The Republican-dominated, 15-member board determines what millions of public school students in the state are taught in classrooms.
Texas Legislature 2021
The 87th Texas Legislature approved hundreds of new laws during its regular session that ended in May 2021, including a near-total ban on abortions. Lawmakers then returned to Austin for three special sessions aimed at passing additional conservative priorities. Although House Democrats fled the state for weeks, lawmakers eventually passed new voting restrictions. They also approved new political maps and a proposed constitutional amendment that could lower property tax bills.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Analysis: Texas’ foster care problems are clear. The response from state leaders isn’t.
The state’s foster care system has been dangerous to children and embarrassing to the state for years. But with state officials constantly chasing other issues, it’s still suffering from neglect.
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Redistricting Texas
Texas Republicans have the redistricting tools to preserve their power. Here’s how they can do it.
Lawmakers must redraw the state’s political maps to account for a decade’s worth of growth, but the process leaves enough room for political manipulation. Here’s how it’ll work.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Bill tripling Texas’ border security budget and allocating $750 million to wall construction becomes law
Gov. Greg Abbott said Texas was stepping up to do the federal government’s job after Biden’s immigration policies had “opened the floodgates” to illegal immigration and crime.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Gov. Greg Abbott signs bill restoring the funding that he vetoed for the Texas Legislature and its 2,100 state employees
Abbott vetoed the funding earlier this year as retribution for the House Democrats’ walkout to block the GOP elections bill at the end of the regular session.
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Texas Legislature 2021
The Texas GOP lawmaker behind the abortion ban, voting restrictions bill and more
State Sen. Bryan Hughes authored the six-week abortion ban and the elections bill and carried other conservative priorities that grabbed national attention.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Analysis: Population changes the recipe for Texas’ political soup
Not every change in the state’s political maps starts with party affiliation. Geography and population are giving Republican mapmakers new headaches.
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Texas Legislature 2021
TribCast: A preview of redistricting in the Texas Legislature
In this week’s episode, Matthew speaks with Ross, Alexa and James about the coming legislative session and legal fights over redistricting in Texas.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas bill to require cash bail for those accused of violent crimes becomes law
Senate Bill 6 will bar those accused of violent crimes from being released from jail before trial unless they can put up cash. That provision of the bill will go into effect Dec. 2.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas bans storage of highly radioactive waste, but a West Texas facility may get a license from the feds anyway
The new law may soon be in conflict with federal regulators. A decision from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on one company’s license could come as early as Monday.