Abbott appointee resigns as chair of power grid regulator
Public Utility Commission chair Peter Lake had spearheaded a plan to help the state’s power grid withstand weather disasters, but the plan lacked support in the Texas Legislature. Full Story
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![Public Utility Commission of Texas Chairman Peter Lake speaks at a press conference at the PUCT Headquarters in Austin, on Nov. 29, 2022. The conference spotlighted grid reliability and readiness as Texas approaches winter.]()
Credit: Azul Sordo/The Texas Tribune -
With no deal on property taxes in sight, Abbott hints at multiple special sessions
The governor stands behind his support of the Texas House tax plan despite Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s insistence that the Senate has a better deal for homeowners. 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 Republicans are fighting over how to split $12.3 billion in property tax breaks between homeowners and businesses
Gov. Greg Abbott and House Speaker Dade Phelan back a plan that spreads property tax relief among all landowners, while Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s proposal would give homeowners a bigger boost than businesses. Full Story
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![A number of homes an Austin's Mueller development have added solar panels, thanks to hefty local and federal incentives.]()
Credit: Spencer Selvidge for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will not receive his $153,750 salary during suspension
Following Paxton’s impeachment on Saturday, Gov. Greg Abbott appointed former Texas Secretary of State John Scott to serve as the state’s top attorney. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton makes a statement to the press May 26, 2023, a day before the impeachment vote in the Texas House.]()
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Texas car safety inspection changes in 2025
Noncommercial cars in 17 counties will still have to pass an emissions test to obtain a state registration. Full Story
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![Inspection stickers will begin disappearing from Texas vehicles when the state rolls out a new single-sticker program for inspection and registration on March 1, 2015.]()
Credit: Ryan McCrimmon for The Texas Tribune -
Tension over property taxes produces rare public clash between Dan Patrick, Greg Abbott
Always happy to castigate the Texas House, Patrick breaks form to criticize the governor as misinformed and unsympathetic toward homeowners. Full Story
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![From left: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Gov. Greg Abbott, and Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan.]()
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Abbott taps John Scott, former Texas secretary of state, as interim attorney general
Scott, a former deputy attorney general, will run the agency because Ken Paxton has been suspended from office until his impeachment trial before the Texas Senate. Full Story
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![Texas Secretary of State John Scott at a press conference held by Gov. Greg Abbott on April 14, 2022.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott calls immediate special session to address property taxes and border issues
Abbott noted many bills that were passed during the regular session, which ended around 6 p.m. Monday, but he added that “many critical items remain” and will require multiple special sessions. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbot gives remarks during a United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce luncheon in Corpus Christi on April 3, 2023.]()
Credit: Blaine Young for The Texas Tribune -
The regular Texas legislative session started with a record budget surplus and ended with an impeached attorney general
The 2023 legislative session started with a $32.7 billion surplus. It was mired in Republican infighting and multiple scandals. Then, the House impeached the state’s attorney general. Full Story
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![House Speaker Dade Phelan gavels out the 88th session Sine Die on May 29, 2023.]()
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Abbott signs into law CROWN Act banning race-based hair discrimination
Gov. Greg Abbott over the weekend signed into law a bill prohibiting race-based hair discrimination in Texas workplaces, schools and housing policies. It goes into effect in September. Full Story
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![Dakari Davis, an officer in the DART Police Department in Dallas, speaks about the racial discrimination he faced in the workplace due to his hair style during a press conference advocating for the passage of the CROWN Act, in the state Capitol on Apr. 13, 2023.
“In 2019 I was recommended for termination,” Davis said. “Not because I violated the oath I took to protect Texans. Not because I violated the trust of the community, but solely due to this ethnic hairstyle that I wear all before all of you today.”]()
Credit: Leila Saidane/The Texas Tribune -
The first time Texas Senate convicted a state official, the chaotic trial lasted three weeks
In 1917, lawmakers debated the extent of their constitutional authority before they convicted Gov. James “Pa” Ferguson and removed him from office. Full Story
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![Miriam "Ma" Ferguson, who served as the 29th and 32nd Governor of Texas, and her husband James "Pa" Ferguson, who was the 26th governor, his term cut short after he was impeached and removed from office.]()
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Texas lawmakers strike deal to raise the punishment for illegal voting to a felony
The legislation was a priority for Republican leadership. But it does not include a key provision supported by the Senate that would have allowed prosecutors to charge a voter who’d unintentionally cast an illegal ballot. Full Story
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![People cast their ballots at the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center in Houston on Nov. 8, 2022.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
More Texans would qualify for food stamps under a bill heading to Gov. Greg Abbott
The value of a household’s vehicles disqualified nearly 55,000 people seeking federal food assistance in 2022. House Bill 1287 increases the threshold of car values that lead to SNAP applicants being denied aid. Full Story
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![Volunteers from neighboring small towns divide, box-up, and load their trucks with food from the Amarillo-based High Plains Food Bank for monthly delivery to Quitaque on June 28, 2019.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for 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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Effort to impeach Ken Paxton, led by fellow Republicans, sets off political earthquake in Texas
Republicans have chosen to remain largely silent during years of alleged misconduct and lawbreaking by the attorney general. Now they will have to take a public stand. Full Story
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![Opening Day action of the 88th Texas Legislature at the Texas Capitol showing Attorney General Ken Paxton conferring with Gov. Greg Abbott outside the Senate chamber before his swearing in ceremony in Jan. 10, 2023.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune -
Effort to fix payroll error for state National Guard troops falls short in Texas Senate
The mistake meant about 7,400 soldiers sent to the Texas-Mexico border under Operation Lone Star were hit with higher-than-expected federal income taxes. Full Story
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![Members of the Texas National Guard work 12 to 13 hour shifts guarding the “Texas border wall,” construction crews and materials near Del Rio on Dec. 8, 2021. Thousands of National Guard troops were deployed to Del Rio after an increase in migration at the southern border.]()
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“Doctors have lost their voice”: Top trans care doctor leaves Texas as lawmakers pass ban
Pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Ximena Lopez started a clinic for trans youth in 2014. But she’s leaving Texas ahead of an expected law that would ban transition-related care for minors. Full Story
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![Demonstrators protest SB14, a bill to eradicate gender transition healthcare for trans kids in Texas, while the bill is heard in the House at the state Capitol on May 2, 2023.]()
Credit: Leila Saidane/The Texas Tribune -
“Somber day” in Uvalde as community commemorates one year since Robb Elementary shooting
Numerous vigils and memorials in Uvalde marked one year since the massacre at Robb Elementary School. In what became the deadliest school shooting in Texas, a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers and injured 17 others. Full Story
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![Destiny Esquivel, a cousin of Maite Rodriguez, embraces another family member beside the memorial cross for Lexi Rubio in the city plaza on the one year mark of the Robb Elementary school shooting in Uvalde on May 24, 2023.]()
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Listen: Through art, keepsakes and advocacy, families are making sure 21 Uvalde victims are not forgotten
Wednesday marks exactly a year since a mass shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde. The community continues to grapple with the trauma and pain, and for those who lost someone that day, they’re determined to keep the memories of their loved ones alive. Full Story
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![Javier Cazares assembles his notes for his testimony as a poster of his daughter, Jackie, and other victims of the Robb Elementary school shooting stand against the wall beside him. Cazares and other family members wait for the Community Safety Committee to reconvene about bills relating to gun reform, at the state Capitol in Austin on April 18, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
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.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune