Democrat Michelle Vallejo seeks rematch against U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz in 2024
Despite a 9-point defeat in 2022, Vallejo hopes to attract national support to her race for the South Texas district. Full Story
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![Michelle Vallejo, Democratic nominee for Congressional District 15, speaks at the HERStory meet and greet in McAllen, on Aug. 19th, 2022.]()
Credit: Jason Garza for The Texas Tribune -
House waters down some of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s priorities, adding to late-session uncertainty
Although the lower chamber backed the Senate’s action on gender-affirming care, it has been less accepting of school choice and attempts to rein in higher education. Full Story
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![Lt. Governor Dan Patrick presides over the Senate at the Capitol in Austin on April 06, 2023.]()
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Churches’ role in Abilene election prompts calls for investigations
West Texas voters rejected three conservative Christian candidates who sought to infuse religious values into local politics. The campaign support the candidates received from local churches has prompted calls for state and federal probes. Full Story
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![Campign signs outside of the 11th & Willis St. Church of Christ in Abiele, Texas, on May 6.]()
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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.]()
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Texas GOP’s broadest attempt yet to erode blue cities’ power gets one step closer to becoming law
Gov. Greg Abbott and other supporters of the bill have long sought legislation to push back against local regulations that they say hamper business owners and harm the state’s economy. Full Story
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![The Austin skyline on July 13, 2022.]()
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.]()
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Eliminating countywide voting in Texas would make the process harder on voters, cost more money, election leaders say
Currently, more than 80% of Texas voters can vote anywhere in their home county, a model that originated in Lubbock County. If lawmakers approve new legislation, that would change. Full Story
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![A voter walks past an election sign on his way to vote outside of the Lauro Cavazos Middle School polling station. Lubbock voters chose their voter preferences during the mid-term elections Tuesday, November 8, 2022.]()
Credit: Mark Rogers for The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott threatens to veto pared-down school choice bill, warns of special sessions
Abbott says if a school voucher bill isn’t expanded to include more students, a special legislative session will be the result. Full Story
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![Gov. Abbott poses for a photo with Covenant Christian Academy students at the Parent Empowerment Night event hosted by the Parent Empowerment Coalition at in McAllen on April 12, 2023.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
Austin doctors who treated trans kids leaving Dell Children’s clinic after AG Paxton announces investigation
Attorney General Ken Paxton previously announced an investigation into “potentially illegal” activity. Parents are scrambling to find transition-related care for their kids as the Legislature appears poised to ban it altogether. Full Story
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![People line the railing on all three levels of the outdoor rotunda of the state Capitol in Austin, and wave signs during the "Fight for our Lives" rally in opposition of anti-LGBTQ+ bills on March 27, 2023.]()
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After Title 42’s end, Texas DPS pauses Austin patrols so officers can head to the border
Despite no major influx in border crossings, state troopers will be relocated to border cities. Austin and the Texas Department of Public Safety faced criticism for the racial disparities in state trooper arrests in the capital. Full Story
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![Members of the Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Pubic Safety at the entrance to where hundreds of migrants wait to be processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents inside a makeshift migrant camp about three hours after Title 42 ended at 9:59 p.m. local time, Friday, May 12, 2023, in El Paso.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw tapped to lead GOP response on Mexican drug cartels
The Houston Republican has alarmed Mexico and Democrats with previous calls for a military response to the criminal organizations. Full Story
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![Rep. Dan Crenshaw and other members of the GOP give a press conferences outside the CBP station after touring the facility and the border on Nov. 22, 2022, in El Paso.]()
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TribCast: The scene in Texas as Title 42 lifts
On this week’s episode, we discuss the situation at the Texas-Mexico border and the failed effort to raise the age at which Texans can buy semi-automatic rifles. Full Story
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![Two men walk on the banks of the Rio Grande River as several hundred migrants wait on the U.S. side to be picked up and processed by CBP on May 8, 2023 in Juarez, Chihuahua.]()
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Pivotal House vote moves Texas closer to banning puberty blockers, hormone treatments for trans kids
The House approved a bill Monday that would ban doctors from providing transition-related care to children. It now heads back to the Senate, which can accept the changes or ask for a committee to iron out the chambers’ differences. Full Story
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![Ricardo Martinez, CEO of Equality Texas, gives instructions regarding a press conference to people who have gathered on the stairs across from the House floor to protest against SB 14, which seeks to ban puberty blockers and hormone therapies for transgender youth, before it is heard for debate in the House at the state Capitol in Austin on May 12, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Effort to allow casinos falls short in Texas House
Facing a rigid deadline, gaming supporters were unable to get the supermajority support needed to move the legislation forward. Full Story
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![A cup with the message "I'd rather be a the casino" sits on the desk of state Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, on the House floor at the state Capitol on April 6, 2023.]()
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Bills by the handful perish as Texas House hits crucial late-session deadline
It was a night of frustration, retaliation and, for some, elation as the stroke of midnight spelled doom for a lot of legislation. Full Story
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![House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, surveys the chamber during a break in the action on deadline day May 11, 2023.]()
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U.S. House passes border bill shaped by Texas Republicans as Title 42 ends
The Secure the Border Act would resume construction of the border wall, limit asylum eligibility and require asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico. It faces tough going in the Senate. Full Story
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![A group of migrants are escorted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents near the Paso del Norte International Bridge in El Paso on June 15, 2019.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
Abortion bills gain little traction as Texas Legislature turns its attention to LGBTQ restrictions
Texas’ abortion laws look likely to remain about where they were at the beginning of the legislative session, as key deadlines pass without any movement on abortion-related bills. Full Story
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![Addison Kardos, 15, walks with thousands of people in an abortion rights protest in San Antonio after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022.]()
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Clash of styles as Colin Allred prepares to challenge Ted Cruz in 2024 race
The Dallas native, former NFL linebacker and civil rights lawyer has not traveled a typical path to Congress. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, arrives before a House Judiciary Select Subcommittee hearing on the weaponization of the federal government, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023.]()
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In dramatic vote, Texas House approves online sports betting measure
A resolution to let voters decide whether to legalize casino gambling, however, was delayed for a day while supporters worked to find enough support for passage. Full Story
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![A gambler stacks chips at a roulette table during the reopening of Bellagio hotel-casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada, on June 4, 2020.]()
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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. Full Story
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![Department of Public Safety agents arrest an undocumented migrant for trespassing private property as part of Operation Lone Star in Kinney County near Brackettville, Texas on Nov. 9, 2021.
Verónica G. Cárdenas for ProPublica/The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune/ProPublica