Most Texas THC products remain legal after GOP leaders fail to break legislative impasse
Legislators couldn’t reach a last-minute deal to tighten regulations on consumable hemp products. Full Story
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![Hemp plants are seen at Caprock Family Farms, Friday, May 23, 2025, in Lubbock.]()
Credit: Annie Rice for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Legislature ends second special session marked by new political maps, slew of conservative wins
Between cracking down on abortion pills and restricting transgender restroom use, lawmakers also tackled flood safety and the STAAR test. Left untouched: Texas’ hemp industry. Full Story
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![House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, oversees roll call on the House floor in Austin on Sept. 3, 2025.]()
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Texas Legislature approves stiff penalties, fundraising limits for lawmakers who leave state to block bills
House members who freeze future legislation by fleeing Texas will face steeper fines, loss of seniority and committee posts, and limits on political fundraising. Full Story
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![Members of the Texas House Democratic Caucus at a press conference at IBEW Local 701 in Warrenville, Ill., on Aug. 4, 2025.]()
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Texas kids’ camps must remove cabins from floodplains, operate warning systems under new laws
The parents of children who died at Camp Mystic advocated for the new legislation, which now heads to Gov. Greg Abbott for his signature. Full Story
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![Damaged cabins seen along the river in Ingram on Monday July7, 2025.]()
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Bill shielding some police complaints from public again dies in Texas House
The measure failed after the two chambers disagreed on whether to include a carveout that would have let parents access records from the 2022 Uvalde school shooting. Full Story
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![El Paso police block off Leavell Avenue by Dyer Street in Northeast El Paso, Texas, in the Logan Heights neighborhood as they investigate a shooting on Thursday, April 17, 2025. A man was found dead after police officers responded to the shooting.]()
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Texas sued over its lab-grown meat ban
Two California-based companies accuse the state of government overreach for banning the sale of their products for the next two years. Full Story
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![Roy Mills checks on the cattle at J&R Mills Family Farms, on Wednesday February 26, 2025, in Nacogdoches County.]()
Credit: Michael Cavazos for The Texas Tribune -
Corpus Christi’s water supply is uncertain after City Council ends water treatment plans
Years of blundering and project delays have pushed the South Texas city to the brink of crisis as drought bears down and industrial water use grows. Full Story
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![Corpus Christi Ship Channel on April 17, 2022.]()
Credit: Pu Ying Huang/The Texas Tribune -
Texas suburbs resist new state law allowing more apartments
Suburban officials in the Dallas-Fort Worth region have enacted rules aimed at curtailing a sweeping new state law to allow more apartments. Full Story
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![A family walks through a neighborhood in Irving on Aug. 1, 2024.]()
Credit: Ben Torres for The Texas Tribune -
Texas says it’s strict on oil field emissions. New data shows it’s not.
Texas’ rubber-stamp system allows drillers to release vast amounts of natural gas into the atmosphere. Full Story
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![A flare stack burning excess gas in Catarina, Texas on Mon, May 20, 2025.]()
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Texas bans the sale of THC vape pens
The law does not specifically ban the possession of THC vape pens, but those who sell them face up to a year in jail and a $4,000 penalty. Full Story
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![A disposable vape with resin from cannabis is pictured on Monday, July 21, 2025, at Smoke ATX off of West Slaughter Lane in Austin. The measure banning vapes containing cannabinoids was tacked on to another Texas bill prohibiting e-cigarettes disguised as pens, highlighters, smartphones or other products commonly seen in schools.]()
Credit: Michael Minasi/KUT News -
Rep. Alma Allen, longtime Houston Democratic lawmaker, to retire from Texas House
Allen, known for her focus on public education issues, announced her retirement after 20 years in the House. She endorsed her son, Lawrence Allen Jr., to succeed her. Full Story
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![State Rep. Alma Allen, D-Houston, at a press conference with fellow Texas Legislature Black Caucus members urging the passage of the CROWN act, prohibiting discrimination against hairstyles, in the state Capitol on Apr. 13, 2023.]()
Credit: Leila Saidane/The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers scrap new measure allowing late voter registration changes
Lawmakers passed a bill earlier this year allowing voters to update their address at the polls and immediately vote on elections tied to that new residence, as long as the move was within the county. This bill walks it back. Full Story
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![Voters enter the polling place on Election Day at the Hays County Government Center in San Marcos on Nov. 2, 2021.]()
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Texas AG Ken Paxton encourages students to recite Lord’s Prayer in latest test of church-state separation
The endorsement comes as Texas elected officials push for more Christianity in public life and as Paxton’s office fights a legal challenge to religion in education. Full Story
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![Ken Paxton stands with attorneys Tony Buzbee and Mitch Little during prayer on the ninth day of then-suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial at the state Capitol in Austin on Sept. 15, 2023.]()
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TribCast: Sid Miller’s THC entanglements
In this week’s episode, Matthew and Eleanor speak with Texas Tribune reporter Kate McGee about her recent investigative reporting in to Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and his staff. Full Story
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![Commissioner of Agriculture Sid Miller speaks during a Make America Great Rally on Aug. 1, 2024, at the Burleson County Expo Center in Caldwell.]()
Credit: Olivia Anderson/The Texas Tribune -
Some Texas counties replace touchscreen voting machines after Trump order
Collin, Bastrop and Williamson counties say they’re proactively changing their voting procedures and equipment following a federal attempt to limit barcodes or QR codes on paper ballots. Full Story
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![Voters head to the polls on the last day of early voting in Collin County on Oct. 30, 2020.]()
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Hoping to curb roadside deaths, TxDOT is helping stranded drivers in West Texas
The one-year experiment in Midland and Ector counties is based on similar efforts in larger cities. A nonprofit backed by oil companies and Midland County are helping pay for it. Full Story
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![Motorists drive along Interstate 20 Thursday, June 27, 2024, in Odessa.]()
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In rapidly diversifying Tarrant County, a summer of GOP redistricting hits Black and Latino representation
Despite explosive growth turning Tarrant into a racially diverse swing county, two new political maps will leave it with whiter, more Republican representation. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, outside the Eastside YMCA he helped bring about with federal funding, on Aug. 22, 2025. Under the newly-approved redistricting map passed by the Texas Legislature, his congressional district will become majority-white with a majority-Republican electorate.]()
Credit: Desiree Rios for The Texas Tribune -
As Guatemalan kids sit in planes in Texas, judge orders they stay in the U.S., for now
Hours before the hastily scheduled court hearing, about 50 children were escorted to planes at Harlingen’s Valley International Airport, a hub for deportation flights. Full Story
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![People wait for loved ones from Guatemala deported from the United States outside La Aurora International Airport, in Guatemala City on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025.]()
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Jodey Arrington, Brandon Creighton being considered for Texas Tech System’s top job
Arrington represents Lubbock in Congress. Creighton is a longtime state lawmaker. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Lubbock, left, and state Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe.]()
Credit: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via REUTERS, Juan Figueroa/The Texas Tribune -
Kerr County youth camps appeal to Dan Patrick on proposed floodplain restrictions
Camp Waldemar, Vista Camps and Camp Stewart ask the lieutenant governor for an expert to determine where cabins are located, want financial aid if pending camp safety bills pass. Full Story
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![Stuffed animals sit in a windowsill at Camp Mystic after a deadly flooding in Kerr County, Texas, on July 5, 2025.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Sergio Flores