As the Rio Grande runs dry, South Texas leaders look to new water supplies to sustain growth

Latest News

• Five district attorneys sue Ken Paxton to block new rule requiring them to hand over case records

  By Ayden Runnels May 16, 2025

  The DAs say in two lawsuits that a new rule requiring counties to hand over almost all documents the attorney general’s office requests violates state and federal law. Full Story 

• It’s not just about vouchers and school funding. Here are other Texas public education bills you should track.

  By Sofia Sorochinskaia Updated: May 16, 2025

  Student discipline, uncertified teachers and school bans on DEI and cellphones are some of the topics being debated at the Texas Legislature this session. Full Story 

• Texas businesses feel the pinch from Trump’s tariffs, Fed survey finds

  By Joshua Fechter May 16, 2025

  The higher taxes on imports will shrink Texas businesses’ profits and raise costs for consumers, business owners say. Full Story 

• Long-running lawsuit against Texas’ foster care system appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court

  By Eleanor Klibanoff May 16, 2025

  Lawyers representing foster children asked the high court to reinstate a contempt order against the state, and the judge who issued it. Full Story 

• SpaceX wins federal approval to launch more rockets in South Texas

  By Berenice Garcia May 16, 2025

  The federal approval comes after vote from residents — mostly SpaceX employees — to form a new city at the Rio Grande Valley beach. Full Story 

• Bill requiring air conditioning in all Texas prisons wins House approval

  By Stephen Simpson Updated: May 16, 2025

  House Bill 3006 would require the installation of climate control in state prison facilities by 2032. Full Story 

• Texas Senate panel advances bill that gives schools more latitude to discipline students

  By Sneha Dey Updated: May 16, 2025

  House Bill 6 is a response to reports of more violent classroom disruptions after the pandemic. It lowers the bar for when schools can discipline for the state’s homeless and youngest students. Full Story 

• Texas House votes to repeal ban on “homosexual conduct”

  By Eleanor Klibanoff Updated: May 16, 2025

  An unlikely group of Republican allies joined Democrats to approve repealing the ban, which has been unenforced since 2003. It is the first time the bill has made it to the House floor since it was first proposed decades ago. Full Story 

• Texas lawmakers push to enforce election transparency law after newsrooms found school districts failed to comply

  By Lexi Churchill, The Texas Tribune and ProPublica May 16, 2025

  ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found nearly three dozen school districts were missing required campaign finance reports online. Now lawmakers are pushing to impose steep penalties on local governments that fail to abide by the law. Full Story 

• Juvenile detention, imported shrimp, forever chemicals among hundreds of bills cut off by House deadline

  By Kayla Guo and Jasper Scherer May 16, 2025

  Some measures that made it through before midnight dealt with jail bonds, an unconstitutional ban on gay sex, and the liability of vaccine manufacturers. Full Story 

• Faculty and students blast Texas House panel for limiting testimony on bill that targets state universities

  By Jessica Priest May 15, 2025

  The House's higher education committee closed registration to testify on Senate Bill 37 less than half an hour after the hearing started. About 20 people said they didn't get to address lawmakers. Full Story 

• Texas Senate reveals $8 billion school funding plan as it seeks middle ground with House

  By Jaden Edison Updated: May 15, 2025

  The proposal would heavily invest in teacher pay and special education. It includes a modest $55 increase to schools' base per-student funding, significantly lower than what the House had sought. Full Story 

• Bill that would give the Texas Lottery “a two-year lease on life” gets Senate approval

  By Ayden Runnels May 15, 2025

  Senate Bill 3070 would allow the Texas Lottery’s games to continue under a new department, abolish the agency and create restrictions on ticket purchases. Full Story 

• Abbott wants to stop allowing federal benefits in Texas to be spent on unhealthy, high-processed food

  By Katharine Wilson May 15, 2025

  Texas’ governor joins other Republican governors making similar requests to ban purchases of candy and soda through the SNAP program. Full Story 

• Texas House bill allowing online voter registration got a public hearing — after missing deadline to become law

  By Natalia Contreras, Votebeat and The Texas Tribune May 15, 2025

  Texas is one of eight states without universal online voter registration. A lawmaker pushing for it says he’ll continue the fight. Full Story 

• The fastest-growing city in the U.S. is in Texas, and it’s not the one you’re thinking of

  By Joshua Fechter, Graphics by Yuriko Schumacher May 15, 2025

  With Princeton leading the Texas pack, the state continues to set the pace for the rest of the nation, with seven of the 15 fastest-growing cities. Full Story