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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.
The Texas Legislature is working on a budget that spends around $250 billion. But it doesn't include billions in federal COVID-19 relief money or account for big changes that could rock the state's Medicaid programs. Full Story
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Lawmakers have only six weeks left on their calendar, and most of the big things they set out to do aren’t finished. A session that started very quietly will end with a sprint. Full Story
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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