In the legislative session, state lawmakers passed bills to help exonerated Texans who have been convicted of crimes but later determined to be innocent. Use this interactive to search for the big debates on criminal justice.
Becca Aaronson
Becca Aaronson was the first product manager at the Tribune, where she worked from 2010 to 2018. As product manager, Becca managed the Tribune's website redesign, coordinates cross-departmental projects and conducted user research to improve reader experience. She previously worked on the Tribune's data visuals team as a developer and project manager, contributing to several award-winning investigative projects. She covered health care from 2012 to 2014, making waves with her coverage of women's health and the Wendy Davis abortion filibuster.
She has a bachelor’s degree in cultural theory from Scripps College in Claremont, Calif.
Posted inImmigration
Visualizing Days of Lege Debate: Immigration
The controversial “sanctuary cities” bill failed to pass, but other immigration-related bills advanced and were signed by the governor. Explore this interactive to pinpoint the days lawmakers debated issues related to immigration.
Posted inHealth care
Visualizing Days of Lege Debate: Health Care
The Legislature passed several health-care related measures including the abortion sonogram bill, Medicaid cuts and a significant defunding of Planned Parenthood. Use this interactive to find what lawmakers said during the health care debates.
Posted inHigher Education, Public Education
Visualizing Days of Lege Debate: Education
It took a series of often rancorous debates this session to reach agreement on how to finance public education for 2012-2013. Use the Trib’s latest interactive to track what lawmakers said about Texas education.
Posted inState Government
Visualizing Days of Debate: The Budget
Use the visualization and transcript highlights provided below to find what lawmakers said during the tensest days of budget negotiations as lawmakers worked to cut $15 billion in spending for 2012-2013.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Interactive: Visualizing the Key Debates in the Lege
The Trib captured every debate, tirade and joke uttered into the mikes in the House and Senate during the 82nd legislative session in our online transcripts. Our latest data apps help you identify when important debates occurred by visualizing the frequency of keywords.
Posted in
Energy
Regulators Approve More Safety, Environmental Studies of Proposed Nuclear Plant Site
Federal regulators have determined that safety and environmental claims need to be investigated more thoroughly before a site in Victoria County can be declared suitable for a potential nuclear power plant.
Posted in
State Government
Updated: Senate Adjourns, Leaves TSA Issue in House’s Lap
The Senate has adjourned Sine Die, leaving the burden of the TSA “anti-groping” bill in the House’s lap.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
On the Records: Twitter Visual Tool Useful — and Pretty
A new data visualization tool, the Tweet Topic Explorer, makes analyzing a user’s Twitter feed quick, painless and beautiful. Check out what Gov. Rick Perry tweets about most on his personal twitter feed, and see how his tweets compare to others.
Posted in
Health care
The Final Push: A Special Session Update
Lawmakers must wrap up the special session on Wednesday, with a few outstanding priorities left to tackle. Here’s a rundown of where the Texas Legislature stands going into the second-to-last day of the special session.