Texas awards $307 million in contracts for 14 miles of new border wall
The two companies awarded contracts on Thursday will erect border barriers in Del Rio and the Rio Grande Valley. Full Story
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![Border wall construction resumes near the Eli Jackson Cemetery in Pharr on March 21, 2022. In 2020, Congress exempted the cemetery from border wall construction, but it has started once again and is near completion.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
State agencies push for better worker pay as critical staffing crunch hits Texas government
Texas agencies say they are being hammered by a historic staffing crisis, particularly when it comes to those in the trenches serving the state’s most vulnerable populations. Full Story
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![Exterior of the Texas State Capitol on Nov. 19, 2020.]()
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In West Texas, Fort Stockton’s solution to a teacher shortage is a motel
The rural Fort Stockton school district is paying big money for teachers and sweetening the deal with low-cost housing. Full Story
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Ken Paxton’s office knew he’d be subpoenaed before he fled his home to avoid being served, emails show
Lawyers for the state argue they didn’t know the attorney general would be served at home. Emails from opposing counsel show they tried repeatedly to serve him through his attorneys. Full Story
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![Attorney General Ken Paxton at a border security briefing at the Texas DPS airport hangar in Edinburg on Jan. 28, 2022. The four whistleblowers who sued Paxton after he fired them for accusing him of bribery and abuse of office are speaking out against him publicly for the first time since filing their lawsuit.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
In campaign ad, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick suggests mandatory 10-year sentence for gun-related crimes
New mandatory sentences could be a big policy shift for Texas. But Patrick isn’t providing any details of his one-sentence proposal so it’s hard to gauge its significance. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick speaks to reporters at a press conference on Feb. 18, 2022.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas court confirms the attorney general can’t unilaterally prosecute election cases
Texas’ highest criminal court once again said the attorney general needs permission from local prosecutors to pursue election cases. Attorney General Ken Paxton had fought that decision. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton recites the Pledge of Allegiance at a Trump Rally in Conroe on Jan. 29, 2022.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Migrant encounters at the border are higher today than they were before Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star began
The number of migrant encounters at the Texas-Mexico border has climbed from 109,456 in March 2021, the month the mission began, to 116,976 in August — a failure of Abbott’s office’s stated desire to “stop this revolving door and deter others considering entering illegally.” Full Story
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![Department of Public Safety agents oversee a group of three undocumented migrants as they continue the process of arresting them after they were caught in private property as part of Operation Lone Star in Kinney County near Brackettville, on Nov. 8, 2021.]()
Credit: Verónica Gabriela Cárdenas for ProPublica/The Texas Tribune -
Texas AG’s office sends mixed signals about whether it can fine nonprofits that pay for out-of-state abortions
Lawyers for abortion funds want Ken Paxton to testify in their lawsuit. He fled his home Monday while being served a subpoena that was later quashed by a judge. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, center right, walks with Texas Solicitor General Judd Stone II, center left, and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, right, to a press conference at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on April 26, 2022. Earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments for Texas v. Texas, the enforcement of the Trump-era “remain in Mexico” policy that required asylum seekers to stay in Mexico as they waited for hearings in U.S. immigration court. (Eric Lee for The Texas Tribune).]()
Credit: Eric Lee for The Texas Tribune -
Ted Cruz votes against bipartisan bill to prevent another Jan. 6
The Texan objected to certifying Arizona’s electoral votes as rioters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The bill, which Cruz voted against in committee on Tuesday, would make a similar move in the future meaningless. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz speaks as FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the January 6th insurrection, in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 2, 2021.]()
Credit: Mandel Ngan/Pool via REUTERS -
Leading anti-abortion group drops support of Texas lawmaker after he pledges to support exceptions for rape
Other anti-abortion groups and Republicans said they will continue to support state Sen. Robert Nichols after his comments at The Texas Tribune Festival. Full Story
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![State Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, speaks at a panel moderated by Tribune political reporter James Barragán at The Texas Tribune Festival in Austin on Sept. 23, 2022.]()
Credit: Azul Sordo/The Texas Tribune -
As inflation skyrockets, local Texas governments ponder tax rate increases as they balance budgets
