Wide-ranging crackdown on abortion pills passes Texas Senate
The bill gives the state new tools to try to stop the flow of abortion pills, but critics say it’s legally dubious on several fronts. Full Story
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![A nurse drops Mifepristone, the first pill in a medical abortion, into a patient's hand at Alamo Women's Clinic in Carbondale, Illinois, on April 9, 2024.]()
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Bill clarifying when doctors can perform medically necessary abortions clears Senate
The bill, which must still go through the House, received unanimous approval from the upper chamber. Full Story
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![Dr. Franz Theard, looks at a patient's sonogram at his abortion clinic, Women's Reproductive Clinic of New Mexico in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on Jan. 13, 2023. Dr. Theard's abortion clinic, less than a mile from Texas, where abortion is illegal since the landmark legal case Roe v. Wade which protected a woman's constitutional right to an abortion was overturned, provides medical abortions for women who are flying and driving hundreds of miles across Texas.]()
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Why Texas Republicans are trying to rein in high home prices and rents
There’s political urgency for Republicans to deal with housing affordability, especially as surveys find most Texans say housing costs are a top concern. Full Story
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![The Mueller neighborhood in East Austin on Oct. 7, 2023.]()
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Texas Republicans seek to clarify when doctors can intervene under abortion bans
A Senate bill filed Friday does not expand abortion access, but aims to give doctors clarity while operating under laws that come with up to life in prison. Full Story
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![A surgical suite at Eastland Memorial in Eastland on March 11, 2019.]()
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Texas Senate majority unveils bill requiring voters to prove their citizenship
All 20 GOP senators signed on to Senate Bill 16, which would apply to currently registered voters, and restrict some to only congressional elections. Full Story
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![Jessika Morales, 33, assists Francisco Jubera, 63, who just moved into the county, to register to vote at the Nueces County Courthouse in Corpus Christi, Texas on Sept. 11, 2024.]()
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Texas bill could help turn empty offices into housing
Supporters hope easing zoning rules will entice landlords to renovate and ease the state’s housing crisis. Full Story
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![A view of downtown Dallas from The Tower Club on the 48th floor of the Santander Tower in downtown Dallas, on Nov. 07, 2023. Texas metros have a glut of vacant offices space driven by the rise of remote work, overbuilding and other factors during the pandemic. One option companies are doing to combat the changes, is to convert office space into residential housing.]()
Credit: Ben Torres for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Republicans want voters to provide proof of citizenship. Arizona’s law holds lessons.
A Votebeat analysis shows how such requirements risk disenfranchising key voter groups, including Native Americans and college students. Full Story
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![DALLAS, TX - SEPTEMBER 20, 2024: ExpressVote voting machines at a public verification test of the voting system at the Dallas County Elections Department building in Dallas, Texas on Friday, September 20, 2024. The test allows participants to validate the voting process by using ballots containing the same races and proportions as the upcoming elections in November. CREDIT: Desiree Rios for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Desiree Rios for The Texas Tribune -
State Rep. Matt Schaefer will not seek reelection
The deeply conservative leader said he is looking forward to spending time with his family, church and business — but added that a return to politics is possible if a Texas Senate seat opens up. Full Story
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![State Rep. Matt Schaefer, R-Tyler, with his family on the House floor on opening day of the 88th Texas Legislature at the Texas Capitol on Jan. 10, 2023.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Texas begins withdrawal from multistate partnership to clean voter rolls
A new GOP-backed state law requires Texas to create its own version of a cross-check program or find a vendor that doesn’t cost more than $100,000. Full Story
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![Voters check in with poll workers behind glass and cast ballots in booths spread apart in the gymnasium at the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center for the delayed primary runoff election in Houston, on July 14, 2020.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Voting by mail in Texas will get a little easier with these legislative fixes
Two bipartisan bills passed this session will give voters more time and opportunities to fix mistakes when they request and return ballots by mail. Full Story
