After COVID, Texas is less prepared for the next pandemic
Five years after Texas’ first COVID death, the state spends less on public health, vaccination rates have dropped and a distrust of authority has taken hold. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Diana Branzan for The Texas Tribune -
Lawmakers weigh moving bingo operations out of Texas Lottery’s purview amid agency’s uncertain future
A possible reassignment of the charitable games comes as 15 bills in the Legislature seek to either alter or abolish the troubled agency. Full Story
Credit: Eddie Seal for The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers seek to transfer University of Houston-Victoria to Texas A&M system
Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, said Texas A&M is better positioned to grow the Victoria school and serve the region’s petrochemical and agriculture industries. Full Story
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![Students walk to class on the Texas A&M University campus in College Station on Nov. 15, 2022.]()
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Texas’ first abortion arrests stem from monthlong attorney general investigation
These represent the first criminal charges under Texas’ near-total abortion ban. Full Story
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![A nurse speaks with a patient at a clinic in Houston on Aug. 2, 2013.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
As Trump vows mass deportations, Texas lawmakers want to require sheriffs to work with ICE
Some sheriffs worried that Senate Bill 8 could create an unfunded mandate, while civil rights advocates warned about possible racial profiling. Full Story
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![U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers carry out a raid as part of Operation Cross Check in Sherman on June 20, 2019.]()
Credit: Courtesy Charles Reed/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement -
National Republicans target South Texas Democrats for 2026 election
Reps. Cuellar and Gonzalez are moderate Democrats who represent border districts that increasingly vote Republican. Full Story
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![U.S. Reps. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen and Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo.]()
Credit: The Texas Tribune -
In Texas, Christian right grows confident and assertive
Emboldened by court rulings and election victories, the Christian right is outspoken as it pushes its moral views through the Texas Legislature. Full Story
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![FILE: The 10 Commandments plaque on the Capitol grounds in Austin on July 17, 2012.]()
Credit: Ariel Min for The Texas Tribune -
Texas school districts hopeful lawmakers will help plug $1.7 billion gap in special education funding
Proponents say the changes would better serve special education students with widely varying needs — and help schools pay for it. Full Story
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![A classroom at Alfonso Borrego Sr. Elementary School. The school received Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds for new flexible seating, desks, and spaces for students to relax during class in San Elizario, Texas on July 23, 2024]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
These are the proposals lawmakers hope will save Texas’ water supply. Track them here.
Most lawmakers — as well as Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — want to invest big in water. Here are the proposals that would do it. 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 -
Christian Menefee, top civil attorney for Harris County government, announces bid for Sylvester Turner’s congressional seat
The district has been a Democratic stronghold, held for decades by Sheila Jackson Lee and most recently by former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who died March 5. Full Story
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![Harris Co. Attorney Christian Menefee speaks at the first general session at the Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso on June 7, 2024.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
Sylvester Turner eulogized as a man of faith, family and public service to Houston
The former Houston mayor’s funeral drew more than 1,000 mourners on Saturday, including 20 of his congressional colleagues from both political parties. Full Story
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![Mrs. Ashley Paige Turner Captain, Sylvester Turner’s daughter arrives at her father, the late Congressman Sylvester Turner’s funeral service at The Church without Walls in West Houston, Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Houston. (Lexi Parra / Houston Landing)]()
Credit: Lexi Parra/Houston Landing -
Texas Republicans seek to clarify when doctors can intervene under abortion bans
A Senate bill filed Friday does not expand abortion access, but aims to give doctors clarity while operating under laws that come with up to life in prison. Full Story
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![A surgical suite at Eastland Memorial in Eastland on March 11, 2019.]()
Credit: Gary Rhodes for The Texas Tribune -
Paxton says trans Texans can’t use court orders to change sex on driver’s licenses, birth certificates
Per the attorney general’s nonbinding opinion, state agencies should change gender markers on government documents back to a person’s sex assigned at birth. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks to the media during a press conference in front of the Supreme Court in Washington on Jan. 15, 2025.]()
Credit: Luke Johnson for The Texas Tribune -
University of North Texas and Rice University under federal investigation for “race-exclusionary practices”
The Texas universities are among dozens accused of violating the law by partnering with a group that had sought to increase diversity in graduate programs. Full Story
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![Rice University in Houston on March 11, 2020.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers push harsher criminal penalties
Proposed legislation includes increased penalties for retail theft, car burglaries and forgery, among others. Full Story
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![Inmates are monitored at a security station at the Harris County Detention Center on April 16, 2024, in Houston.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers will debate saving the state’s water supply after key legislation is introduced
The state House and Senate have similar proposals to solve the state's water crisis, but there are stark differences on how to invest billions of dollars to resolve. Full Story
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![A water tower in Starr County near the Falcon Dam on Aug. 18, 2022.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
Orator, conscience, advocate: State lawmakers honor Sylvester Turner with bipartisan accolades in Capitol ceremony
Turner, who spent nearly three decades in the Texas House and died last week, was remembered as a passionate Democrat committed to working across the aisle. Full Story
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![Two men embrace after Congressman Turner’s memorial service on the floor of the Texas House of Representatives on March 13, 2025.]()
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DOJ drops fight against Texas political maps as Trump administration retreats from voting rights cases
The Biden administration had challenged a Republican-led redistricting plan that diluted the political power of minorities. Other legal challenges will continue. Full Story
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![Census data from 2020 and redistricting maps at The Texas Tribune office in Austin on Oct. 7, 2021. The state population grew by nearly 4 million and was driven mainly by people of color.]()
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FEMA wants the names and addresses of migrants helped by Texas nonprofits and local governments that got federal grant money
A letter sent this week claims the grant recipients, including many Texas cities and counties, may have illegally “induced” undocumented immigrants to enter the country. Full Story
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![Migrants walk from a DHS tent facility in front of the McAllen bus station to Catholic Charities RGV Humanitarian Respite Center on April 22, 2021.]()
Credit: Jason Garza for The Texas Tribune -
Paxton investigates Dallas for alleged sanctuary city policies
Attorney General Ken Paxton said a recent statement by Dallas’ interim police chief raised concerns that the city might be violating a state law against so-called sanctuary city policies. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton addresses the crowd during a rally at the Tarrant County Republican Party Headquarters in Fort Worth on January 6, 2025.]()
Credit: Photo by Emil T. Lippe for The Texas Tribune
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