In response to failures and grieving parents, Texas lawmakers advance flood bills
Here’s where the proposed laws to address camp safety, flood warnings and emergency response stand in the Legislature. Full Story
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![Parents of Camp Mystic girls lost during the Guadalupe River flooding of July 4, 2025 pack seats in the Senate Chamber to view passage of Senate Bill 1 which strengthens summer camp regulations to help prevent future tragedies.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Environmental laws waived to build border wall in Texas wildlife refuge
Advocates say there’s no national security justification for building a wall through a Rio Grande Valley wildlife refuge that provides habitat to ocelots and other endangered species. Full Story
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![Federal border wall is seen at Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge.]()
Credit: Steve Hillebrand/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service -
TribCast: How will Texas protect its campers from future floods?
In this week’s episode, Matthew and Eleanor talk to Texas Tribune climate reporter Emily Foxhall about the emotional pleas Camp Mystic parents made to state lawmakers and analyze the proposed new laws in response to the Kerrville floods. Full Story
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![A flood gauge jammed with debris by a creek bridge near Hunt on July 9, 2025.]()
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Bill giving attorney general authority to prosecute election crimes heads to Abbott’s desk
The measure comes four years after the state’s highest criminal court ruled the agency could not bring election cases without an invitation from local prosecutors. Full Story
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![Voters visit the Gilmer Civic Center during the first day of early voting on Monday October 21, 2024, in Gilmer.]()
Credit: Michael Cavazos for The Texas Tribune -
Texas bill protecting sex trafficking victims from some criminal charges heads to governor’s desk
Senate Bill 11 would shield victims from prosecution from some crimes if they’re threatened or coerced into the act by their trafficker. Full Story
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![The state Capitol in Austin on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025.]()
Credit: Ronaldo Bolaños/The Texas Tribune -
Texas universities could see fewer international students amid immigration crackdown, reports say
An enrollment drop could cost the Texas economy hundreds of millions of dollars, the reports say. Full Story
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![Students walk the University of North Texas campus in Denton, TX on February 24, 2022.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ $7.2 billion loan program for gas power plants has approved two projects in two years
Experts say the Texas Energy Fund is facing an energy market that makes new power plants more expensive and less profitable. Full Story
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![Vistra Corp.’s Midlothian Power Plant opened its doors to media on October 15, 2021 to show the plant’s weatherization process. Energy providers like Vistra are preparing their plants for extreme weather conditions following the February winter storm Uri, which disrupted the Texas electric grid and led to the deaths of more than 200 people.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
As measles exploded, West Texas officials looked to CDC scientists. No one answered.
Emails show how overwhelmed West Texas officials were as they asked CDC for guidance on how to respond to the explosive outbreak. Full Story
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![As a measles outbreak exploded in Texas in February, local health officials struggled to reach CDC scientists who were grappling with changes under the new Trump administration, according to interviews and emails obtained by KFF Health News. The first three clips above are excerpts of emails from Katherine Wells, the public health director in Lubbock, Texas. The bottom clip is from Scott Milton, at the Texas Department of State Health Services. (KFF Health News illustration; 500Px Plus; photo of Lubbock, Texas, from Getty Images)]()
Credit: KFF Health News illustration; 500Px Plus; photo of Lubbock; Texas; from Getty Images -
“Bathroom bill” advances in Texas House days after tensions flared at hearing
Senate Bill 8, which now heads to the House floor, would restrict which bathrooms in government buildings transgender people would be allowed to use. Full Story
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![House Sergeant-At-Arms, l, and Texas DPS argue with a witness who was later removed from the hearing for rowdyness against HB 8 in THe House State Affairs Committee meeting on August 22, 2025.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers to consider restoring limits on late voter registration changes
Legislation pushed by Gov. Greg Abbott would bar voters at the polls from immediately casting a ballot based on a last-minute update to their address. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott addresses law enforcement officials during a Southwestern Border Sheriff’s Coalition event in Austin on April 29, 2025.]()
Credit: Kaylee Greenlee for The Texas Tribune -