Local governments in Texas have spent the summer preparing their budgets for next year, wrestling with inflation and a law that prohibits them from raising property tax revenues beyond 3.5% without voter approval. Full Story
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![New home construction in north Longview's Hidden Hills subdivision on Dec. 17, 2021.]()
Credit: Michael Cavazos for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton fled his home to avoid being served with subpoena, court record says
In an affidavit, a process server said that the state’s top attorney tried to evade him as he attempted to deliver a subpoena from an abortion fund’s lawsuit against the state. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton attends a campaign event during a Bulverde Spring Branch Conservative Republicans meeting in Bulverde on May 16, 2022. Paxton criticized President Joe Biden’s immigration policies, championed voter fraud in Texas and praised the leaked SCOTUS draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade.]()
Credit: Kaylee Greenlee Beal for The Texas Tribune -
1836 Project promotes sanitized version of Texas history, experts say
The Texas Tribune reviewed the 15-page document, which will be handed out to new drivers, and asked historians to comment on how accurately and thoroughly it chronicles the state’s history. Full Story
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![The Texas and U.S. flag wave in the wind outside of the John Reagan State Office building on Jan. 15, 2020.]()
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New abortion restrictions are impractical and resource-draining, Texas prosecutors say
District attorneys for Harris, Kaufman, Fort Bend counties voiced concerns over state’s new abortion law at the 2022 Texas Tribune Festival. Full Story
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![From left: Michael Hall, executive editor at Texas Monthly, moderates a panel with district attorneys Erleigh Norville Wiley (Kaufman Co.), Kim Ogg (Harris Co.) and Brian Middleton (Fort Bend Co.) at The Texas Tribune Festival in Austin on Sept. 24, 2022.]()
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Beto O’Rourke shrugs off polling deficit, promises he won’t let down Democrats in South Texas
The Democratic nominee for governor said during The Texas Tribune Festival that he’s counting on a big turnout of voters energized by the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. Full Story
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![Democratic nominee for governor Beto O’Rourke speaks at The Texas Tribune Festival on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Watch a panel on Roe v. Wade at the 2022 Texas Tribune Festival
Ana Marie Cox moderates a conversation about women’s health, women’s rights and an uncertain future with former state Sen. Wendy Davis, state Rep. Donna Howard and Planned Parenthood CEO Alexis McGill Johnson. Full Story
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Ahead of the 2023 session, Texas lawmakers previewed their objectives. Here are five things you need to know.
Texas lawmakers on both sides of the aisle talked schools, abortion and guns in advance of next year’s session in a range of panels at The Texas Tribune Festival. Full Story
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![From left: Tribune political correspondent Patrick Svitek moderates a discussion about the 88th legislative session withHouse Republicans Four Price, Dustin Burrows, Ellen Troxclair and Craig Goldman at The Texas Tribune Festival in Austin on Sept. 23, 2022.]()
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Republican Texas senator says he will support new rape exceptions for abortion
One of the longest-serving Republican state senators, Robert Nichols is among the first to say publicly he’d support revising the state’s abortion prohibition. He spoke Friday at The Texas Tribune Festival. Full Story
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![Senate Republicans Peter Flores, Kevin Sparks, Robert Nichols and Phil King speak on a panel moderated by Tribune political reporter James Barragán at The Texas Tribune Festival on Sept. 23, 2022 in Austin, TX.]()
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Boisterous agitators disrupt Hays County election machine test, badger Texas secretary of state
“Can we go back to focusing on the testing please?” official pleads as crowd demands answers to conspiracy theories. Full Story
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![Secetary of State John Scott listens to members of the public while they ask questions about the voting during a state-mandated logic and accuracy test at the Hays County Government building in San Marcos on Sept. 21, 2022. Questions mainly revolved around the saftey of the procedure of the voting machines, and the precautions the department was taking to elliminate errors within the counting process.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Texas AG says counties can spend COVID relief funds on extra pay for elected officials without public notice
The nonbinding legal opinion states local elected and appointed officials can receive up to $25,000 for work done during the COVID-19 pandemic on top of their regular salaries. Unlike other pay raises, these “premium pay” bonuses don’t need to be declared to the public ahead of time. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton attends a campaign event during a Bulverde Spring Branch Conservative Republicans meeting on May 16, 2022, in Bulverde. Paxton criticized President Joe Biden’s immigration policies, discussed voter fraud in Texas and praised the leaked SCOTUS draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade.]()
Credit: Kaylee Greenlee Beal for The Texas Tribune