Gov. Greg Abbott calls for five-year mandatory sentence for human smugglers
Abbott is making his pitch ahead of the upcoming legislative session. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at a press conference with nine other governors regarding the southern border at Anzalduas Park in Mission on Oct. 6, 2021.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Why Texas is unlikely to let voters decide on abortion access
A Texas Democrat is proposing a constitutional amendment stopping future abortion restrictions. Voters would have to approve it — but Republican lawmakers aren’t likely to put it in front of them. Full Story
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![Thousands of people walk in a pro-abortion protest march around downtown San Antonio on June 24, 2022.]()
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Delayed Texas maternal mortality report to be released next week, state says
Due in September, the report was delayed to allow a full review of 2019 cases, the state health agency said. That review didn’t change the findings. Full Story
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![Sable Moya holds her son, Luke, in their home in McAllen, Texas.]()
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Texas drag shows become a right-wing target amid rising extremism
LGBTQ Texans say lawmakers and right-wing figures are misrepresenting what happens at all-ages performances to propagate hate and violence against queer people. Full Story
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![Counter-protesters form a barricade outside of a transgender storytelling event as Sara Gonzales of Defend our Kids Texas chants “there are only two genders,” in Denton, on Nov. 19. 2022.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Texas state court throws out lawsuit against doctor who violated abortion law
The court’s ruling does not overturn the 2021 law, which banned abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. It also does not impact the near-total ban on abortion that went into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Full Story
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![Dr. Alan Braid, abortion provider and owner of Alamo Women’s Reproductive Services in San Antonio, sits in his office for a portrait on June 14, 2022.]()
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Texas hits 1,000 days under Greg Abbott’s public health disaster as a new COVID-19 wave and legislative session loom
After more than 92,000 deaths and 8 million reported COVID-19 cases in Texas, the state remains one of less than a dozen still under a statewide disaster or public health emergency. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott declares a state of disaster in Texas amid new cases of COVID-19 in the state on March 13, 2020, at the state capitol.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Texas House Democratic Caucus elects Trey Martinez Fischer as its new chair
Martinez Fischer replaces Rep. Chris Turner of Grand Prairie, who has led the caucus since 2017 and did not seek reelection. Full Story
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![State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, speaks at a press conference at Mt. Zion Baptist Church near the state Capitol in Austin after Democrats broke quorum in opposition to Senate Bill 7, a sweeping GOP voting bill. May 30, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
A boil-water notice in Houston made national news. In rural Texas, it’s a way of life.
Rural communities face compounding reasons they can’t improve their water infrastructure, including inflation and a lack of human resources. Full Story
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![David Wilshusen, 69, stands outside his home in Houston County, Texas on on Wednesday, November 30, 2022. (Emil Lippe for The Texas Tribune)]()
Credit: Emil Lippe for The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott says he will nominate retiring state Sen. Jane Nelson to be secretary of state
Nelson planned to retire from the Senate after 30 years in office. But her nomination will give Abbott a clearer path to having his nominee confirmed by the Senate after his last three have gone unconfirmed. Full Story
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![Then-state Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, in the Senate on May 27, 2019.]()
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Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick diverge ahead of the legislative session on property taxes, power grid
The dueling approaches are coming into focus as lawmakers prepare to return to Austin for the session which begins Jan. 10. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick at a joint press conference on the lawn of the Governor’s Mansion on Jan. 9, 2019. Newly-elected House Speaker Dennis Bonnen was also present.]()
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Texas lawmakers ask state agency to delay power market redesign until after 2023 legislative session
In a Monday committee hearing, lawmakers questioned whether a Public Utility Commission proposal to redesign Texas’ electricity market would lead to the building of more natural-gas-fired power plants. Regulators say it would. Full Story
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![From left: Peter Lake, chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas and Brad Jones, interim president and CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), speak at a press conference about the grid on May 17, 2022.]()
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John Scott, Texas’ top elections official, to step down at end of year
Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Scott as secretary of state in October 2021, and he served in an interim capacity pending Senate confirmation. He is stepping down right before the legislative session, in which his appointment would have come up for debate. Full Story
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![John Scott speaks to a reporter during an interview inside his office at the Texas State Capitol on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021 in Austin, TX. Scott was appointed last week by Texas Governor Greg Abbott and his appointment has been criticized by some after Scott's role in representing the Trump administration in a lawsuit challenging the 2020 election results. Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
Republican Caucus backs Dade Phelan as Texas House speaker
Republican members of the Texas House endorsed Phelan’s bid for reelection in a nonbinding vote on Saturday. An official vote from the entire Texas House will take place in January. Full Story
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![Newly-elected House Speaker Dade Phelan speaks to the House of Representatives during opening ceremonies as the 2021 legislative session begins. Jan. 12, 2021.]()
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Photos: “We don’t feel safe here.” A transgender teen and their family flee Texas.
Texas policies targeting access to health care for transgender youth forced one family to leave the state. Full Story
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![Heather Crawford embraces Cass as they struggle through a panic attack while packing their room to move to Minnesota from their home Austin, TX on August 19, 2022.]()
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To combat opioid overdoses, Gov. Greg Abbott says he supports decriminalizing fentanyl testing strips
The announcement signals a shift in Abbott’s approach to fighting the opioid epidemic. He had previously pushed back against bills calling for the decriminalization of fentanyl testing strips. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during at Texas Rally for Life at the Texas Capitol on Jan. 22, 2022.]()
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A growing number of Texas rural counties are declaring local immigration “disasters”
The latest county to make a disaster declaration is an eight-hour drive away from the Texas-Mexico border, but local officials there say they’re under “invasion.” Full Story
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![Thousands of young cedar trees line rolling hills near Sulphur Springs. They were planted by the energy company, Luminant, as part of a beautification effort along where it once operated a coal mine. Nearby on the same site they left a mound of coal mine waste containing toxic materials that towers over the homes and businesses it shares property lines with.]()
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Texas lawmakers have a $27 billion surplus, but a spending cap complicates their goal of lowering property taxes
Texas homeowners have some of the highest property tax bills in the nation, a byproduct of the state’s reliance on such taxes to help pay for public schools and the state’s lack of an income tax. Full Story
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Republican requests recount after loss in battleground race for state Senate seat in South Texas
Adam Hinojosa finished 659 votes behind Democrat Morgan LaMantia in a race that garnered 175,415 total votes. Full Story
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![From left: Adam Hinojosa and Morgan LaMantia. Hinojosa, Republican candidate for Texas Senate District 27, has asked for a recount against LaMantia, his Democratic opponent.]()
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Texas grid still vulnerable to extreme winter weather, ERCOT estimate shows
Changes to Texas’ power grid have improved ERCOT’s ability to keep power flowing during major winter storms, but in an extreme scenario, the grid could still face rolling blackouts, a seasonal assessment shows. 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.]()
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Houston officials say state made the call on water boil notice
For more than 24 hours, nearly everyone in the nation’s fourth-most-populous city had been asked to boil water after a power outage at a water treatment plant Sunday. Full Story
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![Isaiah Chirip helps push a pallet of bottled 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
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