Lawmakers gutted an old state law that required a city council supermajority to approve a new housing development if neighbors petitioned the proposal.
Joshua Fechter
Joshua Fechter is the Dallas-based urban affairs reporter for The Texas Tribune, covering policy — including housing affordability, housing and property taxes, evictions, policing and transportation — and politics in Texas' major metropolitan areas. Before joining the Tribune in August 2021, Joshua covered City Hall for the San Antonio Express-News. He holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin.
Posted in
State Government
Texas cities eye property tax hikes, spending cuts amid yawning budget gaps
Rising costs, slowing tax revenue and a sluggish economy have saddled some of Texas’ biggest cities with multimillion-dollar deficits.
Posted in
Health care
Baby at center of surrogacy rights case is born in Dallas
The biological parents won a temporary restraining order against the surrogate, who tried to claim parental rights, and are with their baby, their attorneys say.
Posted in
Politics
North Texas suburbs resisting new housing laws garner Abbott’s rebuke
Some cities are trying to make it more difficult to build apartments under a new housing law.
Posted in
Economy
Thousands of apartments going up thanks to new Texas housing laws. But resistance lingers in the suburbs.
The laws, which make it easier to build apartments, face stiff resistance from North Texas suburbs. State lawmakers vow to force cities to comply.
Posted in
Demographics
Dallas birthed the booming DFW region. It’s now bleeding people, arenas and companies to the suburbs.
North Texas is growing and Dallas’ financial sector is booming. But the city is losing residents and businesses — and two major sports franchises are departing the urban core.
Posted in
State Government
Dallas will furlough 4,200 city employees amid budget gap
Dallas has seen a $30 million budget shortfall driven by slower sales tax revenue and higher-than-expected overtime costs for police and firefighters.
Posted in
Demographics
Census: Texas leads the U.S. in having more kids, but the state’s fertility rate is still falling
Americans aren’t having enough children to maintain the country’s population, a decline driven by factors like the high cost of living.
Posted in
State Government
Texas lawmakers put limits on cities’ abilities to enact progressive policies. Some want to go further.
Some Republican Texas House members floated want to give more power to the attorney general to sue cities and issue financial penalties.
Posted in
Politics
Texas now requires cities to do an audit before raising property taxes. Some small towns can’t afford it.
More than 130 cities, most with fewer than 10,000 residents, were blocked from increasing their property tax revenue because they had broken the law.
