Jim Jordan snags more Texas support in troubled bid for House Speaker
A handful of Texas Republicans back the Ohio Republican’s speaker bid after initially backing the former frontrunner, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan arrives for a House Republican caucus meeting in the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023.]()
Credit: Julia Nikhinson for The Texas Tribune -
Federal judge rules Galveston County commissioner maps violate Voting Rights Act
Judge Jeffrey V. Brown, a Trump appointee, found the county districts denied Black and Latino voters “the equal opportunity to participate in the political process.” Full Story
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![Galveston County Commissioner Stephen Holmes chats with activist Roxy D. Hall Williamson after a Galveston County Commissioners Court meeting in Galveston, TX, on Monday, April 4, 2022.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott says he’ll add teacher pay to the special session — but only if lawmakers pass school voucher bill
Though lawmakers have drafted a bill to increase public school funding and teacher salaries, it cannot pass during the special session unless Abbott adds those issues to his agenda. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks about the recent 88th Legislative Session to an audience at the Texas Public Policy Foundation offices in Austin, on June 2, 2023. Abbott recounted policy victories in regards to fentanyl and the border crisis, as well as limiting gender affirming care and banning DEI practices in higher education. Abbott ended the event by promising to call a special session for school choice, after the current special session for property tax resolves.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Distrust of voting machines throws a Texas county’s election planning into chaos
There’s no evidence the machines are insecure, but one Kerr County commissioner is pushing to get rid of them. Two elections administrators have already quit over the commotion. Full Story
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![A group of volunteers demonstrate a hand count of ballots during an Election Integrity Town Hall at the Hill Country Youth Event Center in Kerrville on Aug. 22, 2023. The event was hosted by Kerr County Commissioner Rich Paces, who has since February advocated that the county get rid of its voting machines and instead use volunteers to hand count election results.]()
Credit: Natalia Contreras/Votebeat -
Texas’ main voucher bill seeks to avoid other states’ mistakes but keeps ideas that attracted criticism
Like in Texas, voucher programs in other states sparked vigorous debates, came with the same promises and faced similar concerns. Not all predictions came true. Full Story
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![An empty classroom at Chapa Middle School in Kyle on Aug. 24, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas quietly moves to formalize acceptable cancer risk from industrial air pollution. Public health officials say it’s not strict enough.
Without public hearings, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is proposing to adopt its 17-year-old standard that scientists and public health officials say fails to account for cumulative air pollution. Full Story
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![A playground at San Jacinto Elementary School, located in Deer Park a few miles from the highly industrialized Houston Ship Channel. On March 31, 2019, air quality inspectors from the Environmental Protection Agency recorded extremely high levels of benzene in the air as they drove past the elementary school. Residents were not warned about the pollution present in the community that day.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune/Public Health Watch -
School voucher bill gets initial approval in the Texas Senate, heads over to a more skeptical House
The Senate also approved Senate Bill 2, which would infuse $5.2 billion to school districts to help them with teacher raises and rising costs. Gov. Greg Abbott said he would add those items to the special session’s agenda once lawmakers approve a voucher program. Full Story
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![Students work at their desks at Blanco Vista Elementary School in San Marcos on Monday August, 23, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for the Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate moves border bill that allows state police to arrest migrants at U.S.-Mexico border
Two immigration bills advanced in the Senate on Thursday evening. A bill that would increase the minimum sentence for smuggling migrants passed with bipartisan support and will head to the House. Full Story
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![Smugglers use a raft to transport migrants from Mexico across the Rio Grande into the United States, in Roma, on Aug. 26, 2022.]()
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GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy draws hundreds of young conservatives at UT-Austin event
The presidential contender visited the University of Texas at Austin Thursday where he answered student questions and said the U.S. shouldn’t aid Ukraine in its war against Russia. Full Story
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![Vivek Ramaswamy, GOP presidential candidate, speaks at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, on Oct. 9, 2023.]()
Credit: Alex Hicks Jr./Spartanburg Herald-Journal via REUTERS -
COVID-19 funding halted rural hospital closures across Texas, until now
La Grange residents worked for months to try to save the 65-bed hospital and asked the city to step in with a loan, but it wasn’t enough. Full Story
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![An empty dining room is seen at St. Mark’s Medical Center Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023, in La Grange. Wednesday was the hospital’s last day of service before its scheduled closing on October 12.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Here’s who gets money from Defend Texas Liberty, the PAC whose leader met with white supremacist Nick Fuentes
