Texas is set to improve in-person and mail-in voting for people with disabilities
Voters with disabilities have been pushing for more accessibility for years. This legislative session two bills gained bipartisan support. Full Story
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![Chase Bearden, 45, of Harlingen, the deputy executive director of The Coalition of Texans with Disabilities, poses for a portrait in his office in Austin on June 8, 2023. “Disability doesn’t discriminate,” Bearden said. “We want everybody to be able to vote independently.”]()
Credit: Joe Timmerman/The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers pull funding for child ID kits after investigation finds little evidence of their effectiveness
Lawmakers were slated to spend millions of taxpayer dollars for the kits but changed course after a series of revelations in a ProPublica and Texas Tribune investigation. Full Story
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Credit: Illustrations by Lauren Crow for The Texas Tribune and ProPublica -
After a week’s delay, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick signs bill to increase transparency in public records law
Patrick said he had always intended to sign the measure but pulled it aside in response to the House playing “games” at the end of the regular session. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick discusses property tax cuts for homeowners during a media briefing at the Texas Capitol on Tuesday, June 6, in Austin, Texas.]()
Credit: Joe Timmerman/The Texas Tribune -
Texas bill to increase transparency in public records law left in limbo despite passing Legislature
The bill would close a long-standing loophole in state law that allows officials to withhold law enforcement records if no one was convicted in a case. The measure was the only bill sent to the Senate that did not get signed and sent to the governor. Full Story
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![From left: Lt. Gov Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan.]()
Credit: The Texas Tribune -
With no deal on property taxes in sight, Abbott hints at multiple special sessions
The governor stands behind his support of the Texas House tax plan despite Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s insistence that the Senate has a better deal for homeowners. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks about the recent 88th Legislative Session to an audience at the Texas Public Policy Foundation offices in Austin, on June 2, 2023. Abbott recounted policy victories in regards to fentanyl and the border crisis, as well as limiting gender affirming care and banning DEI practices in higher education. Abbott ended the event by promising to call a special session for school choice, after the current special session for property tax resolves.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Texas Republicans are fighting over how to split $12.3 billion in property tax breaks between homeowners and businesses
Gov. Greg Abbott and House Speaker Dade Phelan back a plan that spreads property tax relief among all landowners, while Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s proposal would give homeowners a bigger boost than businesses. Full Story
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![A number of homes an Austin's Mueller development have added solar panels, thanks to hefty local and federal incentives.]()
Credit: Spencer Selvidge for The Texas Tribune -
Tension over property taxes produces rare public clash between Dan Patrick, Greg Abbott
Always happy to castigate the Texas House, Patrick breaks form to criticize the governor as misinformed and unsympathetic toward homeowners. Full Story
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![From left: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Gov. Greg Abbott, and Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan.]()
Credit: The Texas Tribune -
Abbott backs Phelan’s property tax cut plan, spurring ire from Patrick
The House passed a bill without Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s preferred increase to homestead exemptions — then abruptly adjourned for the special session. That basically tells the Senate to take the House bill Gov. Greg Abbott backs or leave it. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick recaps the 88th Legislative Session with Sherry Sylvester, Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, at TPPF Headquarters in downtown Austin, on May 30, 2023.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
The regular Texas legislative session started with a record budget surplus and ended with an impeached attorney general
The 2023 legislative session started with a $32.7 billion surplus. It was mired in Republican infighting and multiple scandals. Then, the House impeached the state’s attorney general. Full Story
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![House Speaker Dade Phelan gavels out the 88th session Sine Die on May 29, 2023.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Ken Paxton impeachment fight exposes deep fissures among Texas Republicans
As the 88th Legislative Session came to a close, longstanding divisions between traditional conservatives and party’s far right came into focus. Full Story
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![From left: State Reps. Steve Toth, R-The Woodlands, Eddie Morales, Jr., D-Eagle Pass, and Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, wait as Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington, speaks at the back mike as the impeachment proceedings against Ken Paxton are debated on May 27, 2023.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers strike deal to raise the punishment for illegal voting to a felony
