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 -
Watch: While lawmakers consider legalizing fentanyl test strips, this volunteer isn’t waiting to distribute them to his West Texas community
Michael Prado, with the grassroots organization West Texas Harm Reduction, is on a mission to distribute fentanyl test strips, syringes and overdose-reversing drugs like naloxone to his community. Full Story
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![Michael Prado with West Texas Harm Reduction shows a "bleach and teach" kit for cleaning syringes from the back of his Dodge SUV before heading out to distribute supplies in Abilene on Feb. 21, 2023.]()
Credit: Justin Dehn/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.]()
Credit: Austin Price for The Texas Tribune -
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 -
Expanded access to medical marijuana gains traction as Texas House passes bill
The bipartisan legislation is an expansion on the state’s 2015 “Compassionate Use” law, which has allowed a growing number of patients to legally use cannabis to treat debilitating symptoms of conditions such as epilepsy, autism, cancer and PTSD. Full Story
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![An engineer at Texas Original Compassionate Cultivation in South Austin tests for impurities on April 30, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar 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.]()
Credit: Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via REUTERS -
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.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
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 -
How Republicans’ threats to tenure and diversity might undercut their own efforts to advance Texas’ universities
Texas lawmakers are poised to create a new multibillion-dollar endowment to boost emerging research universities in national rankings. But faculty members say banning diversity offices and tenure would stymie those efforts. Full Story
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![Nearly 40 protestors with Texas Students for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion join in chants against HB1 Rider No. 186, which would defund DEI initiatives at public universities, at the State Capitol rotunda on Mar. 23, 2023.]()
Credit: Leila Saidane/The Texas Tribune -
Texas House budgets $545 million for prison air conditioning. The Senate hasn’t offered anything.
Sweltering heat has killed inmates, driven away prison workers and cost taxpayers millions in lawsuits. The House budget would provide air conditioning for 46 prisons, but it’s unclear if the Senate will sign on. Full Story
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![Inmates walk down a hallway at Brazoria County's Darrington prison in July 2017.]()
Credit: Jolie McCullough / The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott backs call for pardon for Daniel Perry, who killed Austin protester in 2020
The governor says he asked the Board of Pardons and Paroles to expedite review, recommend clemency one day after Perry was convicted of murder. Full Story
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![Daniel Perry is escorted to the 147th District Courtroom at the Travis County Blackwell Thurman Criminal Justice Complex in Austin on March 23, 2023.]()
Credit: Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman via REUTERS -
Federal judge in Texas suspends FDA approval of abortion pill
The ruling from U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo could potentially upend access to medication abortion nationwide. Full Story
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![Mifeprex, a drug that is used to end an early pregnancy, at Alamo Women’s Reproductive Services in San Antonio on June 14, 2022.]()
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After House vote signaling opposition to school choice, Gov. Greg Abbott says the fight isn’t over
The House voted 86-52 on Thursday to amend the budget to ban state funding for “school vouchers or other similar programs.” Abbott has spent the past two months touring the state to build support for the proposal, spending tremendous political capital on trying to break through the rural Republican opposition to it. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at Parent Empowerment Night at Annapolis Christian Academy in Corpus Christi on Jan. 31, 2023 to discuss parent empowerment and choice in their child's education.]()
Credit: Blaine Young for The Texas Tribune -
In East Texas, skepticism over private school tuition assistance persists despite push from conservative leaders
Gov. Greg Abbott and other conservatives say families need options to escape “woke” education in public schools. East Texas parents and school leaders say the national talking points are off base. Full Story
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![The Grace Community campus in Tyler on Tuesday, April 4, 2023.]()
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Texas House approves $302.6 billion state budget with tax cuts and teacher and state employee raises
After a marathon debate, the bill will head to the Senate, where lawmakers have been crafting their own version of the spending plan. Full Story
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![State Rep. Mihaela Plesa, D-Dallas, rushes to the front of the House floor during budget discussions at the state Capitol on April 6, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott launches $10 million effort to combat fentanyl crisis, sends overdose-reversing meds to all 254 counties
The “One Pill Kills” campaign is funded with the help of a federal grant, and the statewide Narcan distribution is being paid for with funds from Texas’ settlement agreement with opioid manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott, center, is flanked by Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd, Health and Human Services Commissioner Cecile Young, Texas Against Fentanyl founder Stefanie Turner, and state Rep. Dr. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Limited trans athlete bans in competitive sports would be allowed under proposed Biden administration policy
The proposal was met with mixed reaction from transgender rights activists, with some saying that it provided a welcome set of protections for trans students and others saying the regulations could offer a roadmap for those who want to discriminate. Full Story
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![A basketball going through the hoop prior to the game between the Texas A&M Aggies and the Missouri Tigers at Reed Arena in College Station on Jan. 11, 2023.]()
Credit: Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports via REUTERS -
Sen. Kelly Hancock opens up about rare kidney disease, as he advocates for Texas bill to increase living organ donors
Hancock, a North Richland Hills Republican, was diagnosed at age 27 with a rare genetic kidney disease that occurs when the immunoglobulin A antibody builds up in the kidneys. Full Story
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![State Sen. Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills, reads his resolution that would have the Texas Legislation recognize March 9 as World Kidney Day, on the Senate floor at the state Capitol in Austin on March 14, 2023. As a young adult, Sen. Hancock was diagnosed with a rare genetic kidney disease and received a live kidney donation in July of 2022.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune