Texas House investigating committee issues four subpoenas, days after allegations against Bryan Slaton emerge
The committee would not say who was being issued the subpoenas or for what purpose. Full Story
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![The state Capitol in Austin on Feb. 9, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Sen. Ted Cruz collects $1.5 million in first quarter to fuel his third Senate campaign
The Texas Republican has not yet drawn a serious challenger to his reelection bid. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas on Aug. 5, 2022.]()
Credit: Zach Roberts/NurPhoto via REUTERS -
Texas House panel advances bills banning puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender kids
Under the legislation, minors currently receiving certain gender-affirming care would have to taper off their treatments. A majority of Texas lawmakers in each chamber has supported previous versions of the legislation. Full Story
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![Demonstrators march for Trans Day of Visibility in San Antonio on March 31, 2023.]()
Credit: Blaine Young for The Texas Tribune -
Biden to nominate Texas judge to be first Latina on federal appeals court
Both of Texas’ Republican senators voiced support for Irma Carrillo Ramirez’s nomination to the conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Full Story
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![U.S. Magistrate Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez gives opening remarks during a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Sept. 7th, 2016.]()
Credit: US Senate Committee on the Judiciary -
The eyes of LGBTQ Texans are upon Dade Phelan and the House
Spurred by a groundswell of far-right support, the Texas Senate has passed all of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s priority LGBTQ bills — and then some. What the House does next will impact queer Texans’ lives and could determine Speaker Phelan’s future. Full Story
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![People line the railing on all three levels of the outdoor rotunda of the state Capitol in Austin, and wave signs during the "Fight for our Lives" rally in opposition of anti-LGBTQ bills on March 27, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Llano County library supporters declare victory as officials decide not to close all branches
Llano County commissioners had considered closing the three libraries in response to a ruling from a federal judge who ordered banned books returned to the shelves. Full Story
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![Amanda Starkes and her mother Brenda embrace Suzette Baker after the announcement that the Llano Public library will remain open outside the Llano County Sheriffs office on Thursday, April 13, 2023. Baker and Starke were both terminated from the library branch in Kingsland. The county ruled that the library will remain open after a vote on whether or not to close it due to disagreements over book banning. (Sergio Flores for the Texas Tribune)]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
Texas House passes $12 billion property tax relief package, setting up fight over appraisal cap with Senate
House Speaker Dade Phelan has said tightening the appraisal cap is the best way to cut property taxes, but Senate tax-cut proponents, housing experts and business groups predict the move would have dire consequences. Full Story
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![An East Austin neighborhood.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
Abortion drug remains approved, with restrictions, appeals court rules
Mifepristone will remain on the market, but approved only for use up to seven weeks of pregnancy, versus 10 weeks, and it cannot be prescribed by telehealth or mailed, which were already illegal in Texas. Full Story
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![Boxes of mifepristone, the first pill given in a medical abortion, are prepared for patients at a clinic in New Mexico on Jan. 13, 2023.]()
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Ahead of primary, Rep. Tony Gonzales touts $1.3 million raised, 80 endorsements
After being censured by his party, the San Antonio Republican posts a strong fundraising quarter and district support. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, speaks at a Congressional Hispanic Conference press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.]()
Credit: Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA via REUTERS -
Texas lawmakers take first steps to reverse course on costly requirement for election technology that doesn’t exist
The original provision was part of the state’s major overhaul to election laws in 2021. Full Story
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![A voter casts their ballot at a polling site at the Austin Oaks Church on Oct. 14, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Immigrant rights advocates waited over 9 hours to testify against a proposed Border Protection Unit to “deter and repel” migrants
House Bill 20 introduced by Rep. Matt Schaefer, R-Tyler, would create a unit whose officers can “arrest, apprehend, or detain persons crossing the Texas-Mexico border unlawfully,” and deter those attempting to cross the border. Full Story
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![Migrants help carry a raft towards the Rio Grande river before being smuggled into Roma, Texas from Ciudad Miguel Aleman, Mexico, on Aug. 26, 2022.]()
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Texas House OKs bill that would fund community colleges based on their performance
Under this new model, community colleges would receive state funds based on the number of graduates who earn certificates or degrees and the number of students who transfer to four-year universities. Full Story
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![Houston Community College’s Northeast Campus on April 26, 2022, in Houston.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
Senate budget panel approves $308 billion spending plan with new money for teachers, mental health, juvenile justice
The proposal for the 2024-25 budget cycle includes $142.1 billion in general revenue spending — about $5 billion higher than the proposal approved last week by the Texas House — at a time when lawmakers have a historic $32.7 billion surplus at their disposal this session. Full Story
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![State Capitol in the late afternoon on June 12, 2017.]()
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Texas House passes CROWN Act, which would ban hairstyle discrimination
The bill seeks to ban discrimination based on certain hairstyles — like braids, dreadlocks and twists — in schools, workplaces and housing. Full Story
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![State Rep. Rhetta Bowers, D-Rowlett, sits on the House Homeland Security & Public Safety Committee at a hearing in the state capitol on April 21, 2021.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Lawmakers’ attempts to tighten drug laws could saddle crime labs with an unsustainable workload
Texas lawmakers want tougher criminal penalties for possession of delta-8 and fentanyl. But that would mean much more work for the crime labs handling most of the drug testing for the state’s 254 counties. Full Story
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![Angelica Noyola, a forensic analyst in the seized drugs lab, prepares a tray of pills, which likely contain oxycodone, for a chemical spot test as the state grapples with the effects of the nation's growing opioid epidemic at the Houston Forensic Science Center in Houston on March 29, 2023.]()
Credit: Callaghan O'Hare for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate approves bill barring professors from “compelling” students to adopt certain political beliefs
Critics say Senate Bill 16 is overly vague and will create a chilling effect that will prevent important conversations about race and gender. But Republican supporters say the legislation is necessary to protect conservative students who are self-censoring in the classroom. Full Story
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![Students walk through campus on the first day of classes at the University of Texas at Arlington on Aug. 27, 2021.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Texan leading TikTok ban in Congress urges state lawmakers to rein in their own social media legislation
U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul has warned members of the Texas Legislature to keep their China-countering legislation focused on espionage and not to target Chinese immigrants. Full Story
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![House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, questions witnesses during a hearing on the generational challenge of the Chinese Communist Party, at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., Feb. 28, 2023.]()
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Texas House backs death benefits for state troops in Operation Lone Star
The bill was amended to make the benefits retroactive, supporting the family of a soldier whose name is on the legislation. Full Story
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![Family members of Bishop Evans, a Texas National Guard member, stand to be recognized by members of the House during a memorial resolution remembering his life at the state Capitol on April 11, 2023. Evans drowned after jumping into the Rio Grande to save two migrants being swept away by the current in April 2022.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Texas House votes to permanently stay on daylight saving time. But Congress won’t allow it — yet.
The chamber voted 138-5 on Wednesday to approve a bill that seeks to end the practice of changing clocks twice a year. But that doesn’t mean the measure has an easy path to reality. Full Story
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![The Texas Capitol just after sunset on Feb. 1, 2021.]()
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Two GOP Texas House members call for Rep. Bryan Slaton to resign
Reps. Briscoe Cain and Steve Toth, who are usually ideologically aligned with Slaton, said the lawmaker needed to step down. Full Story
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![State Rep. Bryan Slaton, R-Royse City, on the House floor during a session at the state Capitol on April 26, 2021.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune