The Week in the Rearview Mirror

In a 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act subsidies for people who buy insurance in the federal health care marketplace. That means those subsidies will continue for the more than 800,000 low- and middle-income Texans who bought their insurance on the exchange, as Texas declined to set up its own state-based exchange.

In a separate case, the nation’s high court ruled 5-4 that Texas has effectively reinforced segregated housing with its housing subsidy program, which gives incentives to private developers to provide low-cost apartments. The decision represented a victory for the Inclusive Communities Project, which argued that the way the state gave out those tax credits in Dallas packed minorities into poor neighborhoods.

State Rep. Scott Turner, R-Frisco, announced he won’t seek re-election, although he told his constituents his work in politics will likely continue. Turner, a former NFL player who was elected in 2012, lost in his effort to oust House Speaker Joe Straus from his leadership role.

The U.S. Senate voted to give President Barack Obama “fast-track” authority for his negotiations on a major trade deal, which Sen. Ted Cruz voted against. Cruz, who had once supported giving Obama more latitude to negotiate the deal, abruptly pulled his support of giving him the authority. The final vote on the measure was 60-38, with Sen. John Cornyn voting for the bill.

Wallace Hall, a University of Texas System regent, sued the UT System chancellor to try to get access to confidential student information. Hall says the records, which were used for a report on controversial admission practices, will help him better oversee the system, but the system said the academic records he seeks are confidential under federal law.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz now leads the pack among 2016 GOP presidential primary voters, the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll found. Cruz was running neck-and-neck with Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin in February. But now Cruz has surged and is leading the race, followed by former Gov. Rick Perry and Walker.

Former Gov. Rick Perry called removing the Confederate flag from the South Carolina statehouse an “act of healing.” Perry, who is running for president, had faced criticism for mistakenly calling the shooting at a Charleston church last week an “accident.”

The University of Texas at Austin has set up a task force to consider removing Confederate statues from its campus. Students had previously called for their removal, but the shooting at a black Charleston church increased attention on the issue. The three statues were vandalized the night before the UT-Austin chancellor announced the task force.

Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.