Want to understand Texas’ water crisis? Start with the guide to water terms.
Water is complex. So are the terms used to describe it. Get to know the language as Texas debates how to save its water supply. Full Story
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![The secondary clarifier at the Bustamante Waste Water Treatment Plant expansion in El Paso on March 5, 2025.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
Texas is running out of water. Here’s why and what state leaders plan to do about it.
The state’s water supply faces numerous threats. And by one estimate, the state’s municipal supply will not meet demand by 2030 if there’s a severe drought and no water solutions are implemented. Full Story
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![Water gushes from Rick Bradbury’s truck to Shannon Montague’s reservoir as the Bradbury’s make a delivery Saturday, March 16, 2024 in Terlingua.]()
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In Texas, private firms cash in on property tax late fees, piling debt onto struggling homeowners
Texans who fall behind on their property taxes face one of the most punitive systems in the nation, where private collection companies can tack up to 20% onto their bill. Full Story
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![Sarah Rojo disscuses hardships of being delinquent property taxpayers on Febuary, 23 2025 in Gardendale, Texas.]()
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Texas House bill would weaken renters’ rights, advocates say
The proposal is part of a push by Republican legislators aimed at helping property owners deal with squatters. Full Story
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![A writ of possession and a notice to vacate are taped to the door at an apartment complex in Houston on April 11, 2023.]()
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Texas Senate majority unveils bill requiring voters to prove their citizenship
All 20 GOP senators signed on to Senate Bill 16, which would apply to currently registered voters, and restrict some to only congressional elections. Full Story
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![Jessika Morales, 33, assists Francisco Jubera, 63, who just moved into the county, to register to vote at the Nueces County Courthouse in Corpus Christi, Texas on Sept. 11, 2024.]()
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Texas lawmakers pushed bills aimed at illegal immigration. Here’s what passed and what failed.
From requiring law enforcement agencies to cooperate with federal officials to forcing state contractors to use E-Verify, here’s how immigration bills fared in this year’s legislative session. Full Story
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![People who were apprehended by state troopers after crossing the border were brought to the International Bridge in Eagle Pass, where they were handed over to Border Patrol custody on Thursday, May 28, 2022.]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
Will lawmakers let Texas’ maternal mortality committee review abortion deaths?
The Legislature is considering bills that would lift long-standing restrictions on how Texas’ panel can investigate maternal deaths and near-misses. Full Story
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![Arika Rodriguez with her newborn son Parker at the Holy Family Birthing Center in Weslaco on Sept. 28, 2017.]()
Credit: Reynaldo Leal for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate panel sends message to Trump: Get our water from Mexico
Farmers and elected officials told a Senate committee Monday that the lack of water is becoming dire, with little relief in sight. Full Story
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![Water marks are seen on the dam gates and concrete at the Falcon Dam in Starr County on Aug. 18, 2022. This area of the reservoir is normally under water, but because of an extended drought, water levels have been below 20% full since earlier this year. The Falcon Dam was dedicated by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Mexican President Adolfo Ruiz Cortines in 1953.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
Federal appeals court reverses Texas death row inmate’s conviction
Brittany Marlowe Holberg was convicted in 1998 of robbing and murdering an 80-year-old man in his Amarillo home. The appeals court said critical evidence was withheld. Full Story
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![The Huntsville Unit Texas State Penitentiary houses the execution chamber of Texas and is located in Huntsville on Jan. 31, 2024.]()
Credit: Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune -
Thrust into the spotlight by a school shooting, Uvalde’s former mayor finds his footing as a lawmaker
Don McLaughlin isn’t shy about speaking his mind and has disagreed with victims’ families and fellow Republicans. Now he brings his direct style to the Capitol. Full Story
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![Former Uvalde mayor and current Texas representative Don McLaughlin, Jr. (R-Uvalde) in his office at DKM headquarters in Uvalde, TX on February 14, 2025. McLaughlin’s hunting trophies sit mounted behind him.]()
Credit: Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribune -
With crumbling public health infrastructure, rural Texas scrambles to respond to measles
The measles outbreak in rural Texas has exposed how hospital buildings are ill-equipped. Meanwhile, long distances between providers makes testing people and transporting samples difficult. Full Story
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![A sign lets people know that measles vaccines are available in the Old City Hall in Andrews, Tx.]()
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Christi Craddick, Don Huffines bid for Texas comptroller
Hegar’s impending departure from the comptroller’s seat creates a rare opening for one of Texas’ coveted statewide offices. Full Story
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![Texas Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick and former state Sen. Don Huffines.]()
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Texas A&M Board of Regents names Glenn Hegar as university system’s next leader
Hegar, who currently serves as Texas comptroller, will replace A&M Chancellor John Sharp in leading the 157,000-student system. Full Story
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![Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar speaks with Texas Tribune Editor-in-Chief Matthew Watkins at Studio 919 in Austin on Jan. 13, 2024.]()
Credit: Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribune -
Transgender staffer navigates Texas Capitol with guarded care amid growing hostilities
Mo Jenkins is one of only a few openly transgender staffers working in the Capitol as lawmakers are making headway in restricting rights for LGBTQ+ Texans. Full Story
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![Mo Jenkins walks with State Rep. Lauren A. Simmons (D-Houston) ahead of a House meeting on Feb. 11, 2025.]()
Credit: Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ DOGE committee takes inspiration from Elon Musk’s federal operation
The new legislative panel has been tasked to reduce the size and scope of government. But Democrats say they’re not interested in replicating Musk’s slash-and-burn approach. Full Story
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![The Texas Capitol on Aug. 13, 2021.]()
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Texas countywide voting bill would allow fewer polling sites
Senate Bill 985 would revise a 2023 law that raised the minimum number of voting locations. County election officials say they’ve struggled to comply with it. Full Story
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![Early morning voters wait outside in the rain at the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center in Houston on Nov. 5, 2024.]()
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Texas Senate advances bill to start a $3 billion dementia research fund
The legislation would require voters to approve the $3 billion start-up cost, and then the fund would be maintained at no more than $300 million annually. Full Story
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![State Senators discuss a Point of Order on an amendment to the SJR 1 property tax bill to include a bonus for Texas teachers, with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on the Senate floor during the first day of the second special session at the state Capitol in Austin on June 28, 2023.]()
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Why a Rio Grande Valley hospital is helping to feed its patients
As the Edinburg facility and others seek to assist people experiencing food insecurity, state lawmakers have more than a dozen bills that could tackle Texas’ food deserts. Full Story
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![Evangelina Yzaguirre, a cancer patient at DHR, receives food aid from the hospital food pantry program.]()
Credit: Ben Lowy for The Texas Tribune -
With Texas facing soaring electricity demand, the politics of energy quietly shift at the Capitol
The Legislature has tried to clamp down on renewable energy resources in the past, but many lawmakers are recognizing the need to support all types of generation to meet record demand growth. Full Story
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![Vistra Corp.’s Midlothian Power Plant opened its doors to media on October 15, 2021 to show the plant’s weatherization process. The Midlothian plant managed to avoid freezing during the Winter Storm Uri in February, and Vistra’s plants provided 25-30% of electricity on the grid during the storm despite its approximately 18% share of generation capacity in ERCOT.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
This charter school superintendent makes $870,000. He leads a district with 1,000 students.
On paper, Salvador Cavazos earns less than $300,000 to run Valere Public Schools, a small Texas charter network. But taxpayers likely aren’t aware that his total pay makes him one of the country’s highest-earning superintendents. Full Story
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![Superintendent Salvador Cavazos runs Valere Public Schools’ three charter campuses.]()
Credit: Lauren Crow for ProPublica and The Texas Tribune