Hospital officials worry that “staggering and frightening” hospitalization rates will push facilities to capacity at a time when staffing is short and workers are exhausted.
Karen Brooks Harper
Karen Brooks Harper reported on the state budget and health and human services from 2020 to 2024. An alumna of the Missouri School of Journalism, Karen arrived in Texas in 1995 to join the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, spent several years in Laredo and Mexico covering immigration and the drug war for Knight-Ridder newspapers, and has covered Texas politics for more than two decades for news organizations including the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Dallas Morning News and Reuters.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
CDC wants more vaccinated people and schoolchildren to mask up — but Texas keeps it voluntary
Texas Republican state leaders held their ground against allowing local schools and governments to require masks. The CDC guidelines are not mandates and have no weight of law.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2021
Texas Democrats’ decampment over voting legislation has echoes of 2003 redistricting fight
Now, as in 2003, Democrats say their main motivator is protecting the voices of Texas voters. Can they stop legislation that would restrict voting in Texas?
Posted in
University of Texas/Texas Tribune Polls
After a year of living carefully, nearly half of Texas voters have returned to their pre-pandemic lives, UT/TT Poll finds
In the June poll, 47% of voters said they were coming and going as they were before the pandemic, while 39% said they were leaving the house but exercising caution.
Posted in
Health care
Texas congressional Democrats propose bill to let local governments expand Medicaid without state consent
The bill would let counties and cities apply to the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for funds that were declined by their states.
Posted in
Health care
Supreme Court tosses Texas-led Affordable Care Act challenge, preserving sweeping health care law
The 7-2 ruling said the plaintiffs didn’t have standing to sue over the law. The court’s ruling did not include an official opinion on whether the law, commonly known as Obamacare, was constitutional.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Some medically vulnerable Texans feel left behind as the state returns to normal
The possibility that the vaccine won’t work — or that, as some worry, it could even hurt them — is a devastating blow after a year of sacrifice, isolation and waiting for protection against the virus.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Gov. Greg Abbott signs bill to punish businesses that require proof of COVID-19 vaccination
Abbott’s signature means that businesses that require so-called vaccine passports can’t get state contracts and could lose state licenses or operating permits.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Texas lawmakers responded to the pandemic by limiting what the government can do in response to a pandemic
Lawmakers didn’t succeed in curtailing the governor’s power during a disaster, but they did pass bills that prohibit so-called vaccine passports and ban the mandatory closure of churches and gun stores.
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Health care
Texans can now schedule free COVID-19 vaccine clinics for groups of 5 or more
Gov. Greg Abbott encouraged “groups of Texans who wish to get vaccinated as a business, family unit, friend group, or more” to schedule an event.