Proposed legislation would levy stricter penalties on Texas camps following the Hill Country flood
HB 256 would prevent camps from correcting violations on the spot to avoid state penalties and reduce the number of camps serving on a state panel to a maximum of two. Full Story
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![Campists' belongings lie on the ground following flooding on the Guadalupe River, at Camp Mystic, Hunt, on July 7, 2025.]()
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Texas House approves bill aimed to limit city, county property taxes
Texas cities and counties have already had their budgets compressed by a variety of factors, including the state’s current property tax limits. Full Story
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![Cars drive on Intersate 35 East with the downtown Dallas skyline looming in the distance on Sunday, July 27, 2025.]()
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Texas House approves bill that would limit water exports from East Texas — for now
A Dallas businessman has proposed studying the aquifer to see if he can pump millions of gallons out of East Texas, a plan that residents distrust. Full Story
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![The Houston County Lake in Houston County, Texas on on Wednesday, November 30, 2022. (Emil Lippe for The Texas Tribune)]()
Credit: Emil Lippe for The Texas Tribune -
The Texas redistricting fight has been the backdrop for the Trump administration to test a new legal strategy
The administration has been testing a strategy of using the courts as leverage to force political outcomes. In Texas, the state’s leaders and conservative activists have been willing, if not eager, collaborators. Full Story
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![A photo collage showing U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, and President Donald Trump in red and black alongside bits of a letter mentioning “unconstitutional racial gerrymanders” and threatening to “seek legal action against the State.”]()
Credit: Photo illustration by Cengiz Yar/ProPublica. Source images: Reuters. -
Cruz, Paxton issue dueling endorsements in Texas attorney general GOP primary
Aaron Reitz and Chip Roy, positioning themselves as Paxton’s ideological heirs, have served as top aides for both the attorney general and Cruz. Full Story
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![Aaron Reitz, left, and U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, right, are both running for Texas attorney general after previously serving as top aides to the outgoing incumbent, Ken Paxton.]()
Credit: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect and Julia Nikhinson for The Texas Tribune -
Doggett won’t seek reelection to Congress if new district is upheld by courts, paving way for Casar
Casar moved quickly to coalesce Austin Democrats, launching his campaign for the 37th Congressional District Monday with endorsements from 42 current and former Texas elected officials. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Austin speaks during a press conference with Texas Democratic leaders at the Texas Capitol on July 31, 2025. Democrats are fighting mid-decade Republican redistricting efforts influenced by President Donald Trump. Left to right are U.S. Representatives Lloyd Doggett of Austin, Greg Casar of Austin, Lizzie Fletcher of Houston, Al Green of Houston and Sylvia Garcia of Houston.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Champions of truth and democracy, the Tribune’s fall fellows are eager to represent and serve Texas
Student fellows support vital initiatives like the Texas Tribune Festival and provide in-depth coverage of key issues. Full Story
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For their walkout, Texas Democrats get national attention — and partisan retribution at home
Democrats said the walkout inspired a national protest against GOP redistricting. But it also greased the path for other bills they oppose and unified Texas Republicans. Full Story
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![State Rep. Mihaela Plesa, D-Plano, rips up her "permission slip" in front of the Texas House vowing she will stay the night in the House Chamber in support of fellow Democrat Nicole Collier on August 19, 2025. At left is Rep. Rhetta Bowers, D-Garland, at right is Rep. Cassandra Hernandez, D-Farmer's Branch.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
State Ag employees told police they were wary of Sid Miller’s political consultant. Now he’s the agency’s chief of staff.
Todd Smith was Miller’s longtime political consultant when he admitted to soliciting bribes for licenses the agency typically issues for $100. Miller then put him on the payroll at $218,000 per year. Full Story
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![Commissioner of Agriculture Sid Miller speaks during a Make America Great Rally at the Burleson County Expo Center in Caldwell on Aug. 1, 2024.]()
Credit: Olivia Anderson/The Texas Tribune -
Only one restaurant in Texas sells lab-grown meat. Lawmakers banned it anyway.
Starting Sept. 1, cultured meat sales will be banned for the next two years even though the product isn’t ready to be sold at a large scale. Full Story
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![Cows feed on grass and food pellets at Powell's ranch in Cedar Creek, on March 28, 2021.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune