Texas House approves ban on COVID-19 vaccine mandates by private employers
Violations could bring a $50,000 fine under an amendment adopted Wednesday. The bill’s sponsor said the ban would be the strongest in the nation. Full Story
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![A man carries a sign protesting Houston Methodist Hospital's COVID-19 vaccine mandate outside Houston Methodist Hospital in Baytown on June 7, 2021. Employees who chose not to inoculate themselves by the hospital's Monday deadline faced suspension without pay and job termination, a policy criticized by the protesters as unfair and unauthorized.]()
Credit: Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribune -
Texas voters split on House, Senate handling of Paxton impeachment, poll finds
Republicans showed a more clear divide, giving the Senate higher marks than the House for how the attorney general’s impeachment was handled. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, center, talks with his defense attorney Tony Buzbee, left, before starting the ninth day of his impeachment trial in the Senate Chamber at the Texas Capitol on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023, in Austin, Texas.]()
Credit: Sam Owens/Pool via San Antonio Express-News -
Texas lawmakers weigh spending $1.5 billion on more border barriers. Experts say walls alone won’t stop migrants.
The House Appropriations Committee passed House Bill 6 on Monday. If it becomes law, the bill would fund an estimated 50 miles of new barriers at the 1,200-mile Texas-Mexico border. Full Story
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![Immigrants who illegally crossed the Mexico-U.S. border are apprehended by the U.S. border patrol in the Rio Grande Valley sector, near McAllen, Texas, U.S., April 5, 2018.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Loren Elliott -
House, Senate bills at odds over power to boost future funding for Texas school voucher program
The Senate’s Republican bill would let state leaders grow the program by taking money from other agencies without the Legislature’s approval. The House bill would bar the practice. Full Story
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![Nimitz Middle School students take part in a class activity Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023 in Odessa.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Texas House priority bill increases education spending in exchange for creating voucher program
House Bill 1 would make an educational savings account program available to 25,000 Texas students in its first year, with increased participation to follow. The governor’s office indicated that the proposal was lacking. Full Story
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![State representatives meet on the House floor at the state Capitol in Austin on Jan. 11, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Texas needs water workers. Will high school students answer the call?
Nearly two-thirds of the state’s water and wastewater agencies say they need more workers. Full Story
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![Consolidated Water Supply Corporation employees patch a broken pipe on April 19, 2023 in Crockett.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
Rep. Andrew Murr took on Ken Paxton and lost. He has no regrets.
The five-term House member, and his mustache, gained notoriety during the high-profile impeachment of Paxton. He warned tolerating corruption could hurt Republicans in the long term. Full Story
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![State Rep. Andrew Murr, R-Junction, poses for a portrait on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023, in Junction.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Special session on school vouchers begins with Republicans in disarray
Gov. Greg Abbott needs a delicate coalition of Republicans to pass his top priority. But the House and Senate leaders aren’t getting along. Full Story
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![Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan gavels in the House for a third called special session on October 9, 2023.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune -
Ken Paxton to file criminal complaints against Texas House impeachment managers
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he will file criminal complaints against the group of state representatives who led his impeachment trial. He accused the lawmakers of violating a state law by releasing his personal information. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, center, walks back to his seat after speaking privately with defense attorney Dan Cogdell before starting the ninth day of his impeachment trial in the Senate Chamber at the Texas Capitol on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023, in Austin.]()
Credit: Sam Owens/Pool via San Antonio Express-News -
Ken Paxton endorses candidates challenging House Republicans who impeached him
Paxton’s campaign promised more details soon on a “statewide Fall tour,” including campaign stops with the candidates. Full Story
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![Suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton enters the Senate floor among his attorneys as both sides have rested in Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's impeachment trial in the Texas Senate on Sept. 15, 2023.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Body camera footage shows February drunk-driving arrest of Sen. Charles Schwertner
