on cattle imports from Mexico at the Vaquero Trading stockyard in Sunland Park, New Mexico on January 8, 2025.]()
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 -
TribCast: Previewing the 2025 legislative session
The Texas Tribune’s politics podcast returns with a look at the race for House speaker, the future of school vouchers and other major legislative issues this year. Full Story
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![State Reps. Carrie Isaac, R-Dripping Springs, (in red) and Joanne Shofner, R-Nacogdoches, (in black) arrive at the House Republican caucus for House speaker at the state Capitol on Dec. 7, 2024.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune -
“It kind of sounded biblical”: How a roll of the dice and numbered beads determined a Corpus Christi City Council race
Five people threw their hats in the ring for a single council seat in the South Texas city. That level of interest kicked off an unorthodox — but not unprecedented — series of events. Full Story
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![Corpus Christi City Council District 1 candidate Billy Lerma (right) tosses his numbered pebble into a bowl as Mayor Paulette Guajardo congratulates incumbent City Councilman Everett Roy for winning the casting of lots for the council seat at City Hall on Jan. 7, 2025.]()
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UT-Austin’s presidency goes vacant amid growing challenges for Texas public university leaders
In recent years university presidents have been facing growing political pressures, student and faculty pushback and an increasingly demanding job. Full Story
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![Students walk through campus at the University of Texas at Austin in Aug. 25, 2021.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
El Paso doctor denies illegally providing transgender care
Hector Granados, one of two pediatric endocrinologists in El Paso, said he stopped providing gender-affirming care after it was outlawed in Texas in 2023. Full Story
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![Dr. Hector Granados, a pediatric endocrinologist, stands outside the Zach White Building that houses his Downtown El Paso clinic on the evening of Jan. 3 after finishing his appointments.]()
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Texas’ senators plan to support Trump’s Cabinet picks
Some of President-elect Donald Trump’s picks have stirred controversy for past comments and allegations of malfeasance. Full Story
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![President Donald Trump is greeted by U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn as he arrives at El Paso International Airport on Aug. 7, 2019.]()
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Texas lawmaker accuses state GOP chair of ethics violation over threats in House speaker race
Rep. Cody Harris filed a complaint against Texas GOP Chair Abraham George for sending mailers and censuring lawmakers who support Rep. Dustin Burrows as House speaker. Full Story
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![Texas GOP Chairman Abraham George addresses the crowd during a rally at the Tarrant County Republican Party Headquarters in Fort Worth on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025.]()
Credit: Emil T. Lippe for The Texas Tribune -
Will Republican control of Congress lead to updated ag laws? Texas farmers hope so.
The historical bipartisan legislation includes a bevy of policies from crop insurance to food stamps. Full Story
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![Cotton fields near the High Plains town of Ralls, about 30 miles east of Lubbock, on Wednesday, June 22, 2022. Like much of Texas, the High Plains and Panhandle are facing drought conditions and extraordinary heat.]()
Credit: Trace Thomas for The Texas Tribune -
Ted Cruz defends Trump’s pitch to acquire Greenland
Sen. Ted Cruz, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, stressed Greenland’s strategic location in the Arctic and its natural wealth of critical minerals. Full Story
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![Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) berates U.S. Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe, during a hearing about the attempted assassination of ex-President Donald Trump at a campaign rally, convened by the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees, Washington, DC, July 30, 2024. One person was killed and two critically injured, but the former President sustained only a minor flesh wound. (Photo by Allison Bailey/NurPhoto)NO USE FRANCE]()
Credit: Allison Bailey via Reuters Conne -
Texas is silent on whether it will offer summer food assistance for students
After the state missed the Jan. 1 deadline, lawmakers still have time to approve administrative costs before applying for $400 million in federal summer meal assistance. Full Story
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![Ector County Independent School District employees serve lunch to Bonham Middle School students Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023 in Odessa.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune