Gov. Greg Abbott signs $8.5 billion public education funding plan into law. Here’s how it works.
The spending package will give schools more money for staff pay raises, operational expenses, special education and more.
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A look at the wins rural Texas scored in this year’s legislative session
Lawmakers sought to close gaps in education and support funding for agriculture, disaster preparedness and health care this year.
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politics
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criminal justice
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Hundreds gather in Houston and San Antonio to protest immigration crackdowns in workplaces, courthouses
The protests in Texas followed days of unrest in Los Angeles, where President Donald Trump sent National Guard troops in response to demonstrations. Full Story
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![Protestors cross over a bridge as they march towards Houston's Hermann Park during a protest in response to recent news of nationwide ICE raids and deportations on Sunday, June 8, 2025.]()
Credit: Antranik Tavitian for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Republicans pioneered in-state tuition for undocumented students. Now they’re celebrating its end.
In 2001, Texas Republicans saw expanding college access for certain undocumented students as a way to build an educated workforce. Now, some GOP lawmakers feel only U.S. citizens should receive those benefits. Full Story
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![Governor Rick Perry delivers his State of the State speech to a joint session of the Texas Legislature on Feb. 12, 2003.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich
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Watch: Texas policy experts discuss how lawmakers addressed education, infrastructure needs this year
Policy experts discussed a new school funding bill, a $20 billion package to keep up with water demand and the state’s energy fund. Full Story
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Texas measles cases grow to 742. Track the spread here.
Four more cases were reported in the last week from the ongoing measles outbreak connected to West Texas. Full Story
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![An editorial art for the West Texas measles outbreak tracker.]()
Credit: Yuriko Schumacher/The Texas Tribune
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Texas will begin a summer lunch program in 2027, but only if feds don’t raise costs
The program would give low income families an extra $120 per child for summer lunches, but federal debate about food benefits could endanger the program. Full Story
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![Bonham Middle School employees watch as students begin to gather for lunch in the school’s cafeteria Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023 in Odessa.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Speaker Dustin Burrows, once tagged as “liberal,” kept skeptics at bay by leaning into a conservative agenda
At the same time, some Democrats acknowledged the Lubbock Republican let them leave their mark on some of the GOP bills they disagreed with. Full Story
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![House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, gavels out the 89th Texas Legislature at the Texas Capitol on Sine Die, Monday, June 2, 2025]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers pull funding for child identification kits again after newsrooms report they don’t work
For the second time, lawmakers cut funding for kits meant to help find missing kids after ProPublica and The Texas Tribune documented the lack of evidence that the kits work. Full Story
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![The House chamber at the Texas Capitol during a session.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune
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Texas reined in recreational THC for more medical marijuana this legislative session
Texas passed sweeping changes to cannabis policy, including expanding the medical marijuana program and banning hemp products, while also boosting psychedelics research. Full Story
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![Hemp plants are seen at Caprock Family Farms, Friday, May 23, 2025, in Lubbock.]()
Credit: Annie Rice for The Texas Tribune -
Texas bill creating more weekend early voting could boost turnout, but delay election results
A bill headed for Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk may not go into effect until 2027. Election administrators say the changes could create staffing challenges. Full Story
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![The line wraps around the sidewalk at the Cinco Ranch Branch Library on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Ft Bend County.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
First trial of immigrant accused of trespassing on Texas border military zone ends in acquittal
The trial of the Peruvian woman was the first test of the Trump administration’s new policy aimed at prosecuting immigrants who crossed the border illegally with military-related charges. Full Story
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![Near Marker 4 east of the Texas-New Mexico state line, a sign, illegible from the Mexican bank of the Rio Grande, warns that the U.S. Department of Defense has taken over the area, May 12, 2025.]()
Credit: Courtesy of Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters
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Texas secretary of state refers 33 potential noncitizen voters for criminal investigation
The 33 potential voting violations are a tiny fraction of the roughly 11 million who cast ballots in the November 2024 election. Full Story
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![A sign warns non-citizens against voting outside of a polling location in Canyon Lake on Nov. 05, 2024.]()
Credit: Kaylee Greenlee for The Texas Tribune -
The 2025 Texas Legislature is over. See how far some of the most consequential bills made it.
Get up to date on the status of the session’s major bills, including some on their way to the governor’s desk. Full Story
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![Four squares with four icons: the top left icon is of the Texas capitol with a yellow question mark over it, the top right icon is of a bill with with a yellow question mark over it, the bottom left icon is of the Texas capitol with a red checkmark over it and the bottom right icon is of a bill with a green checkmark over it.]()
Credit: Illustration by Ben Hasson -
Texas won’t force private companies to use E-Verify to check workers’ immigration status, despite leaders’ tough talk
Texas’ conservative Legislature has again and again refused to mandate that most private businesses use E-Verify. Experts say that Republican resistance is rooted in how the system could impact the state’s labor supply and economy. Full Story
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![A photo illustration showing Texas politicians superimposed against images of immigration documents and construction work, in a pattern that mimics torn paper, in green, orange, and black and white.]()
Credit: Photo illustration by Emily Scherer for The Texas Tribune and ProPublica. Source images: The Texas Tribune, Reuters and public documents.
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Texas Rep. Jolanda Jones announces bid to succeed Sylvester Turner in Congress
Jones, a Democrat elected to the Texas House in 2022 and previously served on the Houston City Council, joins a slate of candidates running to fill the solidly blue seat. Full Story
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![State Rep. Jolanda Jones, D-Houston, speaks in favor of Medicaid expansion during the budget debate in the Texas House on April 10, 2025.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
As lawmakers tried to name an official steak, Texas students learned how to find the best beef
Far from the Capitol, students at Texas Tech spend time examining the quality of beef for meat judging competitions. Full Story
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![Zachary Buckley, production manager at Red Raider Meats, shows the different facilities at Texas Tech University's campus meat processing lab on May 1, 2025.]()
Credit: Jacob Lujan for The Texas Tribune -
Meet the next 20 speakers joining TribFest 2025
Michael Curry, Joe Lonsdale, Beto O’Rourke, Katie Phang and Margaret Spellings, among many others, join us this November in downtown Austin Full Story
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Data centers are building their own gas power plants in Texas
Not long ago, developers of the massive server farms talked about powering them with wind and solar energy. Now they’re bypassing the grid and building their own gas-fired power plants on site. Full Story
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Credit: Dylan Baddour/Inside Climate News -
Texas’ undocumented college students no longer qualify for in-state tuition
Within hours of a federal lawsuit targeting Texas’ policy of letting undocumented students qualify for lower public tuition rates, the 24-year-old law was no more. Full Story
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![Students walk through campus at the University of Texas at Austin on Aug. 25, 2021.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Texas hospital that discharged woman with doomed pregnancy violated the law, a federal inquiry finds
Federal investigators found that the Round Rock hospital had violated a Biden-era law intended to provide abortions in emergency situations. Full Story
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![Ascension Seton Williamson hospital Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in Round Rock. Two Texas women filed separate federal complaints last week against Texas Health Arlington Memorial and Ascension Seton Williamson hospitals alleging that the hospitals denied treatment of ectopic pregnancy, leading them to lose their fallopian tubes and suffer severe health consequences.]()
Credit: USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters Connect - More News