Republican lawmakers have faced pressure to provide some form of property tax relief this year. Critics of a new proposal say it’s politically timed.
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.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Texas Supreme Court puts San Antonio school district’s vaccine mandate on hold
The halt comes after Gov. Greg Abbott expanded his ban on COVID-19 vaccine mandates — which previously applied to cities, counties and school districts — to private employers.
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Politics
Austin’s homeless residents left with nowhere to go amid camping crackdown
Months after Austin voters reinstated the city’s public camping ban, authorities are clearing many of the largest encampments. Their former residents are going “anywhere it’s safe and out of sight, out of mind,” one man said.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Gov. Greg Abbott and local officials are fighting several legal battles over mask mandates. Here’s what you need to know.
The Texas fight over mask mandates is confusing. We’re here to help.
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Texas Legislature 2021
With Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s blessing, lawmakers fast-track property tax cut proposal
Tax relief for property owners joins a packed to-do list for Texas lawmakers — which includes redistricting, COVID-19 vaccine mandates and a spending plan for $16 billion in federal stimulus dollars.
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Coronavirus in Texas
A Texas school district doesn’t require masks. The state is suing the district anyway.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued nine more school districts over their masking rules. One says it doesn’t mandate them. Another says it doesn’t enforce mask-wearing at Paxton’s request.
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Environment
Texas sees limited damage in wake of Tropical Storm Nicholas as storm weakens and takes aim at Louisiana
“I think we fared well,” said one official in Matagorda County, where Nicholas made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane early Tuesday morning.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Texas sues six school districts that issued mask mandates in defiance of Gov. Greg Abbott’s order
Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton have long threatened to sue school districts that defy Abbott’s ban on local mask mandates. On Friday, Paxton made good on that threat.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Gov. Greg Abbott slams Biden administration over vaccine mandate for employers
Abbott has long resisted making COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory. There may be legal precedent on Biden’s side.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Gov. Greg Abbott wanted state lawmakers to ban mask mandates in public schools. They didn’t.
As Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton vowed to punish any school district that defied Abbott’s ban on mask mandates, Republican legislators were largely indifferent on the matter.
