The regular 2023 legislative session is over. Here’s how the most consequential bills fared.
A look at which bills passed and which failed during the 2023 legislative session. Full Story
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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 -
Texas Republican leaders want to improve elections in the state’s largest county. Their solution could backfire.
Unless a judge intervenes, Harris County is expected to dissolve its elections administration office later this year. The duties of running elections will once again be split between the county’s tax assessor and clerk. Full Story
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![Harris County Election Administrator Clifford Tatum speaks to the media on Nov. 8, 2022, at Harris County’s central count center at NRG Arena in Houston.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
New school safety laws seek to add armed guards, chaplains and mental health training. Here’s what you need to know.
Experts say many of the changes will bolster school safety but some requirements may be challenging for public schools to implement by the upcoming school year with limited funding and staffing constraints. Full Story
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![Austin Police Department officer Cory Ehrler monitors the entrance to Ridgetop Elementary School in Austin, Texas shortly after classes start on the Monday following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. As the 83rd Legislature approaches, Texas lawmakers are considering making firearms more available to teachers and other school personnel. The Texas Tribune (Smith: School Security). Credit: Tamir Kalifa for The Texas Tribune.]()
Credit: Tamir Kalifa/The Texas Tribune
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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 -
From new funding to state intervention in elections, this year’s legislative session left big stamp on Houston
During a Texas Tribune event in Houston, state Sen. Carol Alvarado and Taylor Landin of the Greater Houston Partnership discussed the big takeaways of the regular session for their city. Full Story
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Texas will spend billions to connect the state with broadband. But is it clear which neighborhoods need help?
On the eve of a historic investment in connecting the Lone Star State, advocates worry maps that will help establish which communities get funding have bad information. Full Story
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![An industrial irrigation system on a farm in Floydada, TX, on Mar. 8, 2012.]()
Credit: Jason Janik for The Texas Tribune -
Texas is set to improve in-person and mail-in voting for people with disabilities
Voters with disabilities have been pushing for more accessibility for years. This legislative session two bills gained bipartisan support. Full Story
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![Chase Bearden, 45, of Harlingen, the deputy executive director of The Coalition of Texans with Disabilities, poses for a portrait in his office in Austin on June 8, 2023. “Disability doesn’t discriminate,” Bearden said. “We want everybody to be able to vote independently.”]()
Credit: Joe Timmerman/The Texas Tribune -
This year, Texas lawmakers zeroed in on existing health care programs, leaving bolder measures by the wayside
Pregnant moms on Medicaid will get health care coverage for a year, patients will get more detailed billing and nurses will get help with school loans. But efforts failed to gain steam for legalizing fentanyl test strips, increasing the pool of mental health professionals who accept Medicaid and expanding Medicaid benefits to more Texans. Full Story
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![Learning Tree owner Christa Marek holds her granddaughter at the Learning Tree childcare center in Yoakum, on Sept. 13, 2022.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Republicans ended a patchwork of local rules they say hurt business. They also eroded powers of city councils.
Lawmakers delivered Gov. Greg Abbott a long-sought bill to stop local governments from enacting local laws that exceed state law on a number of fronts. Full Story
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![An aerial view of homes near Interstate 45 in Houston, on Sept. 16, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers closed a background check loophole, but many gun measures failed to pass
Legislators passed a bill that requires courts to report certain involuntary mental health hospitalizations to the federal gun background check system. Many other measures that could restrict firearm access got little traction. Full Story
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![A Springfield Saint Victor AR-15 rifle is displayed during the National Rifle Association annual convention in Houston on May 27, 2022.]()
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Fossil fuels got a boost from lawmakers aiming to fix Texas’ grid, while renewable energy escaped stricter regulations
The bills will give owners of natural gas power plants incentives to build more capacity, but they don’t go as far as originally proposed to change how electricity is created and sold in the Texas market. Full Story
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![House Speaker Dade Phelan listens to state Representatives on the House floor during Sine Die, the last day of the 88th Texas Legislative Session, at the Capitol in Austin on May 29, 2023.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
For higher education in Texas, this year’s session was a mixed bag of interference and investment
Texas lawmakers made huge investments in community colleges and created new endowments for public universities. They also banned diversity, equity and inclusion offices and gave themselves more control over university faculty tenure. Full Story
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![Democratic lawmakers gather at the dias in the House chamber in support of an amendment that would have preserved DEI initiates in Texas’ public universities at the Capitol in Austin on April 06, 2023.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Amarillo Republican lawmakers discuss property tax impasse, impeachment opposition
At a Texas Tribune event, state Reps. John Smithee and Four Price — who have historically resisted school-choice initiatives — take a wait-and-see approach to a future special session on the issue. Full Story
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No teacher raises. A failed school voucher push. Armed guards. Here’s what changed for public education this legislative session.
Lawmakers sacrificed school funding to block school vouchers, but the issue could be debated again in a special session. Districts will get new funds for school safety, though Uvalde families were ultimately left disappointed with inaction on gun restrictions. Full Story
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![Students in Mrs. Cazares' third-grade class on the first day of in-person classes at Highland Village Elementary on Sept. 8, 2020.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Climate proposals withered at the Texas Capitol this year
Proposals to improve energy efficiency failed. Bills that sought to limit greenhouse gas emissions in Texas were ignored, and legislation to block cities from taking action on climate change passed. Full Story
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![Industrial energy-producing wind turbines cover hundreds of acres of farmland in Lyford on May 17, 2023.]()
Credit: Ben Lowy for The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers allocated more than $2 billion to increase the state’s water supply and reduce flooding
Texans across the state are affected by declining water supplies, water infrastructure disruptions and flooding in their communities. Full Story
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![Lake Alan Henry in Garza County on April. 27, 2023, in Garza County, about 65 miles southeast of Lubbock.]()
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Cars registered in Texas after 2025 will no longer need to pass a safety inspection, but owners will still pay the fee
Cars in some of Texas’ larger counties will still be required to have their emission output checked. 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 -
Harris County elections face state intervention under new Texas voting laws
The bill’s sponsor says greater oversight is needed for Texas’ largest county as county officials have vowed to fight the legislation in court. Full Story
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![Ballots and scanning machines arrive at central counting after polls close in Houston, on Nov 8, 2022.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for 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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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
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![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 -
Texas lawmakers move to close foster care hiring loopholes and expand rights of parents facing investigations
Bills that would give relative caregivers more money have missed key deadlines to make it in front of the full House. Full Story
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![A sign for the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services building in Austin on Nov. 14, 2019.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune