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Chris Essig builds data visualizations and news apps at the Texas Tribune. Before joining the team in February 2017, Chris spent almost six years in Iowa, including two and a half years as a developer at The Gazette in Cedar Rapids and three years as an online editor at the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. He is originally from Illinois and will never complain about the winter weather here in Texas.
Several new facilities have already opened this summer, and the federal government has requested up to 15,500 beds at two Texas military bases. Full Story
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How exactly are families being separated at the border? Here's where parents and children go after they're apprehended. Full Story
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Two congressional districts are part of a Texas redistricting case the U.S. Supreme Court will take up Tuesday. Here's a detailed look at what's at issue in one of them: the 27th Congressional District. Full Story
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The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday in a Texas redistricting case that has flagged two congressional districts and nine Texas House districts. Here's a closer look at one of the districts in question: U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett's curiously shaped 35th Congressional District. Full Story
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Last year, federal judges ruled that when Texas lawmakers redrew the 27th Congressional District in 2011, they did so in a way that diminished the political clout of Hispanic voters. As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments in a redistricting case that includes CD-27, take a closer look at what's at issue in the district. Full Story
Local officials, demographers and advocates are worried the census could be particularly tough to carry out in Texas in 2020. They are bracing for challenges both practical and political that could make the state, which is already hard to count, even tougher to enumerate. Full Story
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The Texas House is in the midst of a months-long scramble for control. Here's an updated look at who is running to lead the chamber after Speaker Joe Straus steps down in January as well as who may soon throw their hats in the ring. Full Story
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After a months-long investigation, the Tribune found that the state's data on maternal mortality is a moving target, that the number of women dying during or after pregnancy is still rising and that the state has missed opportunities to improve women's health programs. Full Story
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Revisit our animated tour of Texas Congressional District 35, which wiggles its way from Austin to San Antonio, swallowing specific neighborhoods while avoiding — or splitting — others, all in the name of partisan political advantage. Full Story
The U.S. House and Senate voted for a major overhaul of the American tax code on Tuesday and Wednesday, sending the measure to President Donald Trump's desk. Here's how all 38 Texans in Congress voted on the bill. Full Story
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We've updated compensation data for employees of the University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and UT Southwestern Medical Center in our Government Salaries Explorer. This update reflects state agency payrolls for 2017. Full Story
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Despite all the focus on November, many in Texas politics are keeping a close eye on January. That's when the 150-member Texas House will pick its new House speaker. Full Story
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The Texas Tribune asked all 38 members of the state's congressional delegation whether they would consider a ban on "bump stocks," the type of gun attachment used by the Las Vegas mass shooter. Full Story
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Texas Republicans in Congress applauded the Trump administration's DACA decision — but none of them advocated for the deportation of those currently in the program. Full Story
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As part of our Lock The Vote series, we examine a key piece of Republicans’ 2011 redistricting strategy, which courts said discriminated against minorities: U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett’s curiously-shaped 35th Congressional District. Full Story
The Texas Tribune surveyed all 38 Texans in Congress Wednesday, asking if they believed Trump's response to Charlottesville has encouraged the white nationalist movement. Full Story
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President Trump set off even more confusion than usual at the U.S. Capitol this week by announcing he would ban transgender people from the military. Take a look at where Texans in Congress stand on the issue. Full Story
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House Bill 3287, which Gov. Greg Abbott didn't veto, will force larger breweries to pay a distributor to deliver their beer — even if they're delivering it to on-site taprooms just yards away from where it's produced. Full Story
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After 140 days, what did Texas lawmakers actually accomplish? Here's our guide to what happened with the regular session’s most high-profile measures. Full Story
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A new Harvard study found that Americans — especially poorer ones — are having a harder time find a suitable place to call home. Texas lawmakers, experts and development industry leaders say there are plenty of reasons why that's true here, too. Full Story
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