Watch live: Texas House and Senate to hold hearings at 9 a.m. Central on Thursday about last week's winter storm
The hearings will be held in separate rooms in the Texas Capitol. Full Story
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The hearings will be held in separate rooms in the Texas Capitol. Full Story
For lack of heat and water, people died last week — in the great state of Texas and in their own homes — who would be alive right now, had the state taken heed of recommendations made after past winter storms and blackouts. Full Story
David Spiller, a Jacksboro attorney and school board member, faced fellow Republican Craig Carter for the seat previously held by Springer, who is now in the state Senate. Full Story
Texas regulators and lawmakers knew about the grid’s vulnerabilities for years, but time and again they furthered the interests of large electricity providers. Full Story
State leaders will start an investigation this week to figure out why utilities in Texas were outmatched by a weeklong winter storm. They did the same thing 10 years ago, and we still weren't ready. Full Story
Abbott said power should be fully restored across the state Sunday night or Monday. Full Story
Abbott will be joined by emergency officials for his update from Austin. Many Texans remain without power, and water access has been disrupted for millions across the state. Full Story
The Texas government's failures in the face of a winter storm have been very hard on Texans, and could do lasting damage to the state's reputation. Full Story
Texas officials knew winter storms could leave the state’s power grid vulnerable, but they left the choice to prepare for harsh weather up to the power companies — many of which opted against the costly upgrades. That, plus a deregulated energy market largely isolated from the rest of the country’s power grid, left the state alone to deal with the crisis, experts said. Full Story
ERCOT's CEO and president told reporters Wednesday he's optimistic that the state's grid will start to see some of the power it has lost return as temperatures warm up. Full Story
In the latest episode of our podcast about the Texas Legislature, Evan Smith talks to state Rep. Trent Ashby about his bill to create a state broadband plan — a long-overdue effort to address our digital deficiency at a time when school, work and health care have all moved online. Full Story
The Census Bureau now says it will get detailed results of the national population count to states by Sept. 30. That means Gov. Greg Abbott will almost certainly need to call lawmakers back for overtime in the fall to craft new Congressional and legislative districts. Full Story
What gets the state’s unusually subdued lieutenant governor to stand up and take notice? Not playing the national anthem at Dallas Mavericks games, as it turns out. The first culture clash of the 2021 legislative session is underway. Full Story
The climate, environment and energy caucus aims to start a conversation in the Legislature on how Texas can prepare for climate change and take advantage of the transition to cleaner energy sources. Full Story
Delays in the delivery of court-approved political maps have disrupted past elections in Texas. And this year's pandemic-related delays in the U.S. census have raised the possibility of jumbled election plans in 2022. Full Story
Home health workers, most of whom are women of color, could start losing their jobs if they aren't vaccinated against COVID-19. Experts widely agree that the vaccine is safe — Pfizer and Moderna both reported their vaccines are more than 90% effective at protecting people from serious illness — but some still refuse to get a shot. Full Story
The slow start to the legislative session reflects the public declarations of goals from House Speaker Dade Phelan and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick: There aren't any. Gov. Greg Abbott put his priorities in a State of the State address this week, but legislative leaders have been relatively quiet. Full Story
State Rep. Briscoe Cain was named chair of the House Elections Committee months after traveling to Pennsylvania to help the Trump campaign challenge the results of the 2020 election. Full Story
The race for the solidly red seat in Northwest Texas pits David Spiller against fellow Republican Craig Carter. Full Story
With assignments out, legislation that has been filed can be referred to committees for potential hearings. The committees overseeing public education, budget writing and redistricting are among those with new chairs. Full Story