How Texas lawmakers want to cut property taxes
House and Senate lawmakers plan to spend at least $6 billion on property tax cuts, but haven't yet agreed on how much relief should go to homeowners over businesses. Full Story
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![An East San Antonio neighborhood seen on Saturday, May 25, 2024.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Texas leaders defend Black official after lawmaker’s public interrogation of DEI policies left her in tears
The topic was a budget request from a state agency. The exchange grew emotional when a lawmaker pressed for answers about a strategic plan that praises diversity. Full Story
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![Then-Texas Water Development Board member L’Oreal Stepney listens to comments during a board meeting Tuesday, July 23, 2024, in Austin. Stepney was named chair of the Board by Gov. Greg Abbott on January 8, 2025.]()
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Texas leaders quiet amid the biggest measles outbreak in decades
Declining vaccination rates, decreasing trust in government and a political unwillingness to endorse vaccines is shaping Texas’ measles response. Full Story
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![Covenant Children's Hospital in Lubbock on Feb. 26, 2025. Covenant has added a patient screening check before entering the children's emergency entrance.]()
Credit: Trace Thomas for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate passes ban on lottery sales through courier services
Unanimous passage in the Senate comes after top Texas officials say the third-party services undermine trust in the lottery. Full Story
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![Texas Lottery stand at an Austin convenience store on Feb. 20, 2025.]()
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A shortage of criminal defense attorneys threatens indigent right to counsel in rural Texas
Texas’ indigent defense commission wants lawmakers to spend $35 million on public defender offices in rural areas, but some say that isn’t nearly enough to ensure compliance with the U.S. Constitution. Full Story
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![Scene from bond review docket in the Travis County courthouse in July.]()
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Investigations into the Texas Lottery grow after courier controversy
AG Ken Paxton’s office joins two other investigations by state officials into the commission as one service suspends operations due to the agency’s ban. Full Story
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![Texas Lottery stand at an Austin convenience store on Feb. 20, 2025.]()
Credit: Leila Saidane for The Texas Tribune -
Who are the Mennonites in a Texas community where measles is spreading?
The group is part of a larger, loosely affiliated group of churches with varied beliefs and leadership structures — and with sometimes strained relations with authorities. Full Story
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![The Seminole Mennonite School on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, in Seminole.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
Operaciones de ICE en Texas: Qué derechos tienen los inmigrantes
Abogados y grupos de inmigración recomiendan a los inmigrantes informarse sobre las acciones de la administración del presidente Donald Trump, como la expansión del uso de expulsiones aceleradas. Full Story
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![A migrant from El Salvador and her son take part in a caravan heading to the U.S. border, near Huixtla, Mexico November 27, 2021.]()
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New Texas Supreme Court chief justice calls for judicial raises, changes to bail laws
Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock embraced constitutional originalism, a judicial philosophy tied to conservatism, in addressing the Legislature. Full Story
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![Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock gets applause from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, left, and House Speaker Dustin Burrows as he starts the State of the Judiciary speech on February 26, 2025.]()
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Thin majority of Texas House signs on to support voucher bill
The 75 co-sponsors plus the bill’s author would provide enough votes to pass Gov. Abbott’s top priority measure in the 150-seat House. Full Story
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![Students enter a classroom at one of the 11 Houston-area campuses of Yes Prep, a public charter school system serving 7,000 low-income students.]()
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First death in West Texas measles outbreak is unvaccinated child
More than 120 people across nine counties have been infected during the largest Texas outbreak in 30 years. Full Story
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![A measles testing sign in Seminole on Feb. 25, 2025. An outbreak in Gaines County has spread to other parts of the state.]()
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Texas has the highest rate of uninsured children, and it’s getting worse
Issues with Medicaid coverage, including long wait times, abrupt loss of coverage and lack of political will to expand it, have contributed to Texas’ high uninsured rate for children. Full Story
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![Houston pediatrician D. Maneesh Kumar talks with his young patient, Maya, who was born with a rare genetic disorder. Maya’s family relies on Medicaid to cover the expensive treatment and care she needs to stay healthy.]()
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High housing costs, inflation bite into Texas sales tax growth
Officials said the state’s higher cost of living means less state sales tax revenue, which makes up more than half of the state budget. Full Story
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![The Mueller neighborhood in East Austin on Oct. 7, 2023.]()
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“We’re in competition”: An East Texas school district faces hard choices as education options grow
The Lufkin school district says it must do a better job of promoting itself amid growing competition from charter schools and homeschooling. Full Story
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![Students get onto a bus following classes at Lufkin High School in Lufkin on Jan. 27, 2023. Public school officials in rural areas like Lufkin face budget challenges because of proposed school choice legislation, which provides taxpayer-funded alternatives to sending a child to a local public school.]()
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Texas House unveils plan to cut property taxes, setting up fight with Senate
Lawmakers will debate how to spend $3.5 billion in proposed tax cuts, a legislative priority for Republican leaders. Full Story
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![Newly developed apartments sit next to older homes in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas on July 11, 2024.]()
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Feds target “criminals and illegal immigrants” in Houston-area development, Abbott says
The Colony Ridge development has long been under scrutiny from conservative lawmakers, think tanks and influencers who cast it as a hotbed for undocumented immigrants and cartel crime. Full Story
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![An overhead view of the Colony Ridge development in New Caney on Oct. 9, 2023.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate approves bill banning DEI in K-12 public schools
The bill would ban diversity, equity and inclusion policies related to hiring and programming, while creating ways for parents to complain about violations to the DEI ban. Full Story
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![Passing period at United South High School in Laredo on Oct. 23, 2018.]()
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Texas Lottery commissioner resigns as agency faces legislative scrutiny
Clark Smith, one of five members of the commission, stepped down Friday as lawmakers have raised questions about the role of lottery couriers and agency governance. Full Story
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![A Texas Lottery display at Winners Corner, a board game, lottery and gift store, in Austin on Feb. 20, 2025.]()
Credit: Leila Saidane for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Lottery ticket sales to third-party services fuel controversy and questions about the agency’s future
While the Lottery Commission says it can’t regulate sales to couriers, lawmakers want changes after two major jackpots were won using those services. Full Story
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![Texas Lottery cards at an Austin convenience store on Feb. 20, 2025.]()
Credit: Leila Saidane for The Texas Tribune -
Rates of pregnancy-related sepsis and deaths grow in Texas after abortion ban
ProPublica’s first-of-its-kind analysis is the most detailed look yet into a rise in life-threatening complications for women experiencing pregnancy loss under Texas’ abortion ban. Full Story
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Credit: Photo Illustration by Andrea Wise/ProPublica; Photo by Danielle Villasana for ProPublica