State troopers will help Austin with police patrols as the city struggles with an officer shortage
Austin officials view the partnership as a stopgap measure as they try to fill the city’s more than 200 police vacancies. Full Story
Joshua Fechter is the Dallas-based urban affairs reporter for The Texas Tribune, covering policy — including housing affordability, housing and property taxes, evictions, policing and transportation — and politics in Texas' major metropolitan areas. Before joining the Tribune in August 2021, Joshua covered City Hall for the San Antonio Express-News. He holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin.
Austin officials view the partnership as a stopgap measure as they try to fill the city’s more than 200 police vacancies. Full Story
The proposals target the taxes homeowners pay and require school districts to lower their tax rates. Full Story
Housing advocates, builders and real estate experts agree that the state simply isn’t building enough homes to keep up with its booming population and economic growth. Full Story
Cuts to school property tax bills. Bigger tax benefits for homeowners. A controversial idea to limit property tax growth. Here’s what you need to know about the brewing property tax debate at the Texas Legislature. Full Story
Lawmakers will decide whether to keep protections that shielded tenants from eviction — or to ban them. Full Story
Across the state, major projects have drawn fierce opposition in recent years amid a reckoning over how freeway construction in the mid-20th century created and exacerbated racial and economic segregation. Full Story
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan’s proposal reveals the different roads the Texas House and Senate want to take on property taxes — and the fight that might emerge between the two chambers this session. Full Story
San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker face little opposition in their reelection bids. Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson doesn’t have any challengers. Full Story
Abbott’s spending proposals also include spending $750 million on school safety and mental health services and expanding postpartum Medicaid to a year. Full Story
Spencer Cronk, who headed the city since 2018, fell out of favor with council members after communication failures that mirrored problems from the 2021 winter storm. Full Story