Ronnie Dugger, trailblazing founder of The Texas Observer, dies at 95
Dugger launched the Observer, a fixture of the Texas media landscape known for its decidedly progressive lens to state affairs, in 1954. Full Story
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![ONE TIME USE Ronnie Dugger, founding editor of the Texas Observer, died on May 27 in Austin.]()
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Texas oil companies face new deadlines to plug inactive wells
Senate Bill 1150, which is on its way to Gov. Greg Abbott, is a rare example of the Texas Legislature regulating the state’s oil and gas industry. Full Story
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![A plugged well on the Scouras’ property in Lee County on July 12, 2021. The Scourases are two of many Lee County residents whose water sources have dried up as a result of Vista Ridge Pipeline Project.]()
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Texas bill allowing smaller homes on smaller lots amid housing affordability crunch advances in House
Senate Bill 15, a top priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, is part of a broad push by lawmakers to put a dent in the state’s high home prices. Full Story
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![A construction worker builds homes in far west San Antonio on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024.]()
Credit: Scott Stephen Ball for The Texas Tribune -
Lawmakers near deal to spend $20 billion over two decades on water crisis
The deal allocates $1 billion a year to water projects for 20 years, which some groups estimate is a fraction of what Texas needs to save its water supply. Full Story
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![The SAWS’ Steven M. Clouse Water Recycling Center in San Antonio on Aug. 23, 2024.]()
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TribCast: Dan Patrick and Greg Abbott are getting what they want this legislative session
In this week’s episode, Matthew and Eleanor talk with politics reporter Jasper Scherer about education funding, a THC ban and the success of conservative priorities this year. Full Story
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![The Texas House of Representatives debates and votes on bills on the House floor at the Texas Capitol on Monday, May 26, 2025.]()
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Texas lawmaker abruptly spiked his bill to punish cities that don’t deal with homeless encampments
The bill would have withheld some tax dollars from cities that did not comply with state law. Full Story
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![A tent stands in a field after being removed from a homeless encampment underneath Interstate Highway 45 in Dallas, Texas on Friday, July 22, 2022.]()
Credit: Emil Lippe for The Texas Tribune -
New limits for personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits may become a reality in Texas
The House made changes to the proposal that leave open ways for victims to be compensated beyond medical bills. Full Story
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![An ambulance is parked at Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas
at Austin in 2018.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune -
Bill giving Texas parents, school boards more control over library books heads to Gov. Greg Abbott
Senate Bill 13 would require school boards or advisory councils to approve new books and review complaints. In most cases only 50 parents’ approval would be needed to create the oversight councils. Full Story
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![The Josefa L. Sambrano Elementary School library in San Elizario on July 23, 2024.]()
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Texas Republicans want to block cities' gun buyback programs
Much of the debate focused on the tense relationship between cities and the Texas Legislature. The bill is head to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk. Full Story
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![A private gun buyer advertises cash sales outside the Alamodome parking lot where the City of San Antonio hosts a gun buyback event on Nov. 24, 2024.]()
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Bill that gives Texas increased oversight of largest energy users wins Legislature’s approval
Senate Bill 6, which now heads to the governor’s desk, gives the state’s electricity managers the ability to shut power to large consumers during emergencies. Full Story
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![Flint Hills Resources, a manufacturer of fuels and chemicals, site in Corpus on Nov. 11, 2021.]()
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Proposal to automatically deny bail to some previously accused of felonies falls in Texas House
Democrats declined to support Senate Joint Resolution 87, which sprinted through the Senate and needed 100 votes to clear the lower chamber. Full Story
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![Groveton, Texas: Inmates sleep in their cell on June 4, 2024 at the Trinity County Sheriff’s office and jail in Groveton, Texas. Mark Felix/The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
THC ban will destroy Texas' hemp agriculture industry, farmers say
While state leaders say growers can still produce industrial hemp, farmers say they will quit growing the plant altogether under a total THC ban. Full Story
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![Ann Gauger stands in one of the Caprock Family Farms’ grow rooms, Friday, May 23, 2025, in Lubbock. “Agriculture is changing and the new age of agriculture has to be cutting edge,” Ann Gauger says.]()
Credit: Annie Rice for The Texas Tribune -
Texas to increase funding to state film incentive program by $300 million
SB 22, which awaits Gov. Greg Abbott’s approval, injects $300 million over the next two years into projects filmed in Texas, $100 million more than current funding. Full Story
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![Charles Steen, an operator during a film production showcase hosted on the Texas Capitol grounds on Wednesday, March 12, 2025.]()
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Ban on THC products in Texas heads to Gov. Abbott’s desk after Senate agrees to House changes
The governor has not addressed whether he supports the ban, as hemp industry leaders have urged him to veto Senate Bill 3. Full Story
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![Edible THC and CBD products sit on display at Sweet Sensi, a shop specializing in THC products five blocks away from the Capitol in Austin on May 22, 2025.]()
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Legislature clears the way for Texas Lottery to continue under a different state agency
SB 3070, which awaits Gov. Greg Abbott’s signature, would move the lottery game to Texas’ Department of Licensing and Regulation and includes new restrictions on ticket purchases. Full Story
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![Members of the Texas Lottery Commission at a public meeting in Austin on April 29, 2025.]()
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Texas Legislature approves making vaccine exemption process easier
Instead of waiting for the state to send them one, parents would be able to print out vaccine exemption forms at home if they want to skip school-required shots. Critics believe the bill would increase infections. Full Story
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![A lab employee works on tissue cultures for research in the Tropical Medicine Lab in the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development on Oct. 5, 2021, in Houston.]()
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Bill to allow smaller homes on smaller lots resurrected in Texas House
A top priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the legislation would make it easier to construct homes on smaller lots. A House Democrat briefly killed the bill. Full Story
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![A stretch of suburban homes line the landscape southeast of San Antonio on July 26, 2023.]()
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After years of tension, Texas House emerges as cooperative partner for Dan Patrick and his conservative agenda
A 2024 war among Republicans tilted the House to the right. Now more closely aligned with the Senate, Speaker Dustin Burrows has accelerated action on bail, school vouchers and social issues. Full Story
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![Lt. Governor Dan Patrick speaks during the Texas GOP Convention Thursday, May 23, 2024 in San Antonio.]()
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Texas’ DEI ban on public schools heads to Gov. Greg Abbott for final sign-off
Senate Bill 12’s supporters say DEI programs use class time and public funds to promote political agendas. Full Story
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![Passing period at United South High School in Laredo.]()
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Texas will require public school classrooms to display Ten Commandments under bill headed to governor
Both houses have approved Senate Bill 10 even though a similar Louisiana law was deemed unconstitutional. Supporters say Christianity is core to U.S. history. Full Story
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![The Ten Commandments, written out on a monument, sit outside the Texas Capitol on March 17, 2025.]()
Credit: Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribune