Texas Legislature adjourns second special session after passing more of Gov. Greg Abbott’s priorities
The Legislature is expected to return soon for another special session focused on redrawing the state's political maps. Full Story
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![Speaker Dade Phelan presides over the Texas House of Representatives on Aug. 16, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
GOP bill targeting how race, slavery and history are taught in Texas schools heads to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk
Before the second special session ended, lawmakers sent the GOP-backed bill for the governor's signature. Full Story
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![Students work at their desks during a geometry class at Chapa Middle School in Kyle on Aug. 24, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Texas legislators, with an assist from the U.S. Supreme Court, open a Pandora’s box
The country just noticed what Texas was doing, and although Texans have been watching the debate over this anti-abortion law all year, even some of them were surprised at how quickly the legally protected right to abortion disappeared. Full Story
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![Protestors joined several Democratic lawmakers outside of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on May 21, 2019, to show their opposition to the recent abortion ban implemented by several states.]()
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Why “heartbeat bill” is a misleading name for Texas’ near-total abortion ban
Medical and reproductive health experts say the reference to a heartbeat is medically inaccurate as an embryo does not have a developed heart at six weeks’ gestation. Full Story
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![A women’s health clinic in Texas.]()
Credit: Stephen Spillman for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate too late with hastily conjured bill allowing party officials to trigger audits of 2020 election
The bill, approved by the Senate and never considered by the House, would have allowed state and local party chairs to file requests to launch audits, but Republicans say the legislation would not have spawned a debacle akin to the controversial review underway in Arizona. Full Story
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![A man readjusts his mask after showing his face to match his ID at the Metropolitan Multi-Services Center on W. Gray Street during the first day of early voting in Houston on Oct. 13, 2020.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Social media companies can’t ban Texans over political viewpoints under new law
The law requires social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram to produce regular reports of removed content and disclose their content regulations procedures. Full Story
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![Social media icons on an iPhone screen.]()
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Thanks to local politics and a railroad, rural Kinney County accounts for most of Texas’ migrant arrests
Under Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security push, Texas state police have arrested hundreds of migrants in the conservative county, usually after spotting them on cargo trains or walking remote ranch lands. Sent to a state prison retooled as an immigration jail, many men were left without lawyers for weeks. Full Story
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![A group of migrants walk off a pick-up truck after being apprehended by Department of Public Safety officers at a train depot in Spofford on Aug. 25, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: New laws reflect Republican lawmakers’ focus on their right flank
From abortion restrictions to guns, the Texas Legislature's regular session Republican victories were just the beginning. Full Story
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![Lawmakers on the House floor on Aug. 23, 2021.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Private donations for a Texas border wall have soared to $54 million. But it’s still unclear who’s giving.
After two months, the donations had petered out around $1 million. But the effort saw a major boost in August. Full Story
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![A border wall near the U.S. and Mexico border in Del Rio on July 22, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
TribCast: A new law banning most abortions in Texas takes effect
On this week's episode, Matthew speaks with Neelam and James about the state's new abortion law and the final days of the special session of the Texas Legislature. Full Story
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![The waiting room at Whole Women’s Health of Austin sits empty on Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2021. Senate Bill 8, a law banning nearly all abortions after six weeks, went into effect today.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas House advances bill to restore money to pay salaries for 2,100 state workers after Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed Legislature funding
The legislation will need another stamp of approval in the House before it heads to the Senate, which has not yet debated its version of the proposal on the floor. Full Story
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![The sun sets on the state Capitol in Austin, on May 27, 2021.]()
Credit: Montinique Monroe for The Texas Tribune -
Angela Graham-West, wife of Texas GOP candidate Allen West, wasn’t drunk or on drugs when jailed for DWI, tests show
West had insisted his wife had not been drinking the night she was arrested, calling the arrest “insidious.” Dallas police said they stand by the officer’s decision to arrest Graham-West based on the information available at the time. Full Story
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![Angela West.]()
Credit: Florida Atlantic University -
Barely underway, Texas redistricting draws its first lawsuit challenging Legislature’s authority to redraw legislative maps
Two Democratic state senators filed the federal suit arguing the Texas Constitution does not allow lawmakers to meet in special session to draw up state House and Senate districts. They’re asking the courts to do it instead. Full Story
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Wray, Harrison advance to runoff in election to claim Wray's former Texas House seat
The election is to replace former state Rep. Jake Ellzey, R-Waxahachie, who was elevated to Congress last month. Full Story
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![State legislators on the House Floor on May 7th, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
GOP's so-called critical race theory bill advances as bill to restrict transgender student athletes stalls in House committee
The committee action came less than 24 hours after Dutton had taunted Patrick, threatening to hold his prized legislation back amid rumors that the Senate was stalling a bill to restore funding to the Legislature. Full Story
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National Republicans zero in on South Texas congressional race to oust Vicente Gonzalez
The Democratic incumbent, Rep. Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen, had a surprisingly close race last year as President Joe Biden underperformed across the region, and his 2020 challenger, Monica De La Cruz-Hernandez, is running again. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-California, and TX-15 nominee Monica De La Cruz Hernandez.]()
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Former state Rep. John Wray vying for old seat in Tuesday special election
Wray is among eight candidates, including five Republicans, on the ballot Tuesday to fill a vacancy in his old House District 10. Full Story
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![State Rep. John Wray, R-Waxahachie, chats with state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst R-Brenham, on the House floor on May 22, 2017.]()
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Bill limiting abortion-inducing pills heads to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk to be signed into law
Senate Bill 4, which was advanced by the Texas House on Monday evening, would bar access to abortion-inducing pills to patients who are more than seven weeks pregnant. Full Story
![A women’s health clinic in Texas.]()
Credit: Stephen Spillman for The Texas Tribune -
The hard-fought Texas voting bill is poised to become law. Here's what it does.
Senate Bill 1 would set new rules for voting by mail, boost protections for partisan poll watchers and roll back local voting initiatives meant to make it easier to vote, namely those championed by Harris County that were disproportionately used by voters of color. Full Story
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![Voters cast their ballots at Audelia Road Branch Library on the first day of early voting in Dallas on Oct. 13, 2020.]()
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Texas deploys firefighters and other aid to Louisiana for Hurricane Ida recovery efforts
Ida, which made landfall in Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane Sunday, was downgraded to a tropical storm Monday, but officials warned that flooding from storm surge will continue to affect parts of the state throughout the morning. Full Story
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![Highway 51 is flooded near LaPlace, Louisiana on Monday morning after Hurricane Ida came ashore on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021.]()
Credit: Mickey Welsh/Montgomery Advert via REUTERS
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