Budget day in the House: Texas lawmakers keep anti-DEI proposal
House Bill 1 is being debated on the floor of the lower chamber, where representatives are hammering out details on the next two years of state spending. Full Story
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Zach Despart
Enterprise and Investigative Reporter
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Zach Despart is an enterprise and investigative reporter focusing on state government. His work on a team investigating the flawed police response to the Uvalde school shooting was awarded the 2024 Collier Prize and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in explanatory reporting. He led the Tribune’s effort to become the first news organization to map the fragmented 50-mile Texas border wall, a project that also found the state struggled with holdout landowners along the route. After it was published, the Legislature stopped funding the wall. He previously covered Harris County for the Houston Chronicle, where he reported on corruption, elections, disaster preparedness and the region’s recovery from Hurricane Harvey. His investigation on how Texas diverted Harvey aid away from areas most at risk for storms sparked a federal investigation. An upstate New York native, he received his bachelor’s degree in political science and film from the University of Vermont.
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![Lawmakers gather around House Parliamentarian Sharon Carter during budget discussions on the House floor of the state Capitol in Austin on April 6, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Bills to expand gambling access in Texas clear House committee
Gaming advocates are pushing to legalize casinos and sports betting in Texas. The committee votes represent more progress than the proposals made last legislative session, when they got hearings in committee but were never voted out. Full Story
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![Gene Koonce plays on a craps table fitted with protective plexiglass panels during the reopening of Bellagio hotel-casino, closed since March because of COVID-19. Las Vegas, Nevada on June 4, 2020.]()
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Staff of Houston state Rep. Jolanda Jones resigns, citing hostile work environment
Jones said in a new statement that she was outraged at the allegations the former employees made about her son, who works in the office, which she said are false. Full Story
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![State Rep. Jolanda Jones, D-Houston, speaks at a rally at the Texas State Capitol demanding lawmakers address the state’s overdose crisis in Austin on Feb. 15, 2023. Jones and other representatives from six Texas cities–– El Paso, Laredo, West Texas, San Antonio, Austin and Houston–– gave speeches to call for increased harm reduction in response to a spike in fentanyl deaths statewide.]()
Credit: Leila Saidane/The Texas Tribune -
Texas business interests and family values collide as lawmakers debate legalizing gambling
House Bill 1942, written by Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, would permit regulated sports betting that is already legal in 29 states. House Bill 2843, by Rep. John Kuempel, R-Seguin, would permit casino gambling in Texas. Full Story
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![The gaming floor inside Resorts World Hudson Valley casino in Newburgh, New York on Dec. 21, 2022.]()
Credit: Patrick Oehler/Times Herald-Record via REUTERS -
“He has a battle rifle”: Police feared Uvalde gunman’s AR-15
In previously unreleased interviews, police who responded to the Robb Elementary shooting told investigators they were cowed by the shooter’s military-style rifle. This drove their decision to wait for a Border Patrol SWAT team to engage him, which took more than an hour. Full Story
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![The gunman's AR-15 style rifle lays in a supply closet of Room 111 at Robb Elementary School.]()
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Texas DPS won’t discipline any more officers for Uvalde shooting response
The Department of Public Safety has finished its investigation into how officers responded to Texas’ deadliest school shooting. The agency has fired one officer and is in the process of firing another. Full Story
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![Texas Department of Public Safety officers guard the scene at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde on May 24, 2022.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Marco Bello -
Texas House selects Rep. Dade Phelan as speaker for another legislative session
Phelan defeated Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington, for the House leadership position in a vote, 145-3. In cruising to victory, Phelan secured the support of Democrats as well as the most conservative members of his party. Full Story
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![Representative Dade Phelan is sworn in as the 88th Speaker of the House, at the state Capitol in Austin, on Jan. 10, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Property tax revision, judicial branch expansion among new Texas laws that took effect Jan. 1
While the Legislature will soon start its new session, some laws passed in 2021 are just now taking effect. Full Story
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
After Uvalde shooting, Texas senators recommend better mental health care access and school security
The committee urged lawmakers to pay special attention to rural areas. But its lone proposal on guns would not have made a difference in the Robb Elementary shooting. Full Story
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![Flowers lay on the sign for Robb Elementary School on Wednesday, May 25, 2022 in Uvalde. Twenty one people were killed after a gunman after a high school student opened fire inside Robb Elementary School on Tuesday where two teachers and 19 students were killed.]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for the Texas Tribune -
Records reveal medical response further delayed care for Uvalde shooting victims
Previously unreleased video, audio and interviews show for the first time how the medical response faltered after police finally confronted the Robb Elementary shooter. Full Story
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![The scene outside Robb Elementary School minutes after officers killed the shooter who had been occupying two adjoining classrooms.]()
Credit: Helicopter footage gathered by the Texas Rangers and obtained by The Texas Tribune, The Washington Post and ProPublica. Graphics by Imogen Piper/The Washington Post
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