The state’s unemployment agency is ending that exemption June 26, when out-of-work Texans will also stop receiving an extra $300 in federal jobless benefits.
Stories by Texas Tribune fellows
The Texas Tribune welcomes a group of student fellows into our newsroom each spring, summer and fall. Here is a sampling of their work. Learn more about the fellowship program here.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas power generation companies will have to better prepare for extreme weather under bills Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law
Senate Bills 2 and 3 are aimed at overhauling the state’s power grid after the devastating winter storm in February and the widespread power outages that followed.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas’ 1836 Project aims to promote “patriotic education,” but critics worry it will gloss over state’s history of racism
The project is essentially an advisory committee designed to promote the state’s history to Texas residents, largely through pamphlets given to people receiving driver’s licenses.
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Public Education
Texas families with students receiving free or reduced-price lunches could be eligible for up to $1,200 in food aid
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission will allocate around $2.5 billion in food benefits to all eligible families. School districts will notify families about eligibility by June 2.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Without child care, Texas’ unemployed mothers are struggling to reenter the workforce as federal benefits cease
Many Texas mothers are ready to return to work, but a lack of child care is keeping them at home. Alicia Reed worries how she will provide for her four children after her federal unemployment benefits are cut at the end of June.
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Winter Storm 2021
Most of Lubbock will join the ERCOT grid this weekend
The city made plans to join the state’s main power grid in 2015. But some residents and leaders feel anxious about the move after February’s deadly winter storm.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Amid a pandemic with unequal impact, a proposal for a new Office of Health Equity died in the Texas Senate
Democratic lawmakers wanted to replace a defunded agency by creating a new office that would look at health inequities across the state. But after Republicans pulled it into ongoing debates about transgender rights and critical race theory, the bill died in the Senate.
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Operation Lone Star
Greg Abbott sends state troopers, National Guard to border after increase in fentanyl seizures
Abbott said the increase in fentanyl seizures correlates with President Joe Biden taking office in January and implementing new border policies.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas GOP’s bills targeting transgender children have exacted a mental health toll, even if they don’t become law
GOP bills that sought to restrict or punish transition-related health care, like puberty blockers, missed key deadlines. But LGBTQ advocates say the mere specter that such measures could become law does mental health damage to transgender people.
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Criminal Justice
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upholds “revenge porn” law
In 2018, a lower court ruled that a state law that prohibits posting someone’s intimate photos online without their permission violated the First Amendment. Wednesday’s ruling overturns that decision.