Watch a Texas Tribune conversation on the state Legislature’s special session
Journalists covering the Texas Capitol discussed what came out of this year’s third special session and what is still to be resolved. Full Story
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Fighting between legislative leaders imperils Texas border security bills
The governor, lieutenant governor and House speaker generally agree on building more border barriers and making illegal border crossings a state crime. But disagreements over strategy and personal animosity mean those measures face long odds this special legislative session. Full Story
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![State Troopers arrest an undocumented Mexican migrant for trespassing as part of Operation Lone Star after he was caught with others in private property in Kinney County, on Nov. 9, 2021.]()
Credit: Verónica Gabriela Cárdenas for ProPublica/The Texas Tribune -
With time running out, House punts on taking action on school vouchers
Gov. Greg Abbott just announced he’d reached a deal with the House to advance school vouchers, but with less than a week before the Legislature must adjourn the lower chamber took no action on the governor’s priority legislation. Full Story
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![Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan before gavelling in the House for the third-called special session on Oct. 9, 2023.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Abbott touts school voucher deal with House leaders, but others reluctant to say if bill will pass
A deal between the governor and House would be a breakthrough after months of talks. But whether they actually have a deal is unclear. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks about the recent 88th Legislative Session to an audience at the Texas Public Policy Foundation offices in Austin, on June 2, 2023. Abbott recounted policy victories in regards to fentanyl and the border crisis, as well as limiting gender affirming care and banning DEI practices in higher education. Abbott ended the event by promising to call a special session for school choice, after the current special session for property tax resolves.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
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 -
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 -
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 -
Conservative PAC leader’s meeting with white supremacist Nick Fuentes leads to condemnations, escalates GOP infighting
House Speaker Dade Phelan called on Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and other officials to redirect any money they received from the PAC. Patrick called on Phelan to resign. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on the dais in the Senate chamber as senators are in recess at the start of the 3rd special session of the 88th Legislature on Oct. 9, 2023.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Primary threats loom over House Republicans as lawmakers again consider school vouchers
Gov. Greg Abbott promised that if House Republicans block school choice again, he’d go after them in the primaries Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during an event held by the Parent Empowerment Coalition at Annapolis Christian Academy on Jan. 31, 2023, in Corpus Christi.]()
Credit: Angela Piazza/Corpus Christi Caller-Times via REUTERS -
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 -
Rep. John Smithee emerges as House hero among Paxton supporters, floated for speaker
On the day the House impeached Ken Paxton, Smithee delivered a 20 minute speech, criticizing the impeachment process as opaque, rushed and unfair to the accused. Full Story
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![State Rep. John Smithee, R-Amarillo, discusses House Bill 214, which would limit health benefit coverage for elective abortions, on Aug. 8, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Paxton critics pile on, calling impeachment trial rigged
House Speaker Dade Phelan wrote an op-ed for his hometown newspaper, saying the “fix was in from the start,” while other Republican officials are calling for Phelan’s resignation. Full Story
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![The state Capitol early in the morning of Sept. 6, 2023, the third day of the impeachment trial in Austin.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/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 emerges victorious from yet another career scandal
It marked a screaming milestone in a two-decade political career that has seen Paxton harness the state’s increasingly conservative politics — and later the rise of Donald Trump — to stay in power longer than his vulnerabilities would suggest. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton looks up at the gallery during the first day of his impeachment trial in the Texas Senate chambers at the Texas State Capitol in Austin on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023.]()
Credit: Juan Figueroa/Pool via The Dallas Morning News -
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 -
“Let’s clean house”: Paxton tells supporters to lead charge in removing his Republican rivals who impeached him
Paxton named House Speaker Dade Phelan, a fellow Republican, in his brief remarks Saturday in North Texas. The suspended attorney general faces a trial Tuesday that would remove him from office permanently. Full Story
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![Suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks at a Collin County Labor Day picnic in Plano, on Sept. 2, 2023, just days before his impeachment trial.]()
Credit: Azul Sordo for The Texas Tribune -
After property-tax deal, Speaker Dade Phelan weighs in on leadership relations, next special session, reelection
Rapport among the state’s top three Republicans has greatly improved, the House leader said, but another relationship-testing special session awaits on contentious education issues. Full Story
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![House Speaker Dade Phelan gavels in the session on May 29, 2023.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
TribCast: Texas lawmakers approve property tax cuts after 7 months of trying
In this week’s episode, we discuss the winners and losers — politically and financially — after lawmakers approved an $18 billion tax cut bill. Full Story
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![A home in East Austin in 2017.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune