Texas lawmakers and agency leaders experiment, ponder policies for an AI future
Agencies like the Texas Department of Transportation are using the technology to react to crashes and prepare invoices. More uses and regulations are coming. Full Story
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![Rush hour traffic passes by on Interstate 35 through downtown Austin on the evening of Sept. 7, 2023.]()
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More than a third of state agencies are using AI. Texas is beginning to examine its potential impact.
Amid fears that AI could heighten bias or affect privacy, the state is forming an advisory committee to recommend how the technology is deployed. “We’re gonna have to set up some rules,” the committee’s founder says. Full Story
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Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
North Texas lawmakers talk impeachment, property taxes, school choice
At a Texas Tribune event, Republican state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione said his vote to impeach Ken Paxton was akin to being a grand juror who found enough evidence to warrant a trial in the Senate. Full Story
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Speaker Dade Phelan endorses Medicaid expansion for new mothers, repeal of “tampon tax” in first batch of 2023 priorities
The leader of the state House also threw his support behind bills to crack down on how companies handle private data and to protect children from “addictive algorithms” by digital companies. Full Story
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![Dade Phelan begins his second term as Speaker of the House on the opening day of the 88th legislature on Jan 10, 2023.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
State leaders won’t commit to specifics about how much they might invest in children’s mental health
As public debate intensifies over how the state will divvy up billions in new money, community groups that treat children for mental illness fear they’re not a priority. Full Story
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![Students arrive at Morehead Middle School on Aug. 19, 2021, in El Paso. The school district, EPISD, as of today voted a mask mandate for all teachers, staff and students in school facilities, defying Gov. Abbott's order that restricted local entities from instituting mask mandates.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
Social media companies can’t ban Texans over political viewpoints under new law
The law requires social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram to produce regular reports of removed content and disclose their content regulations procedures. Full Story
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Texas Legislature passes bill that would outlaw abortions if Roe v. Wade is overturned
Called a “trigger” law, House Bill 1280 would take effect 30 days after the Supreme Court overturned the Roe decision or after a court ruling or constitutional amendment gave states the authority to prohibit abortions. Full Story
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![A protester holds up a sign in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on the morning the court takes up a major abortion case focusing on whether a Texas law that imposes strict regulations on abortion doctors and clinic buildings interferes with the constitutional right of a woman to end her pregnancy, in Washington March 2, 2016.]()
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House committee advances anti-abortion bills, including ones aimed at outlawing the procedure in Texas
The bills now head to the full House for debate. Versions already passed by the Senate are also pending. Each measure will need to be approved by both chambers before becoming law. Full Story
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![Information and diagrams inside a medical room at a Planned Parenthood in south Austin on Jan. 14, 2020.]()
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Analysis: Some of the secrets of Texas government aren’t supposed to be secrets
The Texas Legislature, full of people who believe in open government and who also like to settle things quietly and outside of public view, is diving into open-government legislation. Full Story
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![State Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, during the Senate Education Committee meeting on Mar. 5, 2019.]()
Credit: Emree Weaver / The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers look to the "cloud" for storing sensitive government data
In hopes of saving money on data storage, legislators are considering downsizing the state's data centers and relying more on private tech companies. Full Story
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After a tough election night, “a wakeup call” for the Texas GOP’s hard right
Some favorite candidates of hardline conservatives lost their seats, while others won closer-than-expected races. Full Story
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Texas just opened the nation's first state-run gold depository. Here's what that means.
Texas lawmakers signed off on building the country's first state-backed gold depository in 2015 after the project was reworked to ensure a private firm would absorb all the costs. Gov. Greg Abbott said at the time that the project would allow Texas to “repatriate” gold from New York. Full Story
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These Texas House Republicans were once backed by two prominent conservative groups. Now, they're targets.
After helping several Republicans get elected to the Texas Legislature years ago, two prominent conservative groups are working to unseat them. Next week's GOP primary could test how much sway those groups still hold. Full Story
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![Left to right: state Reps. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake; Wayne Faircloth, R-Galveston; Dan Flynn, R-Canton; and Chris Paddie, R-Marshall.]()
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Texas taps private vendor to manage first state-run gold depository in U.S.
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced Wednesday that his office had picked an Austin-based company to build and operate the first state-administered gold depository in the country and that it could open as early as January. Full Story
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![Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announces his office has picked a private vendor to run the Texas Bullion Depository, which will be designed to store gold for both the state and private citizens, at the Capitol on June 14, 2017.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott's top health appointee draws bipartisan fire at hearing
Both Republican and Democratic members of a key legislative oversight committee unloaded on Gov. Greg Abbott’s top health appointee Thursday, putting him and others on the hot seat for hours about alleged contracting abuses. Full Story
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![Charles Smith, executive commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, testified Aug. 15, 2016, before the House State Affairs Committee on contracting procedures.]()
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TribLive: A Conversation About Ethics in the Lege
Full video of Ross Ramsey's 5/16 TribLive conversation about ethics in the Texas Legislature with former Assistant Travis County District Attorney Mindy Montford, campaign finance lawyer Randall "Buck" Wood, state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, and former state Rep. Ismael "Kino" Flores, D-Palmview. Full Story
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TribLive: Capriglione and Wood on Disclosing Donors
At Thursday's TribLive conversation, state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, and ethics and campaign finance lawyer Randall "Buck" Wood talked to the Tribune's Ross Ramsey about transparency in political giving. Full Story
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TribLive: A Conversation with Three New House Members
Full video of my 11/19 TribLive conversation with three incoming state representatives: Republicans Cecil Bell Jr. and Giovanni Capriglione and Democrat Mary Gonzalez. Full Story
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TribLive: New State Reps. on Health Policy
At this morning's TribLive conversation, incoming state Reps. Cecil Bell Jr., Giovanni Capriglione and Mary Gonzalez discussed what Texas should do about the Affordable Care Act now that President Obama has been re-elected. Full Story
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TribLive: New State Reps. on Public Education
At this morning's TribLive conversation, incoming state Reps. Cecil Bell Jr., Giovanni Capriglione and Mary Gonzalez talked about school finance, standardized testing and the prospect of school choice legislation in the 83rd Session. Full Story
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