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![The Travis County Tax Office at 5501 Airport Blvd is now the only drive-thru location open for hand delivery of mail ballots in the county. The drop-off location photographed here on Oct. 2, 2020, will be open until Nov. 3, 2020.]()
Credit: Amna Ijaz/The Texas Tribune -
Texas Legislature averts $100 million consequences of 2021 law requiring nonexistent election technology
Lawmakers voted unanimously to reverse the 2021 provision that would have decertified equipment that counties use to count votes. Full Story
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![A bipartisan testing crew uses voting machines and tabulators during a state-mandated logic and accuracy test at the Hays County Government building in San Marcos on Sept. 21, 2022.]()
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Texas set to exit multistate program that cleans voter rolls
The multistate program, ERIC, is considered by election administration experts across the country to be the best tool for preventing double voting across state lines. It has been the target of conspiracy theories. Full Story
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![Election workers move ballots and equipment gathered at one of the nine rally sites to the Tarrant County Election Administration building in Fort Worth on November 8, 2022.]()
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Texas House passes bill aimed at keeping kids from seeing sexually explicit performances
The bill no longer targets drag performers, but LGBTQ advocates say the legislation’s vague language could still be used to criminalize such shows. Full Story
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![A drag queen performs at the Nasher Sculpture Center during the Pride Block Party in Dallas, TX on June 17, 2022.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Texas senator tries new path in bid to revise Texas free-speech law
In a last-minute hearing Wednesday, Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, opened another avenue to get the bill passed, raising alarm among free-speech advocates. Full Story
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![State Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, attends a press conference regarding Democrats breaking quorum and voting legislature at the Texas Capitol on July 21, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
After a setback, a GOP effort to get Texas out of a multistate coalition to clean voter rolls could move forward
The legislation — backed by some of the state’s prominent believers in voter fraud — was unexpectedly killed by its House sponsor Tuesday. On Wednesday, he asked for it to be reconsidered. Full Story
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![Voters wait in line to cast their ballots on Election Day at the Northwest Branch Library in Fort Worth on November 8, 2022.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Alan Vera, a Republican voter-fraud activist, dies at Texas Capitol
Vera, who planned to testify on election legislation, was a regular at the statehouse. Two weeks ago, lawmakers sang “Happy Birthday” to him during a House Elections Committee hearing. Full Story
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![SD 7 delegate Alan Vera uses a megaphone to help direct priority ballots among the other delegates of his district during the third and final day of the Republican Party of Texas Convention on Saturday, June 18, 2022, held at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston.]()
Credit: Michael Wyke, Houston Chronicle/Contributor -
Illegal voting in Texas likely to be a felony again after state House vote
The Texas Senate has passed similar legislation. But a key policy separates the two chambers. Full Story
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![A voter casts her ballot at the Metropolitan Multi-Services Center during Election Day in Houston on Nov. 3, 2020.]()
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Texas lawmakers take first steps to reverse course on costly requirement for election technology that doesn’t exist
The original provision was part of the state’s major overhaul to election laws in 2021. Full Story
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![A voter casts their ballot at a polling site at the Austin Oaks Church on Oct. 14, 2020.]()
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Texas Senate votes to defund libraries where drag queens read to kids as it tries to limit the performances kids can attend
The Senate expanded the bill targeting drag queen story hours to target all public funding for libraries. The upper chamber also approved a bill limiting other drag performances kids can see. Full Story
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![Drag queen Nadine Hughes performs in the Capitol Rotunda during the Youth Capitol Takeover on Mar. 29, 2023.]()
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Texas may be about to scrap a voting security system it can’t replace
It took years to build the multi-state system known as ERIC, which weeds out duplicate, deceased and suspicious voter registrations. Texas Republicans want to dump it, but there’s no viable alternative. Full Story
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![Volunteers from the Alpha Advocacy Group helped register voters before the upcoming deadline outside the Alpha Seventh day Adventist Church on Sept 27, 2020.]()
Credit: The Texas Tribune