The proposal for the 2024-25 budget cycle includes $142.1 billion in general revenue spending — about $5 billion higher than the proposal approved last week by the Texas House — at a time when lawmakers have a historic $32.7 billion surplus at their disposal this session. Full Story
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Critics say Senate Bill 16 is overly vague and will create a chilling effect that will prevent important conversations about race and gender. But Republican supporters say the legislation is necessary to protect conservative students who are self-censoring in the classroom. Full Story
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The bipartisan legislation is an expansion on the state’s 2015 “Compassionate Use” law, which has allowed a growing number of patients to legally use cannabis to treat debilitating symptoms of conditions such as epilepsy, autism, cancer and PTSD. Full Story
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The bill was amended to make the benefits retroactive, supporting the family of a soldier whose name is on the legislation. Full Story
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The chamber voted 138-5 on Wednesday to approve a bill that seeks to end the practice of changing clocks twice a year. But that doesn’t mean the measure has an easy path to reality. Full Story
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Texas lawmakers want tougher criminal penalties for possession of delta-8 and fentanyl. But that would mean much more work for the crime labs handling most of the drug testing for the state’s 254 counties. Full Story
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Tribune politics reporter James Barragán moderated a panel on the drastic rise in opioid overdose deaths and what lawmakers and advocates can do to protect Texans. Full Story
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U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul has warned members of the Texas Legislature to keep their China-countering legislation focused on espionage and not to target Chinese immigrants. Full Story
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Reps. Briscoe Cain and Steve Toth, who are usually ideologically aligned with Slaton, said the lawmaker needed to step down. Full Story
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A coalition of environmental groups claims the EPA has failed for decades to update limits on the discharge of some dangerous chemicals into waterways. Most of the worst polluters are in Texas. Full Story
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Sweltering heat has killed inmates, driven away prison workers and cost taxpayers millions in lawsuits. The House budget would provide air conditioning for 46 prisons, but it’s unclear if the Senate will sign on. Full Story
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Texas lawmakers are poised to create a new multibillion-dollar endowment to boost emerging research universities in national rankings. But faculty members say banning diversity offices and tenure would stymie those efforts. Full Story
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has declared the bracted twistflower, native to the Edwards Plateau, a threatened species, a month after putting another Texas plant on the endangered list. Full Story
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The bill would take fentanyl test strips off the state’s “drug paraphernalia” list, meaning it would no longer be a crime to carry them. Full Story
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The complaint came after an incident in which Slaton and the staffer allegedly met up at his Austin apartment last weekend. A separate staffer told The Texas Tribune that Slaton drank alcohol with an intern under 21 years old. Full Story
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A federal watchdog called for ending the practice nearly 50 years ago, but the military pushed back. Now, soldiers leave the Army with a negative discharge, avoiding possible federal conviction and with little record of the allegations against them. Full Story
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The governor says he asked the Board of Pardons and Paroles to expedite review, recommend clemency one day after Perry was convicted of murder. Full Story
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Daniel Perry, who was driving for Uber, shot 28-year-old Foster during a protest against police brutality blocks away from the state Capitol in July 2020. Full Story
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The ruling from U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo could potentially upend access to medication abortion nationwide. Full Story
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The House voted 86-52 on Thursday to amend the budget to ban state funding for “school vouchers or other similar programs.” Abbott has spent the past two months touring the state to build support for the proposal, spending tremendous political capital on trying to break through the rural Republican opposition to it. Full Story
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