The Census Bureau revealed Wednesday that the detailed results lawmakers need to reconfigure congressional and state legislative districts won’t be available until at least two months after the end of the regular 2021 legislative session.
Demographics
Explore population trends, diversity, and data shaping Texas communities, politics, and policy.
Posted in
Demographics
Reversing Donald Trump policy, Joe Biden will include undocumented immigrants in critical census count
President Donald Trump’s efforts to exclude undocumented immigrants from congressional representation are out with his administration. But Texas lawmakers still face delays in receiving census results needed to redraw the state’s political maps.
Posted in
Demographics
Low-income Texans struggle to find new doctors as state officials boot Planned Parenthood off Medicaid
The state’s health commission gave Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid patients until Feb. 3 to find new doctors. Experts say there are limited places low-income patients can go, in part because Texas already has a shortage of doctors who accept Medicaid due to the state’s low payment rates.
Posted inDemographics, Politics, State Government
In 2021, the Texas Legislature remains mostly white and male
When the 2021 legislative session begins Tuesday, three of every five lawmakers in the state House and Senate will be white and just 27% of seats will be held by women.
Posted in
Demographics
Texas gives Medicaid recipients using Planned Parenthood until Feb. 3 to find new health care provider
The extension comes after the conservative U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in November sided with Texas officials who have long tried to block Planned Parenthood from participating in Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for the poor.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Early in the pandemic, Texas banned most abortions. After the ban lifted, second-trimester abortions jumped, a new study shows.
Texas officials cited a need to preserve medical supplies as a reason to crack down on abortions. A new study finds that many Texans left the state during this time seeking the procedure.
Posted in
Demographics
Beth Van Duyne could be the GOP’s antidote to high-profile progressives when she joins Congress
The former Housing and Urban Development official will be part of the largest group of House Republican women ever elected to Congress in the same year. Van Duyne’s supporters expect she’ll bring her brand of outspoken conservative fire with her to the Capitol.
Posted in
Demographics
U.S. Supreme Court leery of Trump’s bid to exclude undocumented immigrants from congressional reapportionment
Outgoing President Donald Trump’s administration wants to exclude undocumented immigrants from the count that determines how many congressional seats each state gets. Texas could lose at least one congressional district under the plan, according to a study.
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
Eight months into the pandemic, this women’s health clinic in rural Texas struggles to meet demand for care
At a housing unit turned health clinic in rural Brown County, the director of a family planning clinic laughs at the idea of offering tele-health visits to limit the virus’ spread: “Where we are, that is just not an option for us.”
Posted in
Coronavirus in Texas
The devastating toll of COVID-19 on El Paso illustrates the pandemic’s stark inequalities
El Paso is far from the only predominantly Hispanic area that has been ravaged by the virus. Hidalgo and Cameron counties, both along the state’s southern border, have seen death tolls that rival larger and more urban parts of the state.