Texas lawmakers consider barring counties from mailing unsolicited voter registration forms
Voting rights advocates worry that legislation approved by House and Senate committees could make it harder to get more people on the rolls. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/4acb02dc2cf74f6b1da790b09665e4f1/Voter%20Registration%20VOTEBEAT%20GC%20TT%2001.jpg)
-
![Alex Flucke, regional program manager of Texas Rising in Corpus Christi, right, helps Jessica López, 42, center, register to vote during a Pride celebration in Corpus Christi on Oct. 5, 2024.]()
Credit: Gabriel Cárdenas for VoteBeat -
The Texas Legislature is having big battles over gender and sexuality. Track them here.
The Senate voted Wednesday to give initial approval to a bill that would require buildings, including public schools and universities, among others to segregate private facilities, like bathrooms, by sex. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/e10533e8a5e11a8f21495935cfbc19d3/0329%20Trans%20Visibility%20March%20SW%2049.JPG)
![Attendees wave a trans flag while marching with over 300 activists and supporters from the Bexar County Courthouse to Crockett Park in “March for Us,” San Antonio's third annual celebration of Transgender Day of Visibility, on Saturday, March 29, 2025 in San Antonio, Texas.]()
Credit: Salgu Wissmath for The Texas Tribune -
Why a Rio Grande Valley hospital is helping to feed its patients
As the Edinburg facility and others seek to assist people experiencing food insecurity, state lawmakers have more than a dozen bills that could tackle Texas’ food deserts. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/233b9fd1d526fa3f0dec530cc782aa93/Food%20Insecurity%20BL%20TT%2004.jpg)
![Evangelina Yzaguirre, a cancer patient at DHR, receives food aid from the hospital food pantry program.]()
Credit: Ben Lowy for The Texas Tribune -
Tom Oliverson announces he is challenging Dade Phelan for Texas House speakership
Oliverson, one of Phelan’s committee chairmen, said the speaker has lost the confidence of the Republican caucus. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/eb00c2a836c71adb1c9cf6f4f426637d/0321%20Tom%20Oliverson%20MC%2002.jpg)
![State Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress, announces his candidacy for Texas House speakership during a press conference Thursday, March 21, 2024, in Austin.]()
Credit: Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune -
In a political era of “parental rights,” Texans raising trans kids say new law strips them of choice
Senate Bill 14, which is set to take effect on Sept. 1, bans transition-related care for minors. Parents of transgender kids say it blocks their ability to support their children. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/bc88777007d236809e10d552d3d2ed5e/0630%20Trans%20Parents%20Kari%20and%20Miles%20EL%20TT%2001.jpg)
![Kari stands with her son, a 17-year-old trans kid, during golden hour at a park in Georgetown on June 30, 2023. As of September 1 of this year, her son will no longer be legally allowed to have gender affirming healthcare and, according to the bill, will have to be “weaned off” their hormones in a “medically appropriate” manner. “I would love to ask somebody what is going to change between today and next March? Is my son going to magically change genders? Please let me know where that magic is,” Kari said.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Pivotal House vote moves Texas closer to banning puberty blockers, hormone treatments for trans kids
The House approved a bill Monday that would ban doctors from providing transition-related care to children. It now heads back to the Senate, which can accept the changes or ask for a committee to iron out the chambers’ differences. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/abd6c3b6e52f7bb937ff6dba1f2e6cda/0512%20SB%2014%20Morning%20Presser%20EL%2003.jpg)
![Ricardo Martinez, CEO of Equality Texas, gives instructions regarding a press conference to people who have gathered on the stairs across from the House floor to protest against SB 14, which seeks to ban puberty blockers and hormone therapies for transgender youth, before it is heard for debate in the House at the state Capitol in Austin on May 12, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Protesters evicted from Texas Capitol as clash between LGBTQ residents and GOP leaders escalates
Texas state police detained and handcuffed people protesting legislation that would prohibit transgender kids from getting puberty blockers and hormone therapy. The House separately delayed a vote on Senate Bill 14 until later this week. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/ad6e6f602d330c9f9f061cb40c9689a6/0502%20SB14%20Gender%20Hearing%20LS%2024.jpg)
![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 -
“A death sentence”: Trans Texas teen plots his future as proposed ban on hormone therapy progresses
As Texas House members could soon vote to ban transition-related care for minors, many lives are in limbo, and trans kids like 16-year-old Randell are grappling with difficult decisions. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/64b70195e0dd71bebfd2a520f625d72b/0427%20Trans%20Youth%20Healthcare%20AS%20TT%2012.jpg)
![Randell inspects the rose bush outside of his home in Fort Worth, on April 27, 2023. He says it can be difficult for anything, or anyone, to grow in Texas.]()
Credit: Azul Sordo for The Texas Tribune -
Texas House passes bill decriminalizing fentanyl test strips
The bill would take fentanyl test strips off the state’s “drug paraphernalia” list, meaning it would no longer be a crime to carry them. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/1157b2975e8cc1b2bfe42b8c2a20659d/0215%20Die%20In%20LS%20TT%2003.JPG)
![Advocates for SB 868, a bill filed this legislative session that would decriminalize fentanyl test strips, on the steps of the Texas State Capitol in Austin on Feb. 15, 2023. Delegates from El Paso, Laredo, West Texas, San Antonio, Austin and Houston gave speeches to call for increased harm reduction in response to a spike in fentanyl deaths statewide.]()
Credit: Leila Saidane/The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers pursued dozens of bills affecting LGBTQ people in 2023. Here’s what passed and what failed.