Newly released body camera footage shows state Sen. Charles Schwertner’s February arrest for suspicion of drunk driving. Travis County prosecutors dropped the charge in July. Full Story
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![State Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, takes a field sobriety test, seen in bodycam footage released by the Austin Police Department. Schwertner was arrested in February for suspicion of driving while intoxicated but will not face prosecution.]()
Credit: Austin Police Department -
Texas House Democrats hint at disunity ahead of possible October special session
State Rep. John Bryant said Democrats will need to work together to block the “school choice” bill in October. Full Story
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![Texas Tribune managing editor Matthew Watkins moderates a panel with Texas House Democrats Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, Victoria Neave Criado, D-Dallas, and John Bryant, D-Dallas, at The Texas Tribune Festival in Austin on Sept. 23, 2023.]()
Credit: Julius Shieh/The Texas Tribune -
Ken Paxton blasts fellow Republicans and floats Cornyn challenge in post-impeachment interview
In his first remarks since being acquitted on 16 articles of impeachment, the suspended Texas attorney general blamed Democrats while also taking aim at a number of high-profile Republicans. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton attends a campaign event during a Bulverde Spring Branch Conservative Republicans meeting on May 16, 2022, in Bulverde. Paxton criticized President Joe Biden’s immigration policies, discussed voter fraud in Texas and praised the leaked SCOTUS draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade.]()
Credit: Kaylee Greenlee Beal for The Texas Tribune -
Ken Paxton verdict heightens political tension ahead of education special session
The Texas House and Senate were already far apart on “school choice.” Anger over the impeachment trial might make it even harder to find common ground. Full Story
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![The Texas Capitol on Feb. 1, 2021.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Ken Paxton’s prosecutors stumbled at times. But did it matter in the GOP-dominated Senate?
The House impeachment managers faced a high bar: convincing enough Republican senators to vote against their own political self-interest. Full Story
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![House impeachment manager Rep. David Spiller, R-Jacksboro, center, listens as votes are votes cast during Attorney General Ken Paxton's impeachment trial on Sept. 16, 2023.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial escalates Texas Republican civil war
Paxton’s far-right supporters doubled down on their promises for swift retribution against fellow Republicans who supported his removal from office. Full Story
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![Streetlights illuminate the Texas Capitol through early morning fog on the ninth day of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial in Austin on Sept. 15, 2023.]()
Credit: Julius Shieh/The Texas Tribune -
For Paxton lawyers, the trial was a “sham.” House managers say it exposed a “corrupt politician.”
Finally freed of a gag order, the opposing sides pulled no punches after the attorney general was acquitted. Full Story
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![Ken Paxton’s defense attorney Tony Buzbee answers a question from Texas Tribune reporter Karen Brooks during a press conference following the Senate’s vote to acquit Attorney General Ken Paxton of 16 articles of impeachment on Sept. 16, 2023.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Dan Patrick, Dade Phelan trade potshots after impeachment trial ends
The lieutenant governor criticized the House for a secretive and rushed process that “wasted” taxpayer dollars. The House speaker fired back, saying Patrick confessed his bias and contempt. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick gives a speech to the Senate after the impeachment trial of Attorney General Ken Paxton at the Texas Capitol on Sept. 16, 2023.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton acquitted on all 16 articles of impeachment
Only two of 19 Republican Senators voted in favor of convicting for any article — a stark contrast to the more than 70% of House Republicans who impeached the attorney general in May. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, center, sits between defense attorneys Tony Buzbee, left, and Mitch Little, right, before starting the ninth day of his impeachment trial in the Senate chamber at the Texas Capitol on Sept. 15, 2023.]()
Credit: Sam Owens/Pool via San Antonio Express-News -
Paxton defense calls charges “foolishness,” House argues AG “betrayed us” in closing impeachment arguments
Senators begin deliberating in private after defense lawyers and impeachment managers make impassioned pleas after two weeks of trial. Full Story
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![Senators are led onto the Senate Floor at the beginning of the ninth day of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial at the state capitol in Austin, Texas, on Sept. 15, 2023.]()
Credit: Julius Shieh/The Texas Tribune