The group has funded candidates and groups like the Texas GOP who have pushed fellow Republicans to take a harder line against things like illegal immigration and transgender people. Full Story
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![Former state Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, on the House floor on May 25, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Looking for an economic rebound, an East Texas town looks to the arts — and is rebuffed by the state
A town of 34,000 people, Lufkin sits deep in the Piney Woods, a region dotted with rural towns. Local civic leaders hope a long list of efforts can revitialize the city’s downtown and reboot its economy. Full Story
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![A flag flies as cars drive downtown in Lufkin, Texas, U.S., on Friday, January 27, 2023. Public school officials in rural areas like Lufkin face budget challenges because of proposed school choice legislation, which provides taxpayer-funded alternatives to sending a child to a local public school.]()
Credit: Callaghan O'Hare for The Texas Tribune -
For Texans with long COVID, specialized centers can provide more effective treatments — if they can access them
Long COVID clinics in Texas are few and far between, often with months-long waitlists. But these centers can provide care that validates stigmatized patients, offers unique treatments and teaches physicians more about the new condition. Full Story
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![Healthcare workers wheel portable oxygen tanks to patients in the COVID care unit of Titus Regional Medical Center in Mount Pleasant on Aug. 19, 2021.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Rep. Andrew Murr took on Ken Paxton and lost. He has no regrets.
The five-term House member, and his mustache, gained notoriety during the high-profile impeachment of Paxton. He warned tolerating corruption could hurt Republicans in the long term. Full Story
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![State Rep. Andrew Murr, R-Junction, poses for a portrait on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023, in Junction.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Chip Roy, Michael Cloud say they’re still against Scalise after he wins party nomination for U.S. House speaker
The two Texas holdouts, combined with a handful of other members who have vowed to vote against Rep. Steve Scalise, could delay the selection of the next House speaker. Full Story
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![House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) is pursued by reporters after he won a majority of votes in the House Republican caucus to become their nominee for next Speaker of the House during a Republican meeting held behind closed doors in the Longworth House office building on Capitol Hill in Washington on Oct. 11, 2023.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque -
Dan Patrick says PAC leader’s meeting with white supremacist was a “blunder,” but will keep group’s $3 million contribution
Two other Republican lawmakers are giving away donations after Nick Fuentes was seen visiting the office building associated with Defend Texas Liberty PAC President Jonathan Stickland. The meeting has roiled the party, leading to many Republicans calling on their peers to return money from the PAC. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick speaks to media during a press conference in the offices of Blakemore &
Associates in Houston, TX, on Tuesday, June 13, 2023.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
U.S. Rep. Colin Allred raises $4.7 million in third quarter of U.S. Senate campaign
The Dallas congressman collected the sum over the last three months, continuing to show he could be Cruz’s biggest financial threat in the Democratic primary. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, speaks in favor of voting rights legislation during a Congressional Black Caucus press conference in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 12, 2022.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz -
Book bans in Texas spread as new state law takes effect
As Texas enters its third straight school year of coordinated book banning activity, a growing number of districts are targeting library books. Caught in the dragnet: books featuring a “naked” crayon and one with a cartoon butt. Full Story
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![A reflection of an American flag is visible as a Little Free Library, which was designed to look like a prison, invites residents to take books that the library says have been challenged by schools across the state of Texas, in Houston on May 3, 2023.]()
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She was told her twin sons wouldn’t survive. Texas law made her give birth anyway.
Miranda Michel, 26, couldn’t leave the state for an abortion. But she also couldn’t bear the idea of carrying a nonviable pregnancy to term. Full Story
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![Miranda Michel cradles her twin sons Helios and Perseus Langley in her arms a day after delivery at Medical City Dallas in Dallas, TX on August 10, 2023. Unable to legally terminate the pregnancy in Texas despite the twins having lethal fetal anomalies and a zero percent chance of viability, Michel carried her twins to term.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Disability advocates argue against school vouchers in Texas Senate hearing
The Senate’s main “school choice” bill would prioritize vouchers for children with disabilities, among other underprivileged groups. But advocates and parents raised concerns that voucher recipients who choose private school would no longer be protected by federal law. Full Story
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![Students backpacks hang off the back of their chairs in an empty classroom at Blanco Vista Elementary School in San Marcos on Monday August, 23, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for the Texas Tribune