The Legislature banned puberty blockers and hormone therapy for trans kids, restricted the college sports teams trans athletes can join and expanded the definition of sexual conduct to include some drag shows. But a “Don’t Say Gay” provision for schools missed key deadlines. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/be1bac3ef97fecd6f182dbc4d60920ab/Stonewall%20Rally%20LGBTQ%20AP%20TT.jpg)
![Members of Austin's LGBT community gather on the steps of the capitol to celebrate the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall riots on June 28, 2017.]()
Credit: Austin Price for The Texas Tribune -
Two GOP legislators in Harris County want to let the state replace local elections administrators
The proposals were filed in response to Harris County’s problems at the polls in recent elections. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/3570567548ab01c133c9db3827456d87/Super%20Tuesday%20Houston%20MS%20TT%2009.jpg)
![Voting lines at the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center during Super Tuesday near downtown Houston on March 3, 2020.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Texas GOP lawmakers warming to opioid harm-reduction policies they once opposed
Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republicans have expressed support for legalizing fentanyl test strips, which help users identify whether the drugs they are planning on taking contain the deadly synthetic opioid. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/1983c5762af3a6413b220cdbdbe6bd3e/Harm%20Reduction%20EL%2042.JPG)
![A fentanyl test kit in a storage unit in Dallas on Aug. 24, 2022.]()
Credit: Emil Lippe for The Texas Tribune -
Texas bill to block COVID-19 vaccine mandates for employers failed in Legislature after business groups rallied against it
A prohibition on vaccine mandates was one of Gov. Greg Abbott’s priorities for the special session, but it did not have enough support in the Legislature. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/e56b1bc4bf4efa291789aca9061c2478/AISD%20Vaccine%20Event%20SP%20TT%2006.jpg)
![Diana Phipps pulls up doses of the Pfizer vaccine into syringes at a clinic organized by the Travis County Mobile Vaccine Collaborative at Rodriguez Elementary School on July 28, 2021.
Source diversity info: White Female]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Some Texas schools would be required to hang "In God We Trust" signs under measure nearing passage by lawmakers
The national motto would have to be hung in a "conspicuous place" in every building on the school's campus — if someone donates the sign. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/64bf07129f0bce6b6e6ca0e7f35068b2/School_Segregation_Ogden_05_LS_TT.jpg)
![Corina Pannabecker teaches first grade at Ogden Elementary in San Antonio on April 30, 2018.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott spends millions to help down-ballot Republicans in Texas
In what it is calling a "mid-seven-figure" effort, the governor's political campaign is working to save the Republican majority in the state House and make voters aware of judicial races. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/969856e55dd7d2c00ec0eaea64cb1f0e/Abbott%20Open%20Texas%20RB%20TT%2001.JPG)
![Gov. Greg Abbott announces his plan to reopen the economy during the coronavirus pandemic.]()
Credit: Ricardo B. Brazziell/Pool/Austin American-Statesman -
The Texas Legislature passed bills reining in freestanding emergency rooms
One bill awaiting action by the governor will require freestanding emergency rooms to clearly disclose the in-network health plans they accept and the fees patients may be charged. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/2765f60cac59c8868a89a2954acfefa7/01_Eastland_Memorial_GR_TT.jpg)
![Paramedics bring an extra stretcher into the emergency room at Eastland Memorial Hospital. The facility has seven emergency treatment rooms and is the only hospital along the roughly 120 mile stretch of I-20 between Weatherford and Abilene.]()
Credit: Gary Rhodes for The Texas Tribune -
New law seeks to prevent surprise medical bills from freestanding ERs
A new law requires Texas' freestanding emergency rooms to more clearly communicate what health insurance networks they're in, if any. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2017/07/11/TTAPrice-MedicalBilling-1.jpg)
![A freestanding emergency room provides 24-hour acute care in the Mueller neighborhood of Austin on July 10, 2017. As of Sept. 1, 2017, facilities like this one are required to post a notice of which health insurance networks they participate in, if any.]()
Credit: Austin Price / The Texas Tribune