For the past year, an influential conservative think tank has lobbied to make wind and solar projects ineligible for a popular local property tax abatement program. A measure to do that has stalled, but renewable advocates are watching for last-minute changes to other legislation. Full Story
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We're livestreaming our conversation in Austin on demography, inclusion, innovation and social entrepreneurship, moderated by the Tribune's Evan Smith. Full Story
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Under the measure, defendants who have active psychotic symptoms of certain mental illnesses at the time of the crime would be ineligible for capital punishment. The bill now heads to the more conservative Senate. Full Story
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On this week’s TribCast, Aman talks to Ross, Matthew and Shannon about how Texas lawmakers' plan to raise the sales tax collapsed, why the 2019 session is like the 1997 one and what we'll be watching out for in the session’s final three weeks. Full Story
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Current Texas law only allows curbside voting for voters with disabilities. The new legislation would allow — but not require — polling places to accommodate parents with young kids. Full Story
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Two months into his campaign, the Democratic presidential candidate is pressing forward with an aggressive campaign under a dimmer spotlight. Full Story
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Texas is growing at a rate of 1,000 people per day, and for the second year in a row, most of the people who moved to the state came from other countries in 2018. And the biggest growth in international migration isn't from Latin America. Full Story
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What does being Texan mean to you? Share your Texas origin story for a community art project to be showcased at Texas Tribune Festival in September, and you could snag two free tickets. Full Story
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One of the big bills of the session — a sales- for property-tax swap — was put on ice this week. Lots of other bills are ready for their post-session burials, too, but keep your eyes open. In the Texas Legislature, dead legislation has a way of coming back to life. Full Story
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But an amendment to the bill could keep the devices in place until cities' contracts with vendors expire. Camera proponents say they make intersections safer, but critics say they undermine due process. Full Story
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Tuesday’s decision means the program will continue and that hundreds — if not thousands more asylum seekers — will be sent back across the U.S.-Mexico border pending further hearings. Full Story
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The bill would also prevent what abortion opponents call "discriminatory abortions" — where a woman or a doctor pursues an abortion on the basis of the fetus' sex, race or disability. Full Story
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In a party-line vote, the upper chamber advanced a bill that would make it more difficult for cities and state agencies to remove or alter historical markers. The legislation comes amid a larger debate over whether to keep or remove Confederate monuments. Full Story
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It was the second time in as many days that the lower chamber moved to increase which medical conditions allow Texans to use CBD oil for treatment. But both bills face an uphill battle in the Senate. Full Story
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Gov. Greg Abbott and other legislative leaders endorsed the sales tax increase, intended to help fund ongoing cuts to school district taxes. But it has been effectively killed this session. Full Story
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After it failed to move out of the House Higher Education Committee on Monday, a proposal to bring back the annual game seems all but dead. Full Story
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"Having a hearing is sometimes a victory," said state Rep. Celia Israel, D-Austin, whose conversion therapy ban was debated for the first time this year. Full Story
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State leaders are pushing a plan to drive down property taxes using revenue from a one-cent increase to the sales tax. They have said the plan would result in roughly $250 a year in savings on a $200,000 home. Full Story
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The so-called tax swap wouldn't make a big difference in average Texans' tax bills, according to a new analysis. But it would shift the tax burden from higher-income households to the less well off. Full Story
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The family of Sandra Bland — who died in a Waller County jail cell — is calling for a reopening of the criminal investigation into Bland's arrest and death after seeing footage for the first time. Full Story
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