Homelessness among veterans has been cut in half since 2010, VA says
In Texas, the number of homeless veterans has dropped 65% between 2007 and 2020, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Full Story
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![Tents at the state-run homeless encampment off of U.S. Highway 183 in Austin on Feb. 25, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
U.S. Rep. Chip Roy says he’ll use debt ceiling threat to push through his border security plan
The debt ceiling has long been a political tool to force partisan agenda items across. But Roy is facing some resistance within his own party on his border plan. Full Story
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![US Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, speaks with Major Garrett, chief Washington Correspondent for CBS News, at The Texas Tribune Festival on Sept. 23, 2022 in Austin, TX.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Two years after Texas’ voting rights showdown gripped the nation, lawmakers again push dozens of elections bills
State policymakers have mapped out familiar territory early in the legislative session, with Democrats seeking to expand voting access and Republicans pledging to make elections more secure. Full Story
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![State Rep. Jessica González, D-Dallas, speaks at a press conference at Mt. Zion Baptist Church near the state Capitol in Austin after Democrats broke quorum in opposition to Senate Bill 7, a sweeping GOP voting bill. May 30, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas environmentalists push the EPA to crack down on methane emissions, saying state agencies have “failed us”
Commenting on the EPA’s proposed new rule to reduce methane leaks nationally, environmentalists said Texas regulators are hesitant to address emissions of the climate super-pollutant. Full Story
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![Pump jacks and emission pipes seen from Highway 285 near Pecos, Texas]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says he’ll run for reelection in 2026, reversing previous plan to retire
Patrick made the comments at a daylong conference in Austin hosted by The Texan, a political news site started by former GOP state Sen. Konni Burton. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick delivers his inaugural address after taking the oath of office at the state Capitol in Austin on Jan. 17, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Most Texans support more school funding and teacher raises, new survey finds
As legislators begin to debate their public education priorities, the Charles Butt Foundation released a poll Tuesday showing Texans are mostly supportive of their public schools but are split on voucher-like programs. Full Story
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![JoAnn Zavala teaches pre-K with a bilingual program at Hemphill Elementary, seen on Sept. 5, 2019.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Feds drop charges against Afghan soldier trying to claim asylum in Texas
After months of publicity and a bipartisan congressional effort to request a pardon from the president, Abdul Wasi Safi could be set free. Full Story
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![Abdul Wasi Safi stands in the foreground of Afghan military vehicles surrounded by HESCO barriers and concrete bunkers.]()
Credit: Courtesy of Sami-ullah Safi -
Newly elected Austin Mayor Kirk Watson hopes to find common ground to solve city’s housing crisis
The former state senator, returning for a second term as Austin’s mayor, spoke at a Texas Tribune event about how he can help reframe the conversation on affordability and the city’s relationship with state leadership. Full Story
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Texas leads lawsuit against Biden administration’s new immigration policy
Last month, the administration said the U.S. will let up to 360,000 people per year enter the country from four countries. A lawsuit filed Tuesday claims the policy is illegal. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks to his supporters after being sworn into office on January 10, 2023. At left are state Sen. Angela Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune -
After fumbled Uvalde shooting response, Texas senator wants to make it easier to sue law enforcement officers
State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, a San Antonio Democrat, introduced a package of legislation that includes a bill that would end qualified immunity, which shields government officials from liability for constitutional violations. Full Story
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![Families of the victims of the Uvalde school shooting gather to attend a presser held by state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, where he introduced four new bills that will address qualified immunity for police officers, allow victims to sue the State of Texas, repeal the protection of the Lawful Commerce in Arms act, and create a permanent compensation fund for victims of school gun violence, at the state Capitol in Austin on Jan. 24, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Texas led country in new jobs in 2022 as state’s unemployment rate fell below 4%
The state set a record for the number of employed people for 14 consecutive months. Full Story
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![The Austin downtown skyline on Sept. 22. 2022.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Accused El Paso shooter will plead guilty to federal hate crime charges
The expected plea, announced by the accused shooter’s lawyer, comes after federal prosecutors took the death penalty off the table last week. Full Story
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![Guillermo and Yvonne González, right, release 23 doves during a memorial service on the third anniversary of the Walmart mass shooting that left 23 dead, at Ponder Park in El Paso on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. Yvonne González’s parents, Maribel Hernandez and Leo Campos, were killed inside the Walmart.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
Three Texas counties are suing the attorney general to get clarity on when the public can access post-election ballots
For decades, the attorney general’s office advised counties to keep ballots for 22 months after an election. Then Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an opinion saying they could be quickly released to anyone who requested them. Full Story
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![Election workers sort provisional ballots and forms from the polling centers at the Tarrant County Election Administration building in Fort Worth on November 8, 2022.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
In a border graveyard, volunteers exhume migrants’ bodies and search for their families
In Maverick County, 26 bodies pulled from the Rio Grande were buried, some without attempts to identify them. Teams of Texas State students are trying to learn their names so their families can be notified. Full Story
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![Dozens of metal crosses, painted white and starting to rust where they’d been placed in the ground over unmarked migrant graves, scatter the ground at the Maverick County Cemetery where dozens of “John Doe” graves have been exhumed in an effort to identify the bodies in Eagle Pass on Jan. 10, 2023.]()
Credit: Kaylee Greenlee Beal for The Texas Tribune -
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick unveils committee assignments with one Democratic chair
Conservative activists have pushed for legislative leaders to ban Democrats from leading committees. Full Story
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![State. Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, listens to State Sen. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, filibuster against Senate Bill 1 on Aug. 11, 2021.]()
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Help us identify what matters most to Texans during the 2023 legislative session
We would like to know more about what you’re seeing in your community to help guide our reporting during the 88th legislative session. Full Story
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![House Sergeant Robbie Breslin standing guard in the back hallway of the House chamber of the Texas Capitol on opening day of the 2023 Texas legislative session.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune -
In Texas’ first post-Roe legislative session, there’s a new political power dynamic on abortion
While Democrats and the far-right edge of the Republican Party remain focused on abortion, leaders in both chambers have not yet spent much time discussing the issue this session. Full Story
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![Anti-abortion advocates at the Rally for Life march at the Capitol in Austin on Jan. 27, 2018.]()
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Conservative lawmakers push for review of school board group’s guidance on transgender students
Texas Freedom Caucus asked Attorney General Ken Paxton to weigh in on school board association’s guidance for navigating complex issues related to transgender youth. Full Story
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![Students leave the classroom to work in the computer lab at Mata Intermediate School.]()
Credit: Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribune -
New Texas foster care report shows both improvements and continued deficiencies
In a fifth report tracking the state’s efforts to remedy its embattled foster care system, federal monitors documented persistent risks to Texas children ahead of next week’s court hearing. Full Story
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![The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services building in Austin.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune -
Bill to ban Chinese citizens and government from buying Texas land gains steam among Republicans
Sen. Lois Kolkhorst filed a bill that would ban citizens, governments and entities from China, Iran, North Korea and Russia from purchasing land in the state, part of what she and other Republicans have said will help stem foreign influence in Texas. Full Story
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![State Sen. Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, speaks from her desk on the Senate floor on May 30, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune