Historic $321.3 billion Texas state budget heads to comptroller
About $17 billion worth of commitments lawmakers made in the new budget were snagged in policy fights between the Texas House and Senate on Saturday night. Full Story
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Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
More Texans would qualify for food stamps under a bill heading to Gov. Greg Abbott
The value of a household’s vehicles disqualified nearly 55,000 people seeking federal food assistance in 2022. House Bill 1287 increases the threshold of car values that lead to SNAP applicants being denied aid. Full Story
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![Volunteers from neighboring small towns divide, box-up, and load their trucks with food from the Amarillo-based High Plains Food Bank for monthly delivery to Quitaque on June 28, 2019.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
U.S. debt ceiling fight riles Texans at both political ends
The high-stakes confrontation could have an impact on retirements accounts, corporations and much more. Full Story
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![The U.S. Capitol is seen through a food truck window on April 14, 2022.]()
Credit: Shuran Huang for The Texas Tribune -
State budget writers strike deal on $321.3 billion two-year spending proposal
The proposal would leave billions of anticipated tax revenue untouched at a time when the state has more money coming in than lawmakers are constitutionally allowed to spend. Full Story
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![The state Capitol in Austin on Feb. 9, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Texas power struggle: How the nation’s top wind power state turned against renewable energy.
State lawmakers have pushed bills to support fossil fuel-burning power plants and restrict renewable energy development this legislative session. Full Story
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![Lyford, TX - May 17, 2023: Industrial energy-producing wind turbines cover hundreds of acres of farmland in Lyford, TX. (Photo by Ben Lowy for The Texas Tribune)]()
Credit: Ben Lowy for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate passes new economic incentive program to lure businesses to the state
Lawmakers hope to hammer out a program to replace the embattled Chapter 313 program before the legislative session ends Monday. Full Story
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![An oilfield scene from Pecos County on Feb. 4, 2023.]()
Credit: Pu Ying Huang/The Texas Tribune -
Bills to build more homes — and lower housing costs — fail quietly in final days of the Texas Legislature
Democrats played a major role in killing legislation aimed at boosting Texas’ flagging housing supply — to the frustration of housing advocates. Full Story
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![An Aerial image of a suburban neighborhood in San Marcos on October 18, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas House votes to repeal sales tax on menstrual products and diapers
The bill, which Democrats have been pushing for years, has become a top priority after the overturn of Roe v. Wade. The Senate has already passed the bill, which would provide tax relief on the purchase of menstrual products, diapers and other child care necessities. Full Story
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![A diaper drive at the Texas Rally for Life event at the Capitol in Austin, Texas on January 28, 2023.]()
Credit: Montinique Monroe for the Texas Tribune -
Texas Republicans want to shield oil and gas from federal climate regulations. Their bill would have little impact, experts say.
The bill would direct Texas agencies to not enforce federal regulations on the oil industry if there’s not a similar state regulation. But it likely wouldn’t apply to most federal environmental rules, experts and lawmakers said. Full Story
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![A house in the Hillcrest neighborhood in Corpus on Feb. 7, 2022. Houses in this neighborhood have co-existed with oil refineries like Flint Hills that spew air pollutants for decades.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
After Taylor Swift Eras Tour glitch, Texas bans bots that buy concert tickets
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn hopes to take the issue on in Congress. Full Story
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![Taylor Swift accepts the "iHeartRadio Innovator" award at the iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles, California on March 27, 2023.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni -
Economic incentives clear Senate committee as negotiations continue
Lawmakers are trying hard to come up with an agreement on how to replace an embattled 20-year tax abatement program for big companies that expired in December. Full Story
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![A working pump jack sits near wind turbines on the Cline Shale near Maryneal, south of Sweetwater, on April 16, 2013.]()
Credit: Mark Graham for The Texas Tribune -
Texas House’s weekend off means key Senate bills die after missing a legislative deadline
Priority bills that died include a 10-year minimum sentencing for gun-related crimes, a ban on “critical race theory” at public universities and LGBTQ-related legislation. While the bills may be dead, lawmakers have a limited time to attach their ideas to legislation that is still alive. Full Story
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![State Representatives and their families gather on the House floor on the opening day of the 88th Legislative Session at the state Capitol in Austin on Jan. 10, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Here’s how the fire that killed nearly 18,000 Texas cows got started
Investigators say the fire was an accident and started with an engine fire in a manure vacuum truck. Full Story
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![A worker was critically injured and more than 18,000 cattle were killed in a massive explosion at Southfork Dairy Farm in Dimmit on Monday, April 10, 2023. Dimmit is about 60 miles south west of Amarillo.]()
Credit: Courtesy of Castro County Sheriff's Office -
Texas leaders want a new way to attract businesses here. But they can’t agree on how to do it.
The two chambers have 10 days to cut a deal before the end of the legislative session, and they are miles apart on some of the very foundations of a corporate tax-abatement bill considered to be a priority for Republican state leaders. Full Story
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![A pumpjack operates nearby a house under construction in a new housing development on March 14, 2022 north of Midland.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
Texas cotton farmers leading the charge for more government insurance to cover climate, inflation challenges
The federal Farm Bill is must-pass legislation that Congress debates every five years. It includes billions of dollars in farm subsidies and pays for food assistance programs. Full Story
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![Cotton fields near the High Plains town of Ralls, on June 22, 2022.]()
Credit: Trace Thomas for The Texas Tribune -
$5 billion for broadband advances in Texas Legislature after Senate OKs bill
An estimated 7 million Texans don’t have access to high-speed broadband internet access. Full Story
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![Nancy Shanafelt shows the speed of her internet March 20, 2023, in Groveton, Texas.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
Texas House approves property tax bill with changes the Senate might not like
House lawmakers added a significant boost to the Senate’s proposed homestead exemption and tacked on a contentious idea to lower the state’s appraisal cap. Full Story
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![A construction crew works on a new home on March 14, 2022 in Midland.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
House advances bill that could provide billions of dollars for new water projects and fixing aging infrastructure
The bill aims to create a water supply four times the size of Lake Livingston, one of the state’s largest reservoirs. But it may still be a “drop in the bucket” compared to the state’s needs. Full Story
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![Water pours into a holding pond inside Rio Grande City’s new $12 million water treatment plant. Along the Texas-Mexico border, nearly 90,000 people are believed to still live without running water. An untold number more — likely tens of thousands, but no one is sure — often have running water of such poor quality that they cannot know what poisons or diseases it might carry.]()
Credit: Spencer Selvidge for The Texas Tribune -
State budget leaders adopt some spending plans for 2024-25 but still no compromise on property taxes, power plants
With two weeks to go before the legislative session adjourns, chief budget writers still have not announced compromises on some of the largest fights facing the Texas Legislature. Full Story
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![The state Capitol in Austin on Feb. 9, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Why tax policy experts fear the Texas House plan to lower property taxes could have dire ripple effects
Both the House and the Senate’s proposals on property tax cuts would give modest savings to the typical Texas homeowner, but critics say the House plan could create vast inequities and disproportionately benefit wealthy homeowners. Full Story
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![A home in a Houston neighborhood on Dec. 14, 2022.]()
Credit: Callaghan O'Hare for The Texas Tribune