Between cracking down on abortion pills and restricting transgender restroom use, lawmakers also tackled flood safety and the STAAR test. Left untouched: Texas’ hemp industry.
Politics
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Texas Legislature 2025
Texas Legislature approves stiff penalties, fundraising limits for lawmakers who leave state to block bills
House members who freeze future legislation by fleeing Texas will face steeper fines, loss of seniority and committee posts, and limits on political fundraising.
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Hill Country floods
Texas kids’ camps must remove cabins from floodplains, operate warning systems under new laws
The parents of children who died at Camp Mystic advocated for the new legislation, which now heads to Gov. Greg Abbott for his signature.
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Texas Legislature 2025
Bill shielding some police complaints from public again dies in Texas House
The measure failed after the two chambers disagreed on whether to include a carveout that would have let parents access records from the 2022 Uvalde school shooting.
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Economy
Corpus Christi’s water supply is uncertain after City Council ends water treatment plans
Years of blundering and project delays have pushed the South Texas city to the brink of crisis as drought bears down and industrial water use grows.
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Texas’ housing crisis
Texas suburbs resist new state law allowing more apartments
Suburban officials in the Dallas-Fort Worth region have enacted rules aimed at curtailing a sweeping new state law to allow more apartments.
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2025 Legislative Recap
Texas bans the sale of THC vape pens
The law does not specifically ban the possession of THC vape pens, but those who sell them face up to a year in jail and a $4,000 penalty.
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2026 Texas Elections
Rep. Alma Allen, longtime Houston Democratic lawmaker, to retire from Texas House
Allen, known for her focus on public education issues, announced her retirement after 20 years in the House. She endorsed her son, Lawrence Allen Jr., to succeed her.
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Texas Legislature 2025
Texas lawmakers scrap new measure allowing late voter registration changes
Lawmakers passed a bill earlier this year allowing voters to update their address at the polls and immediately vote on elections tied to that new residence, as long as the move was within the county. This bill walks it back.
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TribCast
TribCast: Sid Miller’s THC entanglements
In this week’s episode, Matthew and Eleanor speak with Texas Tribune reporter Kate McGee about her recent investigative reporting in to Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and his staff.