The legislation was a priority for Republican leadership. But it does not include a key provision supported by the Senate that would have allowed prosecutors to charge a voter who’d unintentionally cast an illegal ballot. Full Story
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![People cast their ballots at the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center in Houston on Nov. 8, 2022.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Legislature averts $100 million consequences of 2021 law requiring nonexistent election technology
Lawmakers voted unanimously to reverse the 2021 provision that would have decertified equipment that counties use to count votes. Full Story
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![A bipartisan testing crew uses voting machines and tabulators during a state-mandated logic and accuracy test at the Hays County Government building in San Marcos on Sept. 21, 2022.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Effort to impeach Ken Paxton, led by fellow Republicans, sets off political earthquake in Texas
Republicans have chosen to remain largely silent during years of alleged misconduct and lawbreaking by the attorney general. Now they will have to take a public stand. Full Story
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![Opening Day action of the 88th Texas Legislature at the Texas Capitol showing Attorney General Ken Paxton conferring with Gov. Greg Abbott outside the Senate chamber before his swearing in ceremony in Jan. 10, 2023.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate again approves increasing penalty for illegal voting to a felony, regardless of intent
The House and Senate bills had differed on whether someone should be punished for voting by mistake. Now the two chambers must reach an agreement. Full Story
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![Voting on the Texas A&M International University campus on Nov. 8, 2024.]()
Credit: Jessica Nicole Rodriguez for The Texas Tribune -
UT-Austin tried to hire a game theorist for its new free-enterprise think tank. He turned down the job because of fights over tenure.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wants to eliminate tenure, but his attempts have impacted the institute he helped create. Full Story
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![The University of Texas at Austin campus.]()
Credit: Tamir Kalifa for The Texas Tribune -
Gun safety advocates see signs of progress in first session after Uvalde shooting even though raise-the-age bill stalled
Emotions often ran high over a proposal to limit young adults’ access to some firearms. Lawmakers have largely prioritized school safety measures, but there was still progress for some gun-related legislation. Full Story
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![Siblings of Xavier Lopez play quietly while the families of the victims of the Uvalde school shooting gather to attend a press conference held by state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, where he introduced four new bills that will address qualified immunity for police officers, allow victims to sue the State of Texas, repeal the protection of the Lawful Commerce in Arms act, and create a permanent compensation fund for victims of school gun violence, at the state Capitol in Austin on Jan. 24, 2023.]()
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Future of university tenure in Texas likely will be decided in last-minute negotiations
The Texas Senate wants to ban tenure. The House gave initial approval Monday to a bill that would instead enshrine tenure policies in state law. After final passage, the two chambers have a week left to come to a compromise. Full Story
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![Signage outside the student union at the University of North Texas campus in Denton on May 08, 2020.]()
Credit: Ben Torres for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate again advances proposed restrictions on lessons about gender identity and sexual orientation
For the third time, the Senate is pushing a proposal critics say will ignore the existence of LGBTQ people in every grade level. Two other bills that contained similar language missed key legislative deadlines. Full Story
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![Students sit in art class at Lufkin High School in Lufkin, Texas, U.S., on Friday, January 27, 2023. Public school officials in rural areas like Lufkin face budget challenges because of proposed school choice legislation, which provides taxpayer-funded alternatives to sending a child to a local public school.]()
Credit: Callaghan O'Hare for The Texas Tribune -
Abbott, Patrick, Phelan race to negotiate priority issues as deadlines loom
Seeking to avoid a special session, the state leaders discuss school choice, property taxes and grid reform. Full Story
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![Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in the governor's office on Monday, May 22, 2023.]()
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As Texas Republican senators march in lockstep, Robert Nichols is willing to break away
Whether it’s supporting a rape exception for abortion or opposing school choice, Nichols has gone his own way on certain GOP priorities. Full Story
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![State Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, on the Senate floor on April 9, 2019.]()
Credit: Juan Figueroa/The Texas Tribune