Watch: Austin & the Legislature, previewing the 86th session
Check out video of our conversation in Austin with state Sens. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, and Kirk Watson, D-Austin. Full Story
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Federal judge blocks Trump's asylum ban for migrants who enter illegally from Mexico
The temporary restraining order halts President Donald Trump’s effort to automatically deny asylum to migrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. Full Story
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![Immigration attorney Jodi Goodwin, center, talks to Nicaraguan asylum seekers while they wait for CBP agents to bring a wheelchair for one of them, on the U.S. side of the international bridge in Hidalgo on Sept. 15, 2018.]()
Credit: Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune -
Despite prior differences, hardline conservatives cautiously optimistic about Dennis Bonnen as speaker
Ten of the 11 returning members of the Freedom Caucus in the Texas House have publicly backed the Angleton Republican as speaker. Full Story
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![The Texas Freedom Caucus on May 23, 2017 (back row, l-r): state Reps. Jonathan Stickland, Briscoe Cain, Matt Krause, Valoree Swanson, Mike Lang, Kyle Biedermann, Matt Rinaldi. (Front row, l-r): state Reps. Matt Shaheen, Matt Schaefer, Bill Zedler, Jeff Leach, Tony Tinderholt.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Democrats in the Texas House ponder life with Dennis Bonnen as speaker
Nearly half of the Democrats who will serve in the House next year signed on to support state Rep. Dennis Bonnen's speaker bid. Other members are left wondering what a House with Bonnen at the helm could mean for them — and whether they could get behind it. Full Story
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![State Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, announces at a Capitol press conference that he's accumulated enough votes to be elected speaker of the Texas House in January.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich/BDP Inc. -
U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela signs letter opposing Nancy Pelosi as House speaker
The Texan joined 15 other members and members-elect in signing the letter, which has complicated Pelosi's bid to return as House speaker. Full Story
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![U.S. Reps. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, and Nancy Pelosi, D-California.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles: Vela/Erich Schlegel: Pelosi -
Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones concedes in close congressional race against Will Hurd
Almost two weeks have passed since the election, but Jones had been holding out hope and waiting to see all outstanding ballots counted. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-Helotes, and his challenger, Democratic nominee Gina Ortiz Jones.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich: Hurd/Robin Jerstad: Ortiz Jones -
Beto O’Rourke. Julián Castro. John Cornyn. 2020 already looms large in Texas.
Texas Democrats and Republicans are already gearing up for an action-packed election cycle. Full Story
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![Left to right: Former HUD Secretary Julián Castro, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso.]()
Credit: Erich Schlegel: Castro/Marjorie Kamys Cotera: Cornyn/Michael Stravato: O'Rourke -
Trump’s attack on former UT System chancellor who led bin Laden raid escalates a war of words
President Trump derided Bill McRaven, who recently left his post as chancellor of the University of Texas, as a “Hillary Clinton fan” and an “Obama backer” before suggesting that the four-star admiral should have caught Osama bin Laden faster. Full Story
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![UT System Chancellor William McRaven makes a point during discussion at the July 13, 2017 retreat of the UT Board of Regents at a west Austin hotel. No discussion of McRaven's more than 2 1/2-year tenure as chancellor was considered in the open session.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Texans who barely won in 2018 will be top targets in 2020
Winning an election by just a little bit can make a candidate a target in the next election. And this year's ballots in Texas were full of close finishes. Full Story
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![State Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, reviews a list of bills while standing at the back mic of the Texas House on May 9, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Section 8 vouchers are supposed to help the poor reach better neighborhoods. Texas law gets in the way.
Under Texas law, landlords cannot be punished for discriminating against families with federal housing vouchers. The impact is clear in Houston, where one in four families who receive housing assistance never gets to use it. Full Story
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![Denise Taylor-McCullough, right, who has a Section 8 housing voucher but has been unsuccessful finding a place to live, continues to search at her realtor Pamela Bank's (left) office in Houston on April 19, 2018.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Four candidates file for special election to replace Sylvia Garcia
The deadline was 5 p.m. Friday. Full Story
Credit: Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers punt on setting a spending cap for 2019 session
House Speaker Joe Straus said the unusual decision was meant to ensure lawmakers didn't rush to a decision they might "regret." Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton (left), and outgoing House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, at a Legislative Budget Board meeting in Austin on Friday, Nov. 16, 2018.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
State appeals court says Austin's paid sick leave ordinance is unconstitutional
The case was being challenged in the Austin-based 3rd Court of Appeals. Full Story
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![The Texas 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin on Oct. 17, 2018.]()
Credit: Rachel Zein for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: The neglected Texans responsible for 2018’s GOP wins
The Republicans at the top of the statewide ballot in Texas won their elections this year, but it was the state's least-populated and most-ignored counties that put them over the top. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz campaigns on the last weekend before the midterm elections before 300 people in Victoria, Texas]()
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Straight-ticket voting ends in 2020. For some down-ballot Republicans, that wasn't soon enough.
The Legislature voted last year to end straight-party voting for the 2020 elections. After a tough night for some down-ballot Republicans, some are wishing they'd done it sooner. Full Story
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![Voting inside a Fiesta grocery story in Houston on Tuesday Nov. 6, 2018.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Pelosi's fate up in the air as band of Democrats – including one Texan – push for new speaker
U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela of Brownsville is one of more than a dozen Democrats who claim they have the votes to deprive Nancy Pelosi of another term as House Speaker. They might be right. Full Story
![U.S. Reps. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, and Nancy Pelosi, D-California.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles: Vela/Erich Schlegel: Pelosi -
Report: Toxic herbicide found in many Texans' drinking water
Nearly 500 water utilities across the state tested positive for atrazine — a weed killer — which can lead to harmful health effects, according to a new report. The Environmental Working Group also found that utilities are testing water during times when the herbicide isn't being used as much — and that they may be lowballing the results. Full Story
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The week after Election Day, some Texas races remain in limbo
Counties still say they’re tallying their final votes, but here’s a roundup of races where the outcomes remain in limbo. Full Story
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![More than a week after the General Election, several Texas races are still being contested. Clockwise from top left: Gina Ortiz Jones and U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-Helotes; state Rep. Mike Schofield, R-Katy and Gina Calanni; Adam Milasincic and state Rep. Dwayne Bohac, R-Houston; and Joanna Cattanach and state Rep. Morgan Meyer, R-Dallas.]()
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Texas State students were likely a key factor in flipping this conservative county to Democrats
Beto O'Rourke surged to a 15-point edge over Ted Cruz in Hays County during last week's election, even though the Central Texas county hadn't voted for a Democrat at the top of the ticket since 1992. Full Story
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![Voters line up to cast their ballot at the LBJ Student Center at Texas State University on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018.]()
Credit: Mikala Compton for The Texas Tribune -
Texas executes Robert Moreno Ramos, amid pleas for case review
Lawyers for Ramos had argued that he wasn’t aware of his rights under an international treaty, and therefore didn't receive proper legal counsel during his trial and sentencing. Full Story
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![Mexican national Robert Ramos is scheduled to be executed on Nov. 14, 2018, for the Feb. 1992 murder of his wife and their two children.]()
Credit: TDCJ
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