Wray, Harrison advance to runoff in election to claim Wray's former Texas House seat
The election is to replace former state Rep. Jake Ellzey, R-Waxahachie, who was elevated to Congress last month. Full Story
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![State legislators on the House Floor on May 7th, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate approves spending nearly $2 billion on border security
Proponents of House Bill 9 denounced the Biden administration’s approach to border security, saying the state had no choice but to step in to ramp up enforcement. Full Story
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![Construction of the border wall close to Mendoza’s ranch La Grulla on Dec. 17, 2020.]()
Credit: Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune/ProPublica -
Republican bill tightening Texas election laws is headed to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk
Senate Bill 1 rewrites Texas election laws to further restrict the voting-by-mail process and outlaw local voting initiatives meant to widen access, namely those pushed by Harris County that were disproportionately used by voters of color. Full Story
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![Day one of early voting in El Paso at the Sunland Park Mall indoor voting site on Oct. 13, 2020.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
GOP's so-called critical race theory bill advances as bill to restrict transgender student athletes stalls in House committee
The committee action came less than 24 hours after Dutton had taunted Patrick, threatening to hold his prized legislation back amid rumors that the Senate was stalling a bill to restore funding to the Legislature. Full Story
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666 new Texas laws go into effect Sept. 1. Here are some that might affect you.
The new laws will affect abortion access, social studies curriculum and cities that trim the budgets of law enforcement. Full Story
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![The Texas Capitol on Aug. 13, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Bill limiting abortion-inducing pills heads to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk to be signed into law
Senate Bill 4, which was advanced by the Texas House on Monday evening, would bar access to abortion-inducing pills to patients who are more than seven weeks pregnant. Full Story
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![A women’s health clinic in Texas.]()
Credit: Stephen Spillman for The Texas Tribune -
Texas deploys firefighters and other aid to Louisiana for Hurricane Ida recovery efforts
Ida, which made landfall in Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane Sunday, was downgraded to a tropical storm Monday, but officials warned that flooding from storm surge will continue to affect parts of the state throughout the morning. Full Story
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![Highway 51 is flooded near LaPlace, Louisiana on Monday morning after Hurricane Ida came ashore on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021.]()
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Analysis: The partisan debate over voting laws is a prologue to redistricting
The summer fight over voting and election law has been fierce. It may well be a prologue to a bigger battle just ahead: redrawing the state’s political maps. Full Story
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![Voters at the polling place inside the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center in Houston on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
The state’s sending thousands of health care workers to Texas hospitals amid a new COVID-19 surge. Will it be enough?
So far the state has paid to hire more than 8,000 contract health care workers as hospitalizations from COVID-19 in Texas approach the record set last winter. Full Story
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![A nurse dons full PPE before entering the room of a COVID-19 patient at Goodall-Witcher Hospital in Clifton on Aug. 3, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Retired Texas teachers closer to getting a “13th check” after House endorses legislation
The measure would allow for a one-time payment of up to $2,400 for retired teachers, counselors and other school staff. Full Story
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![Students backpacks hang off the back of their chairs in an empty classroom at Blanco Vista Elementary School in San Marcos on Aug. 23, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for the Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers pass rewrite of state’s bail system aimed at keeping more people behind bars who can’t post cash
The House balked at a part of the Senate’s bill that would have barred charitable groups from posting bail for some defendants, but otherwise embraced new limits on letting people accused of violent crimes out of jail. Full Story
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![Around the Clock Bail Bonds on 10th St. and Nueces in Austin on May 8, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas is one step closer to funding virtual learning, but could leave out many students of color
The bill, which would provide funding through September 2023, will head back to the Senate before reaching Gov. Greg Abbott's desk. Full Story
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![Sophomore Alexis Phan does her Algebra 2 homework remotely, from her home in Pflugerville on Nov. 16, 2020.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas House approves additional $2 billion for border security as state moves to build border wall
The bill would nearly triple border security funding from the last biennium. The legislation needs one more vote of approval from the House before moving to the Senate. Full Story
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![A portion of the newly-erected border fence that is being constructed by the state on private property in Del Rio on July 23, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott can’t enforce mask mandate ban, he argues in court
Abbott says local district attorneys have the authority to enforce his ban on local mask mandates. But urban DAs are unlikely to go after their fellow local officials. Full Story
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![A student wearing a mask and face shield eats lunch at Blanco Vista Elementary School in San Marcos on Aug. 23, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for the Texas Tribune -
Maternal health care advocates applaud new state law to extend Medicaid coverage, but say it doesn’t go far enough
The law, which takes effect Sept. 1, gives new mothers six months of postpartum Medicaid coverage instead of two. That’s less than many advocates and some lawmakers wanted. Full Story
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![Tambra Morrison holds her 7-month-old daughter Kalani as they watch her other two children, Kayden and Kynnedi, climb the jungle gym at Red Bird Park in Duncanville on Aug. 14, 2021.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers supported a statewide vaccine mandate a decade ago. Now they're resisting one for COVID-19.
Ten years ago, the state led in requiring meningitis vaccines for students under 22 enrolling in college. Now, in the middle of a pandemic, lawmakers are more skeptical of a COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Full Story
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![A nurse administers a dose of the Pfizer vaccine at a clinic organized by the Travis County Mobile Vaccine Collaborative at Rodriguez Elementary School on July 28, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Extended unemployment benefits for jobless Texans will end in September, state agency says
The Texas Workforce Commission announced that the U.S. Department of Labor notified the commission that the state’s unemployment rate fell below the threshold needed to continue the benefits. Full Story
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![The Texas Workforce Commission Building in Austin on March 30, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
UT-Austin working with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, conservative donors to create “limited government” think tank
Proposals obtained by The Texas Tribune indicate the institute would be “dedicated to the study and teaching of individual liberty, limited government, private enterprise and free markets.” Full Story
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![The University of Texas at Austin tower on July 16, 2020.]()
Credit: Allie Goulding/The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: When the Texas state seal doesn’t signify trust
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is using the state seal to shield himself against accusations by former top aides. And former Gov. Rick Perry is using it as well — as a backdrop for a sales pitch. Full Story
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![Then-State Senator and current Attorney General Ken Paxton during the 2014 Red State Gathering in Fort Worth.]()
Credit: Cooper Neill for The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott bans government mandates on COVID-19 vaccines regardless of whether they have full FDA approval
The order comes two days after the FDA granted full approval to the Pfizer vaccine. It doesn't keep private businesses from mandating vaccines for their workers — but public or private entities that receive public funds cannot require vaccination proof from customers. Full Story
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![A COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card sits on a table at a vaccine clinic held in partnership between the Central Texas Food Bank and University of Texas in Austin on July 21, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune
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