Both chambers set aside $1 billion for a voucher-like education savings account program — double what was on the table two years ago — in a sign that supporters are emboldened after recent electoral gains.
Texas budget writers prioritize school vouchers, teacher raises and border security in early drafts
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Criminal Justice
Bill to detain undocumented immigrants accused of even minor crimes passes with some Texas Democratic help
The bill, named for Laken Riley, a Georgia student killed by an immigrant, adds legislative muscle to President Trump’s immigration enforcement push.
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Criminal Justice
Fewer Texans sentenced to death, executed amid “evolving standards of decency”
Texas continues to lead other states on capital punishment. But the decline in new death sentences and executions reached a record low.
Posted in
Texas’ housing crisis
Austin rents have fallen for nearly two years. Here’s why.
A massive apartment building boom in the Austin-Round Rock region has driven rents downward, real estate experts and housing advocates have said.
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Politics
Migrants at Texas border in shock after Trump canceled their asylum appointments
Hours after Trump’s inauguration, his administration canceled appointments allowing migrants to enter the U.S. to request asylum, leaving many of them stranded on the U.S.-Mexico border.
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Politics
Texas Ethics Commission dismisses complaint against state GOP chair, lawmaker says
Rep. Cody Harris had accused Abraham George of improperly threatening to send mailers and censure lawmakers who backed Rep. Dustin Burrows as House speaker.
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Energy
Oil companies leaked less methane in West Texas, a new report says. Environmentalists are skeptical.
Methane is a greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere and is 80 times the potency of carbon dioxide.
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TribCast
TribCast: Texas and the second Trump administration
Matthew Choi, our Washington correspondent, joins the gang to discuss what lies ahead with Trump back in the White House.
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Criminal Justice
More than 100 Texans active in the Jan. 6 insurrection among those pardoned
A Texan was the first to breach the Capitol and many others joined the assault. The presidential pardon helps cast all of them as folk heroes.
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Energy
Texas regulators overhaul oilfield waste rule for the first time in four decades
The new rule modernizes some aspects of commercial oilfield waste disposal and recycling. But rules for burying oilfield waste on private property remain limited.
