Investigators say the fire was an accident and started with an engine fire in a manure vacuum truck.
Economy
Get the latest on jobs, business, growth, and policy shaping the state’s economy with in-depth reporting from The Texas Tribune.
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.
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.
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.
$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.
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.
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.
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.
Texas House passes sweeping border funding bill, guts proposed policing unit
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle threw their support behind a new requirement that the unit use only commissioned peace officers for enforcement actions.
Lawmakers consider long-shot $2.3 billion proposal to keep struggling child care providers afloat
Three years after the COVID-19 pandemic upset the fragile child care industry, about a third of the state’s child care providers remain closed.


