The latest state government news from The Texas Tribune.
What voters hear from the offices of the top Texas officeholders often sounds identical to what they’re hearing from the incumbents’ campaigns. It’s hard to tell their government work from their political work. Full Story
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A more than 200-page report by Texas’ environmental agency found that the majority of pollution emitted by industrial facilities during storms occurs at a time when the state’s air monitors are offline. Full Story
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She moves from the Tribune’s editorial team to our audience team, where she will take charge of our flagship email newsletter, The Brief. Full Story
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A Texas attorney general is a civil lawyer, mostly concerned with regulatory, tax and administrative law. But to listen to the candidates, you’d think the state’s top lawyer was some kind of cop. Full Story
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Paxton’s attack ads suggest that he sees Gohmert as a bigger threat than the other two Republicans in the race — Land Commissioner George P. Bush and former state Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman. Full Story
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A three-judge federal panel is hearing arguments in a lawsuit claiming that Texas Republicans violated the Voting Rights Act when they redrew state Senate District 10 in Tarrant County to lessen Black and Hispanic voting power. Full Story
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Republicans from Gov. Greg Abbott on down are pressuring the all-GOP Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to reverse a December ruling that gutted the attorney general’s power to go after election cases on his own. Full Story
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The GOP-backed voting law — passed under the banner of ensuring election integrity — banned local election officials from sending out unsolicited mail-in ballot applications. But Crenshaw and other politicians can still do it. Full Story
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Abbott promises a “parental bill of rights” amendment to the Texas Constitution. Current education code already provides an array of parent protections when it comes to schools. Full Story
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Mike Collier, Carla Brailey and Michelle Beckley are facing off for the Democratic nomination in the lieutenant governor race. Financially, the three candidates are outmatched by Dan Patrick’s $25 million war chest. Full Story
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Paxton’s campaign admitted last week that it was having problems trying to report all his latest donor data and would file an amended report — but as of Tuesday, it had yet to do so. Full Story
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The Texas Tribune’s database of Texas state employees’ compensation is updated to represent salaries as of Jan. 1. It includes detailed data for the 112 agencies in state government and positions at each of those agencies. Full Story
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One of Texas’ most respected news leaders, Andy will be involved in all decisions involving hiring, advancement and compensation, and also oversee our fellowships program and our source diversity project. Full Story
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On Wednesday, the FBI raided the nine-term congressman’s home in Laredo. It could not come at a worse time for Cuellar, who is in the fight of his political life ahead of the Democratic primary on March 1. Full Story
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Last week, the Travis County district attorney’s office gave Paxton four days to turn over communications requested by the state’s largest newspapers or face a lawsuit. Full Story
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Business people running elections might try to remove obstacles to make everything smooth and secure for voters. But a kink in the supply chain for voter registration forms in Texas highlights a venerable distinction: Government doesn't run like a business. Full Story
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The federal infrastructure bill’s passage renewed hopes that Texas would finally get a coastal storm barrier. But Galveston and Houston could still get hit by a hurricane before it is built. Full Story
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The new development ends the immediate threat that up to 400,000 customers could lose power, but the underlying financial dispute between two energy giants stemming from last February's winter storm remains unresolved. Full Story
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Don Huffines said he wouldn’t take any action against the campaign staffer, who once said “we’re nearing the demographic cliff." Full Story
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Controlled burns, used to prevent catastrophic wildfires, are typically safe and rarely get out of control. Experts warn that burns gone awry can scare residents and compromise the critical fire management tool. Full Story
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