Analysis: The partisan debate over voting laws is a prologue to redistricting
The summer fight over voting and election law has been fierce. It may well be a prologue to a bigger battle just ahead: redrawing the state’s political maps. Full Story
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![Voters at the polling place inside the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center in Houston on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Texas House approves additional $2 billion for border security as state moves to build border wall
The bill would nearly triple border security funding from the last biennium. The legislation needs one more vote of approval from the House before moving to the Senate. Full Story
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![A portion of the newly-erected border fence that is being constructed by the state on private property in Del Rio on July 23, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
TribCast: The election restrictions bill passed the Texas House. What’s next?
In this week’s episode, Matthew, Alexa and Cassi look back at months of political fights after the elections bill made it out of the Texas House. Full Story
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![Voters cast their ballots at the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center near downtown Houston on Oct. 22, 2018.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
New Texas GOP chair Matt Rinaldi winning over critics of Allen West’s tumultuous era
Some party activists had worried Rinaldi would be more of the same after West left the chairmanship to challenge Gov. Greg Abbott earlier this summer. Full Story
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![Then-State Rep. Matt Rinaldi, R-Irving, on the House floor on May 23, 2017.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers supported a statewide vaccine mandate a decade ago. Now they're resisting one for COVID-19.
Ten years ago, the state led in requiring meningitis vaccines for students under 22 enrolling in college. Now, in the middle of a pandemic, lawmakers are more skeptical of a COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Full Story
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![A nurse administers a dose of the Pfizer vaccine at a clinic organized by the Travis County Mobile Vaccine Collaborative at Rodriguez Elementary School on July 28, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
U.S. House panel probing Jan. 6 attack wants Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s communications with Trump administration
The Texas Attorney General was specifically named in a request for materials by the U.S. select committee. Full Story
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![Attorney General Ken Paxton spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, on Feb. 27, 2021.]()
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Texas House passes new voting restrictions as Democratic hopes of killing the legislation wane
Democrats used every tool they had, fleeing the state en masse and forcing two special sessions, but a Republican bill to rewrite state election laws won final approval in the House on Friday. Once the House and Senate work out some differences, it appears headed to the governor’s desk. Full Story
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![The House floor on Aug. 23, 2021.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: When the Texas state seal doesn’t signify trust
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is using the state seal to shield himself against accusations by former top aides. And former Gov. Rick Perry is using it as well — as a backdrop for a sales pitch. Full Story
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![Then-State Senator and current Attorney General Ken Paxton during the 2014 Red State Gathering in Fort Worth.]()
Credit: Cooper Neill for The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott bans government mandates on COVID-19 vaccines regardless of whether they have full FDA approval
The order comes two days after the FDA granted full approval to the Pfizer vaccine. It doesn't keep private businesses from mandating vaccines for their workers — but public or private entities that receive public funds cannot require vaccination proof from customers. Full Story
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![A COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card sits on a table at a vaccine clinic held in partnership between the Central Texas Food Bank and University of Texas in Austin on July 21, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton cleared by his own office of wrongdoing in bribery allegations
Attorneys for former employees who were fired after accusing Paxton of abuse of office say report is "full of half-truths, outright lies, and glaring omissions." Meanwhile, the FBI is also reportedly investigating. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton addresses reporters on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court after the court took up a major abortion case focusing on whether a Texas law that imposes strict regulations on abortion doctors and clinic buildings interferes with the constitutional right of a woman to end her pregnancy in Washington March 2, 2016. At right is Texas Solicitor General Scott Keller.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque -
Texas House speaker says “absolutely no deals made” to bring back absent Democrats
Navigating the quorum break, Speaker Dade Phelan said he was especially mindful of not doing “un-repairable harm” to the chamber, indicating that could have happened if members were physically detained and brought to the chamber. Full Story
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![House Speaker Dade Phelan sits on an interview with The Texas Tribune at the Capitol on Aug. 24, 2021.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
“I wanted to teach differently than I had been taught”: How some Texas educators practice anti-racist teaching
Conservative lawmakers denounce critical race theory and say it facilitates racism. Some teachers say it actually informs their efforts to counter racism in the curriculum and classroom, even though they don't teach it directly to students. Full Story
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![Alejandra Lopez, president of San Antonio Alliance, sat for a portrait at their main office in San Antonio on Aug. 3, 2021.]()
Credit: Chris Stokes for The Texas Tribune -
Texas House committee again passes the voting restrictions bill that instigated Democratic quorum break
Senate Bill 1 would outlaw local efforts to make it easier to vote, ratchet up vote-by-mail rules and bolster protections for partisan poll watchers. The Senate already passed the legislation, but a House panel Monday replaced that with the lower chamber’s version of the bill. Full Story
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![A poll worker feeds a voting machine and power cord through a voter’s car window in the drive-through line at NRG Stadium in Houston during the first day of early voting on Oct. 13, 2020.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Dallas police defend DWI arrest of GOP gubernatorial candidate Allen West’s wife as her lawyer questions their evidence
An affidavit obtained by The Texas Tribune shows Angela Graham-West showed signs of intoxication in some — but not all — portions of a field sobriety test. Her lawyer attributes some issues to a previous brain aneurysm Graham-West suffered behind her right eye. Full Story
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![Angela Graham-West and Allen West.]()
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Texas House solidifies quorum with burst of returning Democrats but has only two weeks left to pass jam-packed agenda
It’s unclear what the Legislature will be able to accomplish with just two weeks left on the 30-day clock. Key legislative deadlines are coming. Member relationships are frayed. Some Democrats warn the quorum could be broken again. Full Story
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![Roll call is tallied on the House Floor on Aug. 23, 2021]()
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Analysis: Texas lawmakers have two contentious voting fights ahead — if they can stay in the same room
After a standoff that lasted more than a month, the Texas House appears to have enough state representatives in Austin to conduct business. The divisions are deep, relationships are frayed and redistricting lies ahead. Full Story
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![State Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, leads a prayer on the House floor on Aug. 19, 2021. Democratic lawmakers Garnet Coleman, Ana Hernandez and Armando Lucio Walle returned to the House floor, giving their Republican members a quorum.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Houston-area U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls tests positive for COVID-19
The Republican congressman and former Fort Bend County sheriff, who is fully vaccinated, announced Saturday he'd tested positive for COVID-19. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Richmond, speaks at a press conference about his recent trip to the southern border, in Washington on April 20, 2021.]()
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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tests negative for COVID-19 four days after positive test
The governor credited his vaccination for keeping his infection "brief and mild" and encouraged others to consider getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott signs Senate Bill 2 and Senate Bill 3 at the Texas Capitol on June 8, 2021. The omnibus power grid bills will change the state’s power grid and the people who oversee it.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Allen West, GOP candidate for governor, calls wife’s DWI arrest in Dallas “insidious”
Angela Graham-West, wife of GOP gubernatorial candidate Allen West, was arrested by Dallas Police Friday night for allegedly driving while intoxicated. Allen West said she hadn’t been drinking, that her 3-month-old grandson was in the car with her, and called the arrest “insidious.” Full Story
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![State GOP Chairman Allen West speaks at a Texas Republican Party rally on the east side of the Capitol Grounds on January 9, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas House finally makes quorum, but Democrats say Republicans cheated to get there
There were 99 members registered as present Thursday evening, the exact number needed to end the 38-day Democratic quorum break over the GOP’s priority elections bill. But not all of those members were physically on the floor. Full Story
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![House members watch as roll call is tallied on Aug. 19, 2021. The House reached a quorum after weeks of absence by House Democrats who left the state in protest over a GOP elections bill.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune