Texas bill penalizing cities and counties for progressive policies misses House deadline
Senate Bill 2858 would have expanded a sweeping state law intended to erode the authority of the state’s major urban areas. Full Story
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![The Austin downtown skyline on Sept. 22. 2022.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Texas oil companies face new deadlines to plug inactive wells
Senate Bill 1150, which is on its way to Gov. Greg Abbott, is a rare example of the Texas Legislature regulating the state’s oil and gas industry. Full Story
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![A plugged well on the Scouras’ property in Lee County on July 12, 2021. The Scourases are two of many Lee County residents whose water sources have dried up as a result of Vista Ridge Pipeline Project.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
An East Texas community grapples with school closures as education options shift
The schools were closed last week after years of declining enrollment. The school communities said increased choices were to blame. Full Story
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![Starla Hill, principal at Coston Elementary, greets visitors Tuesday, May 6, 2025, in Lufkin, Texas. Lufkin Independent School District will be closing the campus at the end of the school year in an effort to reduce spending.]()
Credit: Joel Andrews for the Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmaker abruptly spiked his bill to punish cities that don’t deal with homeless encampments
The bill would have withheld some tax dollars from cities that did not comply with state law. Full Story
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![A tent stands in a field after being removed from a homeless encampment underneath Interstate Highway 45 in Dallas, Texas on Friday, July 22, 2022.]()
Credit: Emil Lippe for The Texas Tribune -
New limits for personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits may become a reality in Texas
The House made changes to the proposal that leave open ways for victims to be compensated beyond medical bills. Full Story
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![An ambulance is parked at Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas
at Austin in 2018.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune -
$8.5 billion school funding package passes Texas Senate
The legislation includes new pots of money for teacher raises and other school costs like insurance and transportation. It now heads to the House, where leaders say it will pass. Full Story
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![After out loud reading time, Dana Altamirano discusses the book they just read as a group with her fourth grade students at West Avenue Elementary in Waco on April 5, 2024.]()
Credit: Greta Díaz González Vázquez/The Texas Tribune -
Senators soften student discipline bill, giving Texas schools more flexibility
The Texas Senate had previously proposed more severe consequences in the bill. Full Story
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![Nimitz Middle School students gather in the hallway outside of a classroom as they wait for a teacher between periods Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023 in Odessa.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
It’s “Texas Time”: Legislature OKs permanent daylight saving time, but Congress must also act
Federal action would be needed to make the change legal. Lawmakers at both the state and federal levels have debated the question for decades. Full Story
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![Sunrise over the historic Alamo in San Antonio.]()
Credit: Robin Jerstad for The Texas Tribune -
Prayer period in schools backed by Texas Legislature
A House vote showed broad support for the measure that would let districts set aside time for prayer or religious study. Full Story
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![A cross from a rosary, on Nov. 26, 2019.]()
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Texas Legislature on verge of completely banning THC products after key House vote
The House approved the ban after previously considering proposals to preserve the industry by tightening regulations. Full Story
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![Products containing THC sit at a store in Austin, Texas on May 5, 2025.]()
Credit: Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribune -
Major energy consumers will face new limits if Texas House approves proposal
The legislation would give ERCOT the ability to turn off power to major consumers in an emergency. Full Story
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![Construction workers build a portable building that will be used to house computers cooled by immersion technology on Oct. 22, 2021.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez/The Texas Tribune -
Texas Legislature moves to build Texas Life Memorial on Capitol grounds
Approval of the monument comes as the lower chamber prepares to debate the “Life of the Mother Act” bill later this week. Full Story
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![A rendering of the National Life Monument, which will be installed facing the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C. Replicas are planned for all 50 states.]()
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TribCast: Higher education and the battle for Texas universities
The gang talks about the Texas Legislature’s efforts to rein in universities, and all the changes at the top. Full Story
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![A student walks across the campus at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville on Aug. 20, 2020.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
Vacant offices, strip malls may get new life as housing in Texas’ largest cities
The bill is part of a suite of GOP proposals aimed at curbing the state’s high housing costs — chiefly by allowing more homes to be built. Full Story
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![Empty real estate in downtown Brownwood on Sep 9, 2020.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Another big tax cut for Texas homeowners appears imminent
Providing bigger tax breaks to homeowners is a key component of a deal brokered by Republicans in the Texas Legislature to lower tax bills for Texans. Full Story
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![A farmhouse on U.S. Highway 190 in Milam Co. on March 16, 2025.]()
Credit: Montinique Monroe for The Texas Tribune -
The 2025 Texas Legislature is over. See how far some of the most consequential bills made it.
Get up to date on the status of the session’s major bills, including some on their way to the governor’s desk. Full Story
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![Four squares with four icons: the top left icon is of the Texas capitol with a yellow question mark over it, the top right icon is of a bill with with a yellow question mark over it, the bottom left icon is of the Texas capitol with a red checkmark over it and the bottom right icon is of a bill with a green checkmark over it.]()
Credit: Illustration by Ben Hasson -
Why a Central Texas farmer is on a one-man mission to stop renewable energy
The Texas Legislature is considering a proposal that would add restrictions on renewable energy expansion. Full Story
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![Robert Fleming watches over his cattle as they feed in a pasture that borders the Blevins solar project on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Blevins. Fleming is concerned that the solar development could damage the environment, his cattle and human health.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers want penalties for local governments’ campaign finance posting failures
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
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![Republican state Rep. Carl Tepper has issued a new bill to strengthen a law that requires local governments to post campaign finance reports online, citing ProPublica and The Texas Tribune’s reporting.]()
Credit: Spencer Selvidge for The Texas Tribune -
Texas House votes to repeal ban on “homosexual conduct”
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
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![Activists and members of Austin's LGBTQ community gather on the steps of the capitol to celebrate the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall riots. These riots signify a key moment in the birth of the modern LGBT movement in America. June 28, 2017.]()
Credit: Austin Price for The Texas Tribune -
Proposal to enhance Texas’ pioneering junk science law approved by Texas House
Last year, lawmakers waded into a dramatic feud over the case of death row inmate Robert Roberson, seen as the embodiment of the failures of Texas’ junk science law. Full Story
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![Former Detective Brian Wharton testifies during a Criminal Jurisprudence hearing on death row inmate Robert Roberson on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024 in Austin. Wharton was an investigator in the case of the death of Nikki Roberson and has expressed his doubts of Roberson's guilt and agrees with stopping his execution. With his scheduled execution drawing closer, a hearing debating the certainty of Roberson's guilt and there is a bipartisan push to stay his execution. Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune