Analysis: Returning to normal before the Texas herd has immunity
Texas is still about 13 million people away from herd immunity to the coronavirus. The state is chasing that goal even as Texans begin to act like the pandemic is over. Full Story
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Ross Ramsey
Executive Editor
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Ross Ramsey is executive editor and co-founder of The Texas Tribune, the only member-supported, digital-first, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. He writes regular columns on politics, government and public policy. Before joining the Tribune, he was editor and co-owner of Texas Weekly. He did a 28-month stint in government with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Before that, he reported for the Houston Chronicle, the Dallas Times Herald, as a Dallas-based freelancer for regional and national magazines and newspapers, and for radio stations in Denton and Dallas.
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![Fans watched a game between the Texas Rangers and the San Diego Padres at Globe Life Field on April 11, 2021.]()
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Analysis: 2022 candidates are popping up faster than bluebonnets in Texas
Texas voters might still have a hangover from the 2020 elections, but the prospective candidates don’t — they’re already maneuvering for the 2022 elections. Full Story
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![The Texas Capitol on Feb. 1, 2021.]()
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Analysis: A $5.5 billion shift in who pays for public education in Texas
It's an old and bittersweet story in Texas: Property values rise, local property tax revenue rises and the state government spends less on public education. Full Story
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![Students walk with their desk barriers to their next class on the first day of in-person classes at Highland Village Element…]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: A Texas state budget — minus $38.6 billion in federal stimulus money
The state budget approved by the Texas Senate on Tuesday is just the start: Lawmakers still have to decide what to do with billions in federal COVID-19 relief money. Full Story
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![Levi Pedrick peaks out of his kindergarten class window on the first day of in-person classes at Highland Village Elementary.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Corporations aren’t buying what GOP leaders are selling in voting debate
Corporations generally stay out of legislative fights that don’t directly affect their business, but some are weighing in against proposed Republican restrictions to voting laws. Full Story
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![American Airlines jets fill Terminal A at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in April of 2019.]()
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Analysis: Texas’ proposed voting restrictions have more to do with 2018 than 2020
New voting restrictions working their way through the Texas Legislature have more to do with the 2018 election cycle than the one in 2020. Full Story
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![Cars lined up to vote in the drive-thru line at NRG Stadium in Houston during the first day of early voting on Oct. 13, 2020.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: After statewide power outages, Texas lawmakers reconsider an ounce of prevention
Power outages during a winter storm have the Texas Legislature considering remedies — and a flaw in their response to a previous storm. Full Story
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![Gabriel Martinez shovels debris from burst pipes at an apartment in downtown Dallas. Texans across the state are now working…]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: The fight over local control turns to representation — and lobbyists
The latest fight over local control in the Texas Legislature is a rerun: Conservative lawmakers want to bar local governments from hiring lobbyists to represent them in Austin. And their effort has more support than before. Full Story
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![Downtown Pearsall on Sept. 16, 2020.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Warren Buffett’s power play puts a price on electric reliability in Texas
Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy wants to build 10 electric plants in Texas, for use when demand peaks or other plants falter. And it’s the first time a price tag has been attached to a remedy since last month’s deadly storm. Full Story
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![Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett at an annual Berkshire meeting in Omaha, Nebraska on May 2, 2015.]()
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Analysis: Not all emergencies are priorities in the Texas Capitol
Texas has seen more mass shootings in the last two years than proven incidents of voter fraud, but legislators are more focused on election law than on gun violence. Full Story
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![A police unit at the back entrance to a Walmart where a gunman opened fire on back-to-school shoppers on Aug. 3, 2019, in El…]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: When elected problem-solvers become part of the problem
Fixing immigration and ending hate crimes was hard enough without elected policymakers in Austin and Washington D.C., stoking nativist and racial fears. Full Story
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![Governor Greg Abbott addresses the media about border security at a press conference at Anzalduas Park in Mission on March 9…]()
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Analysis: Why would Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick run a race he’s already won?
Speculation that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick might want to be governor someday underestimates his current advantages over the current occupant of that office, Gov. Greg Abbott. Full Story
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![Lt. Governor Dan Patrick greeted invited guests and family at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport ahead of President Trum…]()
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Analysis: Texas leaders’ closely watched breakfast club
One way to check the political mood when the Texas Legislature is meeting is to watch the state's top three leaders — and how their Wednesday breakfasts are going. Full Story
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![Newly-elected House Speaker Dade Phelan speaks to the House of Representatives during opening ceremonies as the 2021 legisla…]()
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Analysis: Dan Patrick’s interrogation about a freeze warms speculation about 2022
An unusual appearance by the lieutenant governor at a Senate hearing looked like a tough session for one of Gov. Greg Abbott's appointees — and raised speculation about political tension between the state's top two elected officials. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick at the dais on the Senate floor on May 25, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Government budgets looked terrible when COVID-19 started. A federal windfall has flipped the outlook.
Texas lawmakers expected to be sweating over a very tight budget right now, after strong early signs that the pandemic would stall the economy. But an improved economy and a huge infusion of federal aid is erasing those fears. Full Story
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![A view of the rotunda inside the state Capitol on the opening day of the Legislative Session. Jan. 12, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: One way or another, Texans will get the bill for fixing the electric grid
It's going to be expensive to make sure the state's electricity stays on during winter storms like the one that blacked out most of Texas last month, and the money will come, one way or another, from average Texans. Full Story
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![Josh Olszewski cooks eggs over a a grill after his apartment lost power due to the severe winter storm that hit the state. F…]()
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Analysis: After the blackouts, a whiff of the 2022 elections in Texas
A proposed remodeling of the state’s electricity grid from Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller might be more than it seems. It reads like a campaign’s position paper. Full Story
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![Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller addressed delegates at the Texas Republican Convention. June 16, 2018.]()
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TribCast, special edition: Our pollsters analyze how Texans feel about vaccines, elections and police
In this edition of the TribCast, Ross talks to pollsters Joshua Blank, James Henson and Daron Shaw about the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll and what voters are thinking about vaccines, elections, police and the ongoing pandemic. Full Story
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![People receive their drive-thru COVID-19 vaccine at the Fair Park vaccination site in Dallas on Feb. 8, 2021.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Abbott’s icebreaker
Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to end his pandemic restrictions on masks and business capacity was a surprise — and a convenient change of subject for an executive under scrutiny for statewide blackouts last month. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott meets with local El Paso leaders to discuss the coronavirus situation for the city and state on Aug. 13, 20…]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
Most white Texas voters believe the deaths of Black people in police custody aren’t a systemic problem
Texas voters support the police and don't want to cut their budgets. But they disagree on the reasons behind the deaths of Black people in encounters with law enforcement, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Full Story
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![Austin police officers stand guard outside of their headquarters during a protest against the death of George Floyd. June 2,…]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune