Lawmakers this week listened to testimony on House Bill 2, which would raise schools’ base funding per student by $220 — a figure that falls short of what many Texans say is needed.
Texas Legislature 2025
Texas lawmakers are in Austin for the 89th Texas Legislature’s second, 30-day special session. They are redrawing the state’s congressional map, considering limits on consumable THC products and pushing flood preparedness measures. A first special session ended without successful legislation after House Democrats fled the state to block Republicans’ proposed congressional redistricting map. The regular session ran from January to June and resulted in a new school voucher program, a ban on DEI initiatives in public schools and proposals to increase the state’s water supply.
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Texas Legislature 2025
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.
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Texas Legislature 2025
Hemp industry pushes back against Senate bill to ban THC
There is little doubt that a ban will sail through the Senate. But its prospects are far less certain in the House.
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Texas Legislature 2025
Texas lawmakers scold juvenile justice department over scathing DOJ report
Democratic state Rep. Gene Wu criticized the department for treating an August 2024 federal report as “nothing.”
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Texas Legislature 2025
The Texas Senate wants more — and smaller — starter homes in new neighborhoods
The goal of the new legislation is to help drive down the cost of housing so that more Texans can afford homes.
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Texas Legislature 2025
Former Uvalde mayor files Texas bill to improve law enforcement response to mass shootings
The bill would require school districts and law enforcement to meet once a year to plan their response to an active shooter situation. It would also mandate annual multi-agency exercise drills on how to respond to an active shooter.
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Texas Legislature 2025
Voucher bills want to prioritize low-income families and be open to all students. Those goals might be at odds.
Neither of the Legislature’s voucher bills require private schools to accept certain students, which some warn could block the neediest children from access.
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Texas Legislature 2025
Texas leaders defend Black official after lawmaker’s public interrogation of DEI policies left her in tears
The topic was a budget request from a state agency. The exchange grew emotional when a lawmaker pressed for answers about a strategic plan that praises diversity.
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Texas Legislature 2025
Republican senators threaten not to boost Texas public universities’ funding over DEI ban
In a letter, Sens. Brandon Creighton and Paul Bettencourt said they found “numerous” violations of the law, but didn’t provide specifics.
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Texas Legislature 2025
Bills introduced a year after state’s largest blaze seek to limit wildfires
Among the proposals is a bill that would force more inspections of power lines, which a committee concluded ignited a blaze that burned more than 1 million acres last year.