A new bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers wants to highlight the state’s fragile water infrastructure
So far there has been an average of six boil-water notices a day across Texas in 2023. Full Story
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![Volunteers unload water during a water distribution and free flu vaccination event at the Holman Street Baptist Church in Houston on Nov. 28, 2022.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
Ken Paxton wants more power to prosecute election crimes. These bills in the Texas Legislature would give it to him.
Although no evidence of widespread voter fraud has been found, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been actively pursuing election-related crimes since he took office in 2015. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton gave a speech in the Senate chamber during his swearing-in ceremony on Jan. 10, 2023. This is Paxton's third term in the office.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Texas House speaker addresses prospects of anti-LGBTQ bills, gun legislation and casinos
At the start of his second term leading the lower chamber, Dade Phelan talked to reporters about several legislative issues that will be decided this year. Full Story
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![Speaker of the House Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, presides over the House during a session at the Capitol in Austin on Jan. 11, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
State agency that oversees Texas power grid needs more money to do its job, Sunset Commission finds
The Public Utility Commission has about 200 employees but needs more to handle shoring up the state power grid and tackling an expanded list of regulatory duties, according to the state Sunset Advisory Commission. Full Story
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![Electrical workers repair a power line in Austin on Feb. 18, 2021. Many Texas residents are still without power, and many don't have clean drinking water or working water at all.]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
Texas senators draw lots to determine how long their terms will be
After redistricting, the state constitution requires senators to draw lots to determine which half of the chamber will have four-year terms and which will have two-year terms. This keeps Senate district elections staggered every two years for the rest of the decade. Full Story
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![The Texas Senate Floor on June 8, 2022.]()
Credit: Kylie Cooper/The Texas Tribune -
Republican Texas House candidate’s election complaint tossed after he fails to pay fee
Mike May was one of more than 20 losing candidates in Harris County who filed election contests, citing reports of Election Day issues. Full Story
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![From left: Republican Mike May and Texas House District 135 incumbent Democrat Jon Rosenthal.]()
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Texas Senate votes to take up redistricting again
The redistricting process this year is mostly procedural and is not expected to produce very different results from the most recent process completed in 2021. Full Story
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![A woman waits for the Senate to gavel in from the Senate gallery on Aug. 10, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
As the share of white Texans continues to shrink, the Legislature remains mostly white and male
In the 2023 legislative session that convened Tuesday, 70% of lawmakers are men. More than half of the Senate and House members are white, and nearly half are white men. Full Story
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![Opening Day of the 2023 Texas Legislature at the Capitol in Austin on Jan. 10, 2023.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
In lawsuit, student claims six Texas medical schools are illegally considering race and sex in admissions
The plaintiff is represented by a group created by former Trump adviser Stephen Miller and former Texas Solicitor General Jonathan Mitchell, the architect of the state’s six-week abortion ban. Full Story
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![Trump administration senior advisor Stephen Miller speaks with fellow supporters as they gather in the ballroom at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida on Nov. 15, 2022.]()
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Look up your representatives in the Tribune’s elected officials directory
Look up information about every statewide elected official, every member of the Texas Legislature and every Texan in Congress and see who represents you. Full Story
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![The Texas House of Representatives on Jan. 13, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Legislature 101: Understanding the state government and how it passes laws
Here’s a rundown of how a bill becomes a law, how the Texas Legislature works and the power players who keep things moving under the Pink Dome. Full Story
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![A visitor of the House gallery listens to legislators speak during a debate on an abortion bill being considered on the House floor on May 5, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas Supreme Court will decide whether ERCOT should be immune from lawsuits sparked by deadly winter storm
Many people and insurers sued the Electric Reliability Council of Texas after the 2021 freeze. The nonprofit says it shouldn’t be liable. The state Supreme Court has a chance to weigh in. Full Story
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![The Supreme Court of Texas hears the final arguments concerning whether ERCOT has sovereign immunity, at the Supreme Court Building on the Capitol grounds in Austin on Jan. 9, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers will have $188.2 billion available for the next budget after record-breaking revenue growth
It’s far more money than legislators have ever had at their disposal, with an increase in available funds that dwarfs any previous jumps between cycles. It’s also more money than lawmakers can constitutionally spend. Full Story
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![Glenn Hegar, Texas comptroller of public accounts, speaks one-on-one with Danielle Moran, financial journalist for Bloomberg News, at The Texas Tribune Festival on Sept. 23, 2022 in Austin, TX.]()
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“I want to fight”: LGBTQ Texans ready for legislative session as GOP lawmakers target them in dozens of bills
Republicans are backing legislation targeting gender-affirming care for children, classroom lessons about sexuality and drag shows. Full Story
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![Austin Pride Parade attendees wave rainbow flags as they pass the Capitol building, on Aug. 20, 2022.]()
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Two Texas bills would restrict lessons about sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools
The legislation closely mirrors a Florida bill passed last year, dubbed by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, which detractors say would further isolate LGBTQ students and open teachers and school districts to legal risks. Full Story
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![Pride flags, stickers and masks, pronoun buttons and other merch are handed out at the AISD "Pride Out!" Party in the Park event at Eastside Early College High School in Austin on March 26, 2022.]()
Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune -
Watch: Four new Texas House members discuss immigration, property taxes and public school financing
They talked about their campaigns and journey to the Legislature, what has stood out to them so far about working in the House and what they hope to accomplish this session. Full Story
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State police terminate another officer for response to Uvalde mass shooting
Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw accused the suspended Texas Ranger of failing to perform his duty during the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School. Full Story
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![Texas Ranger Christopher Ryan Kindell outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde on May 24, 2022, when 21 people — 19 children and two adults — were killed by a gunman. Kindell was fired by DPS Thursday and said he plans to appeal.]()
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Newly elected Austin Mayor Kirk Watson hopes to find common ground to solve city’s housing crisis
The former state senator, returning for a second term as Austin’s mayor, spoke at a Texas Tribune event about how he can help reframe the conversation on affordability and the city’s relationship with state leadership. Full Story
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Texas Senate to ban reporters from chamber floor
The move to take news reporters off the Senate floor was implemented in 2021 as a COVID-19 precaution, but an official said Friday the measure would continue in the upcoming session. Full Story
![A woman waits for the Senate to gavel in from the Senate gallery on Aug. 10, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Texas AG Ken Paxton sues Biden administration over enforcement of “public charge” law for immigrants
Paxton has sued the Biden administration a dozen times over its immigration policies. Most of those lawsuits have been filed in Trump-appointed judges’ courts. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton walks to a news interview 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.]()
Credit: Eric Lee for The Texas Tribune