State Rep. Ron Reynolds recently lost his appeal to a 2016 conviction of five misdemeanor ambulance-chasing charges. If his last effort to have his conviction overturned fails, he faces a yearlong jail sentence.
Alana Rocha
Alana Rocha was the director of news partnerships for The Texas Tribune until June 2022. She was previously a multimedia reporter, after working in television and radio news for eight years. Alana covered politics for stations in Florida, Kansas and Texas and traveled the country reporting from the 2012 and 2016 presidential campaign trails. She was the lead reporter on several award-winning projects and launched “The Brief,” a daily audio update. A native of Tampa, Florida, Alana received bachelor’s degrees in journalism and Spanish from the University of Florida.
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State Government
4 years later, Texas still not drug testing unemployment benefit applicants (video)
More than four years after Texas lawmakers approved a law allowing for the drug testing of certain out-of-work Texans applying for unemployment, supporters blame the Obama administration for keeping the program from getting started.
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Texas Elections 2018
Candidate filing opens for 2018 elections in Texas
Candidate filing opened Saturday for next year’s elections in Texas, and it runs through Dec. 11.
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Guides
What will Joe Straus do with his $10 million in unspent campaign funds?
State ethics laws grant elected officials wide latitude on how they use their political contributions while in office — meaning there’s a lot outgoing House Speaker Joe Straus could do with his $10 million campaign war chest.
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Texas Elections 2018
Speaker Straus discusses why he decided it was time to step down
In an interview with The Texas Tribune, House Speaker Joe Straus discusses his surprise announcement that he won’t seek re-election to the Texas Legislature.
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Texas Elections 2018
Texas Republican women talk Trump, politics and the GOP (video)
We asked attendees at the Texas Federation of Republican Women convention in Dallas about President Donald Trump, the future of their party and the role of GOP leaders in women’s health issues.
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In Harvey's Wake
Houston homeowners upstream and downstream of dams flooded after Harvey
Watch some Houston homeowners recount the floods they experienced after Hurricane Harvey made landfall.
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In Harvey's Wake
Livestream: Abbott, Turner hold news conference on Harvey relief
After a week of trading jabs in the media on funding for Hurricane Harvey recovery efforts, watch Gov. Greg Abbott and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner address the media together from Houston.
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In Harvey's Wake
Houston mayor hits on highs and lows of Hurricane Harvey recovery
Watch Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner’s wide-ranging interview with The Texas Tribune, one month after Hurricane Harvey dumped more than 40 inches of rain, flooding entire areas of the city.
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In Harvey's Wake
Houston mayor: State should tap Rainy Day Fund for Harvey recovery
Sylvester Turner also told The Texas Tribune that fewer houses would have been damaged if federal officials had funded much-needed flood control projects. But he lauded how residents have risen to the challenge of recovering after Hurricane Harvey.
