Gov. Greg Abbott selects deputy chief of staff as new secretary of state
David Whitley was named Texas' top election official on Monday, years after he started working for Abbott when the governor served as the state's attorney general. Full Story
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![David Whitley was appointed as Secretary of State of Texas.]()
Credit: Image via Governor Greg Abbott's -
Texas still hasn't expanded Medicaid. That's leaving a gap in coverage for hundreds of thousands.
More and more states have decided to expand Medicaid, but Texas has not budged. With more than a half million Texans in the so-called health coverage gap, will the politics of the issue shift in next year's legislative session? Full Story
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![Tanya Walker, who now lives in Wichita, Kansas, said it was difficult to manage her diabetes without having health coverage.]()
Credit: Jason Massingill for The Texas Tribune -
State Rep. Joe Pickett to resign from Texas House after nearly 24 years in office
Citing health issues, the El Paso Democrat announced Saturday that he would step down from his post effective Jan. 4, four days before the start of the next legislative session. Full Story
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![House Transportation Commitee chair Rep. Joe Pickett, D-EL Paso, leads an interim hearing August 30, 2016, at the Texas Capitol. The committee grilled TxDOT director James M. Bass and listened to a Texas Transportation Institute study on ride-hailing companies.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Federal judge rules Obamacare unconstitutional, handing Texas an early win
Fort Worth U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor ruled that the individual mandate — a critical component of Obamacare — is unconstitutional, rendering the rest of the law invalid as well. Full Story
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![Dr. Javier Saenz, who has a medical practice in the Rio Grande Valley town of La Joya, prepared his clinic’s X-ray machine in 2012.]()
Credit: Reynaldo Leal -
Dennis Bonnen isn't Texas House speaker yet but he's hiring people like he is. How does that work?
The Texas House is about to get a new speaker and more than two dozen new members. While they all have started transitioning into their new roles, they can't do much until they are officially sworn in to their new positions next month. Full Story
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![The House chamber at the Texas Capitol on Aug. 16, 2017, the morning after the end of the special session.]()
Credit: Austin Price / The Texas Tribune -
Watch: A conversation on health care and Texas' 86th Legislature
We're livestreaming our conversation in El Paso on the health care agenda heading into the 86th legislative session. Full Story
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Is “revenge porn” protected free speech? Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to weigh in.
A state appeals court ruled Texas' "revenge porn" law unconstitutional. Now, the state's highest criminal court will decide. Full Story
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Credit: Photo illustration by Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: These Texas candidates are about to find out what they’ve really won!
The campaigns were long and hard, and now we know the winners. Let's look at what they're in for once they take office in 2019. Full Story
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![Texas House members huddled near the dais on Aug. 15, 2017. The House adjourned sine die one day before the Legislature's special session would have been forced to conclude.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Texas police made more than $50 million in 2017 from seizing people’s property. Not everyone was guilty of a crime.
Law enforcement leaders say civil asset forfeiture is a necessary tool for fighting crime, but several lawmakers see it as a violation of Americans’ civil liberties. Texas legislators are poised to take up the issue once again in 2019. Full Story
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Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos — the state's chief elections officer — stepping down
Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Pablos in January 2017. The secretary of state is Texas' chief elections officer and a top adviser to the governor on issues related to the border. Full Story
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![Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos gavels in the 85th Legislature on January 10, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturns death sentence for inmate Kenneth Wayne Thomas
Thomas' conviction stands, but he is entitled to a new punishment hearing based on modern standards for assessing intellectual disabilities, the court ruled. Full Story
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![Exterior of the Texas Supreme court building in Austin on Oct. 17, 2018.]()
Credit: Rachel Zein for The Texas Tribune -
Why did the Texas AG get into — and then out of — a controversial lawsuit in his home county?
On Nov. 19, the Texas Attorney General's Office backed Plano in a heated lawsuit over the city's development plan. On Nov. 20, the agency said it had made a mistake. Full Story
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![The Municipal Center in Plano on Oct. 10, 2015.]()
Credit: Michael Barera/Creative Commons -
Watch: A conversation with Reps. Doc Anderson and Kyle Kacal
Watch our conversation in Waco with state Reps. Doc Anderson and Kyle Kacal, moderated by the Tribune's Evan Smith. Full Story
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Ken Paxton prosecutors to seek rehearing in pay decision
The court ruled Nov. 21 that six-figure payments for the prosecutors' work were outside legal limits. Full Story
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![Special prosecutors Brian Wice, left, and Kent Schaffer enter the Collin County Courthouse during a pre-trial motion hearing for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015, in McKinney.]()
Credit: Jae S. Lee/The Dallas Morning News -
San Antonio ISD is innovating to integrate its schools. Is it leaving some behind in the process?
To stem the exodus of students to private and charter schools, San Antonio ISD is redesigning dozens of schools that now offer popular educational programs. Families and educators at those schools are thrilled, but people at other schools feel left out. Full Story
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![Brian Sparks is the principal at Lamar Elementary School in San Antonio. He helps out with cafeteria duties on the first day of school.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune -
Dennis Bonnen, presumptive next Texas House speaker, backs removal of Confederate plaque
After Gov. Greg Abbott announced a Jan. 11 gathering of the State Preservation Board, which oversees the Capitol grounds, the likely next Texas House speaker applauded a "meeting to begin the process of removing” the controversial plaque. Full Story
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![The "Children of the Confederacy Creed" plaque has drawn controversy for its denial that preserving slavery was an underlying cause of the Civil War. Dec. 5, 2018.]()
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Three weeks after election, Texas Democrat concedes to state Rep. Morgan Meyer in tight race
Joanna Cattanach’s concession comes almost one month after the 2018 midterms. The Democrat had trailed state Rep. Morgan Meyer, R-Dallas, by roughly 200 votes and requested a recount nearly a week after the election. Full Story
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![Joanna Cattanach and state Rep. Morgan Meyer, R-Dallas.]()
Credit: Facebook campaign pages -
Texas has the highest number of uninsured kids in America, report finds
A Georgetown University Center for Children and Families report released Thursday found that Texas had about 835,000 uninsured children in 2017, an increase of 83,000 kids from the previous year. Full Story
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![A father holds his child in a public health clinic outside of McAllen, Texas.]()
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It took this Texas school district 48 years to desegregate. Now, some fear a return to the past.
Though students of color in Longview ISD still don’t have the same educational opportunities as white students, a federal judge dismissed a longstanding desegregation court order. Will the district succeed without it? Full Story
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![Longview beats rival Lufkin 35-28 for the season opener at Longview High School, August 31, 2018. Earlier this year the 1970 federal segregation order was lifted for Longview ISD.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
TribCast: The Beto O'Rourke 2020 boomlet; will Ken Paxton's prosecutors get paid?
On this week's TribCast, Patrick talks to Aman, Emma and Cassi about the 2020 presidential buzz surrounding Beto O'Rourke, the latest in the securities fraud case against Ken Paxton and the debate over a Confederate plaque at the state Capitol. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso, speaks to supporters after losing to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, in El Paso on Nov. 6, 2018.]()
Credit: Jorge Salgado for The Texas Tribune