Billions more for tax relief and border security under budget approved by Texas Senate
Next step will be action in the state House, where budget writers have different plans for distributing property tax help. Full Story
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![Senator Joan Huffman, R-Houston, speaks with Senator Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, during a Texas Senate meeting on March 25, 2025.]()
Credit: Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ DEI debate centers on a disagreement about whether programs perpetuate or prevent discrimination
Supporters say diversity initiatives close educational and income gaps born from a history of prejudice. Republican officials say they prioritize identity over merit. Full Story
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![Illustrated posters reading “We Belong Here” litter the Capitol’s rotunda floor during Texas Students for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’s protest of HB1 Rider No. 186, which would defund DEI initiatives at public universities, on Mar. 23, 2023.]()
Credit: Leila Saidane/The Texas Tribune -
TribCast: How long til there’s a Buc-ee’s on Mars?
The gang talks about Texas’ role in the modern space race, what the aeronautics industry wants from the Legislature and, of course, Elon Musk. Full Story
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![SpaceX rockets at the launch pad at the Brownsville facility on Oct. 20, 2021. On Oct. 22, Elon Musk said via Twitter the Starship rocket would be ready for an orbital launch by next month.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez/The Texas Tribune -
Walmart gunman won’t face the death penalty, family says
The removal of the death penalty as an option could lead to a quick guilty plea and life sentence, as happened with federal charges in 2023. Full Story
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![Guests visit the memorial on the third anniversary of the Walmart mass shooting that left 23 dead, at the El Paso County Healing Garden on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
Federal investigators were preparing two Texas housing discrimination cases — until Trump took over
The government spent years probing allegations that a Dallas HOA created rules to kick poor Black people out and that Texas discriminated against minority residents in Houston after Hurricane Harvey, only to suddenly reverse course under Trump. Full Story
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![Housing advocates say a FEMA decision to end hotel stays for Texas renters displaced for Harvey doesn't account for difficulties in finding affordable units in the neighborhoods they left.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
West Texas lawmakers push bills to divert some oil and gas taxes to help oil-producing counties with roads, other needs
Reps. Tom Craddick and Brooks Landgraf want to divert 10% of taxes collected on oil and gas production to help budget-strapped counties keep up with growth. Full Story
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![Truckers line up to receive a load of sand, used in oil and gas fracking, at the Capital Sand plant Monday, July 1, 2024, outside of Monahans.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Olvidados en la cárcel sin abogado: Así le falla un pueblo de Texas a los acusados pobres
En el condado de Maverick, las autoridades pueden tardar meses en informar a los fiscales de una detención, mientras los acusados esperan en la cárcel. Rara vez se asignan abogados a quien los solicita. Full Story
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![Eagle Pass limita con la cuidad mexicana de Piedras Negras. Muchas personas que viven en Piedras Negras cruzan a diario para trabajar, ir de compras o visitar a sus familiares.]()
Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman para The New York Times -
Forgotten in jail without a lawyer: how a Texas town fails poor defendants
People in Maverick County spend months in jail waiting to be charged with minor crimes. Some are simply lost in the system Full Story
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![EAGLE PASS, TEXAS - January 6, 2025: The city of Eagle Pass, Texas with Piedras Negras in the background. Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times]()
Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times -
Interim UT-Austin president seeks to walk fine line between faculty and lawmakers’ concerns
Jim Davis told professors he’ll share their concerns with lawmakers about proposals that would increase oversight on curricula and hiring. Elsewhere on campus, former UT-Austin President Jay Hartzell criticized the bills. Full Story
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![UT-Austin’s interim president Jim Davis speaks during a university faculty council meeting on March 25, 2025.]()
Credit: Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribune -
Lawmakers push to spend billions of dollars for water projects and debate which ones to prioritize
Gov. Greg Abbott has made water a priority for this legislative session. Lawmakers will debate whether to invest more into new water supplies or repairing old, leaking pipes around Texas. Full Story
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![Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, during a Senate meeting on March 11, 2025.]()
Credit: Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ DEI bans: What to know about the term and the debate
Diversity, equity and inclusion has become highly politicized — and there’s no standard definition for what it is. Full Story
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![The Capitol dome is seen from the north side of the complex in Austin on March 18, 2025.]()
Credit: Kaylee Greenlee for The Texas Tribune -
Federal judge strikes down Texas' mail ballot ID requirement
The judge found that the provisions of SB1, the state's 2021 voter security law, discriminate against voters with disabilities. Full Story
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![A ballot is dropped in Austin in October, 2020.]()
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Texas doesn’t have to place LGBTQ foster youth in homes that affirm their identities, court rules
A federal judge has blocked a Biden-era rule that said providing foster children with “safe and proper care” required placing them in gender-affirming homes. Full Story
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![Scenes from Austin Pride 2024 on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, on Congress Ave in Austin. The day-long celebration featured drag performances, booths and floats of Austin’s businesses and many Texans clad in rainbow.]()
Credit: Olivia Anderson/The Texas Tribune -
How Texas Republicans plan to keep cracking down on abortion
A flurry of bills aims to restrict the flow of abortion pills into the state and abortion seekers traveling out of the state. Full Story
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![Misoprostol on the shelf at Parker Road Drug Store in Greenville, S.C., on June 13, 2024.]()
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Texas prison staff falsified temperatures records, investigation finds
Two-thirds of the state’s roughly 100 jails and prisons in Texas are not fully air conditioned in inmate housing areas. Full Story
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![The Huntsville Unit Texas State Penitentiary houses the execution chamber of Texas and is located in Huntsville on Jan. 31, 2024.]()
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Paxton impeachment cost state $5.1 million, auditor report finds
The new finding is about 20% higher than previous estimates of the known cost of the effort to remove Paxton from office. Full Story
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![Ken Paxton sits with attorneys Tony Buzbee and Mitch Little on the ninth day of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial at the state capitol in Austin, Texas, on Sept. 15, 2023.]()
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Republican lawmakers revive effort to give attorney general more power to prosecute election crimes
Critics fear increased election prosecutions could intimidate voters and local election officials. Attorney General Ken Paxton has long sought more autonomy over election cases. Full Story
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![Ken Paxton, Attorney General of Texas, speaks to the media Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, during a press conference following arguments in the case “Free Speech Coalition, Inc., et al. v. Ken Paxton, Attorney General of Texas,” at the Supreme Court of the United States in Washington, D.C.]()
Credit: Luke Johnson for The Texas Tribune -
Texas is poised to make measles a nationwide epidemic, public health experts say
Public health experts say Texas needs better messaging on vaccinations and quarantining and more people conducting contact tracing to contain the spread. Full Story
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![A sign donning measles information is posted outside of the office of Dr. Rumbidzai Mutikani, a pediatrician at the Hobbs Medical Clinic, as she works at her desk Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, in Hobbs, N.M.]()
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Texas faculty testify against bills to screen universities’ curriculum for “ideological” bias
Lawmakers say several bills under consideration Thursday would “address the unchecked authority of faculty.” They would expand university governing boards’ oversight powers. Full Story
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![The UT system Board of Regents during a regular meeting in Austin on May 3, 2023.]()
Credit: Leila Saidane/The Texas Tribune -
Parents of Texas child who died of measles stand by decision to not vaccinate
The measles vaccine has been proven to be safe and effective against the disease, which is highly contagious and can be life threatening. Full Story
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![Covenant Children's Hospital in Lubbock on Feb. 26, 2025. Covenant has added a patient screening check before entering the children's emergency entrance.]()
Credit: Trace Thomas for The Texas Tribune