Senate Bill 2420, which would have gone into effect on Jan. 1, likely violates the First Amendment, according to the ruling.
Stephen Simpson
Stephen Simpson is the Houston-region reporter, where he covers the fast-growing city and its surrounding areas. He joined the Texas Tribune in 2023 and previously served as the mental health reporter. Prior to that, he was a politics reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, where he covered the state's Supreme Court, House of Representatives and correctional system. Stephen's earliest career experiences include reporting and copy editing at The Jonesboro Sun and The Pine Bluff Commercial. He earned a degree in online and print journalism with a minor in filmmaking from the University of Central Arkansas.
Posted in
Health care
How cutting transgender instruction at Texas medical schools undermines health groups’ recommendations
Health providers and faculty members fear students will no longer understand the nuances of caring for transgender people, who tend to have higher rates of certain mental and physical health conditions.
Posted in
Public Education
Texas Education Agency taking over Lake Worth, Connally and Beaumont school districts
The three interventions come after the state’s education agency announced plans to take over Fort Worth ISD in October.
Posted in
Health care
Stephanie Muth, former foster care head, named Texas health commissioner
Muth left the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services in July.
Posted in
Hill Country floods
Texas proposes hiking licensing fees for summer camps by as much as 4,000%
Some Texas overnight summer camps may start paying as much as $19,500 per year to renew their license with the state. Currently, they pay $464.
Posted in
Hill Country floods
Texas summer camp owners brace for more mental health issues among youth
Mental health experts expect the July 4 floods have resulted in post-traumatic stress disorder, unhealthy hypervigilance and recurring thoughts on disasters among campers.
Posted in
The 2025 Texas Tribune Festival
Sanjay Gupta says Americans have unique “disdain for pain” and should turn to brain’s natural painkillers for relief
During The Texas Tribune Festival’s closing keynote, the neurosurgeon said that for decades, pain management wrongly treated the body “as totally separate from the brain.”
Posted in
Health care
The number of whooping cough cases in Texas is the highest it’s been in 11 years
The state has recorded more than 3,500 cases of whooping cough so far this year, 10 times the number in 2023.
Posted in
Graphics and data reporting
Gov. Greg Abbott under pressure to use emergency funds for looming SNAP crisis
Democrats say Abbott has used his authority during COVID-19, the Uvalde shooting and border operations to free up emergency funds.
Posted in
Higher Education
Trans Texas college students bearing more hostility as officials push binary gender definitions
Once considered a safe haven to explore identity, Texas campuses are invalidating and alienating trans people, students say.
