First draft of Legislature’s map of new State Board of Education districts shores up Republican majority
The Republican-dominated, 15-member board determines what millions of public school students in the state are taught in classrooms. Full Story
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![The State Capitol on Nov. 19, 2020.]()
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Analysis: Texas’ foster care problems are clear. The response from state leaders isn’t.
The state’s foster care system has been dangerous to children and embarrassing to the state for years. But with state officials constantly chasing other issues, it’s still suffering from neglect. Full Story
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![The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services offices in Austin on Nov. 14, 2019.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Biden administration speeds up deportation flights for Haitians in growing Texas migrant camp
The situation in Del Rio spiraled this week as more than 15,000 migrants, many of them from Haiti, arrived at the border in recent days, settling in a makeshift camp as they waited for CBP agents to process their petitions to stay in the U.S. Full Story
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![Makeshift shelters at a temporary migrant camp under the international bridge in Del Rio on Sept. 17, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate opens redistricting debate with proposed map one senator labels “intentional discrimination”
The first draft of the Senate map was authored by a Republican who chairs the Senate Redistricting Committee. It immediately drew fire from a Democratic member who said her district was being redrawn to dilute voting power of people of color. Full Story
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![The Senate floor on Jan. 13, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Federal government announces funding for emergency contraception for Texans impacted by near-total abortion ban
The Biden administration also issued memorandums detailing two federal statutes officials says they would enforce to provide protection for patients who may need an abortion and health care providers who assist pregnant patients in certain situations. Full Story
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![Information and diagrams inside a medical room at a Planned Parenthood in south Austin on Jan. 14, 2020.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
After Texas A&M student died from COVID-19, students and faculty rally for more safety precautions
University leaders have encouraged mask-wearing and getting vaccinated, but they say Gov. Greg Abbott has prevented them from requiring either. Full Story
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![Texas A&M students gathered to protest a lack of protections against COVID-19 on campus in College Station on Sept. 14, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Bill tripling Texas’ border security budget and allocating $750 million to wall construction becomes law
Gov. Greg Abbott said Texas was stepping up to do the federal government’s job after Biden’s immigration policies had “opened the floodgates” to illegal immigration and crime. Full Story
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![A portion of an unfinished border wall stands near the U.S. and Mexico border in Del Rio on July 22, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott signs bill restoring the funding that he vetoed for the Texas Legislature and its 2,100 state employees
Abbott vetoed the funding earlier this year as retribution for the House Democrats’ walkout to block the GOP elections bill at the end of the regular session. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks with lawmakers on the House floor during the legislative session on Sunday, May 23, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
The Texas GOP lawmaker behind the abortion ban, voting restrictions bill and more
State Sen. Bryan Hughes authored the six-week abortion ban and the elections bill and carried other conservative priorities that grabbed national attention. Full Story
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![State Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, speaks in favor of Senate Bill 1 on Aug. 11, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Dan Patrick warns Democrats are allowing in immigrants for “silent revolution,” mirroring language of far-right extremists
Patrick’s comments mirrored a far-right theory that says political elites are replacing white populations through mass migration and demographic changes. He called the increase of migrants at the border an “invasion.” Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick speaks at a press conference about Senate Bill 7 at the Texas Capitol on April 7, 2021.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
State agency awards $11 million contract to oversee construction of Gov. Greg Abbott’s Texas-Mexico border wall
The two firms awarded the contract have previously built barriers and designed ports of entry for the federal government. Full Story
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![A section of the border wall in La Joya on Aug. 15, 2021.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
House Freedom Caucus member Matt Krause challenges Ken Paxton for Texas attorney general
The Fort Worth lawmaker, who has been close to Paxton, is the third serious primary challenger to emerge. Full Story
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![State Rep. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth, reads proposed legislation while on the House floor on July 29, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Population changes the recipe for Texas’ political soup
Not every change in the state’s political maps starts with party affiliation. Geography and population are giving Republican mapmakers new headaches. Full Story
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![The Texas Capitol on Feb. 1, 2021.]()
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A Texas school district doesn’t require masks. The state is suing the district anyway.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued nine more school districts over their masking rules. One says it doesn’t mandate them. Another says it doesn’t enforce mask-wearing at Paxton’s request. Full Story
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![Students backpacks sit in their cubbies at Blanco Vista Elementary School in San Marcos on Aug. 23, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
More than 100,000 Texas electricity customers without power after Nicholas. Restoring it to everyone could take days.
Texas was spared from mass destruction once the storm came ashore as a Category 1 hurricane. But it caused enough damage to disrupt electricity for a large swath of the Texas coast, including the Houston and Galveston areas. Full Story
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![Storm surge ahead of Tropical Storm Nicholas in Corpus Christi on Sept. 13, 2021. A storm surge warning is in effect in Corpus Christi for the next couple of days.]()
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5 candidates file for special election in San Antonio to replace former state Rep. Leo Pacheco
The field for the Sept. 28 contest has attracted three Democrats and two Republicans. Full Story
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Texas and the U.S., lawyered up and ready to go to court
It's usually the state suing the feds, but now the federal government is suing Texas for outlawing abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. There are more lawsuits between the state and federal governments to come. Full Story
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![U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks during an event at the Justice Department in Washington, U.S., on June 15, 2021.]()
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We annotated Texas’ near-total abortion ban. Here’s what the law says about enforcement.
The law will be carried out by civilians “deputized” to do what the state cannot: enforce its new restrictive abortion law. Here’s where the process is laid out in the statute and what it means. Full Story
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![An ultrasound machine sits next to an empty patient bed at Whole Women’s Health of Austin on Sept. 1, 2021.]()
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Texas bans storage of highly radioactive waste, but a West Texas facility may get a license from the feds anyway
The new law may soon be in conflict with federal regulators. A decision from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on one company’s license could come as early as Monday. Full Story
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![The Waste Control Specialists radioactive and hazardous waste storage site in Andrews, Texas, on Jan. 17, 2021.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
How the quorum break got broken: Texas Democrats splintered during second session break
For House Democrats, the story of the second special session is much different from that of the first one. The excitement of leaving the state had worn off, the media spotlight had dimmed and the pressures to return home were mounting. Full Story
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![From left: Houston democratic state Reps. Ana Hernandez, Garnet Coleman, and Armando Lucio Walle on the House floor on Aug. 23, 2021]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune
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