What Texas lawmakers did after the state’s largest wildfire
A package of bills aims to better prepare the state to prevent and fight wildfires. Full Story
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![The Rolling Pines Fire blazes through Bastrop State Park on Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers voted to ban consumable THC products. Will Gov. Greg Abbott sign — or veto — the bill?
Abbott faces pressure from both sides of the aisle. The prohibition was a priority for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, but some hemp farmers and veterans want it killed. Full Story
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![Displaying boxes of petitions, members of the Texas Hemp Business Council hold a press conference calling for Gov. Greg Abbott to veto SB 3, a bill which would ban THC products, at the Texas Capitol on June 2, 2025.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
In final act, Texas Legislature boosts judges’ pay and lawmaker pensions
House and Senate members agreed that judges needed a pay raise. But they spent the final hours of the legislative session debating whether Texas lawmakers should also benefit from the boost. Full Story
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![State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, answers questions from state Rep. Rafael Anchía, D-Dallas, regarding a conference committee report which would raise the base pay for Texas judges.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
School vouchers, THC ban, property tax cuts: Here’s what Texas lawmakers did in the 2025 regular session
The Legislature wrapped up without the same drama that defined the end of the last two sessions, with state GOP leaders checking off nearly everything on their to-do lists. Full Story
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![State Rep. Ann Johnson, D-Houston, looks out the window from the Texas House of Representatives chamber as the lawmakers debate on bills at the Texas Capitol, on Monday, May 26, 2025.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Bills aimed at studying, restricting “forever chemicals” in Texas fail
Texas lawmakers bypassed bills that would have restricted “forever chemicals” in sewage sludge, studied health impacts and banned some uses of PFAS-laced firefighting foams. Full Story
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![Cattle grazing in Grandview, Texas on Aug. 5, 2024.]()
Credit: Azul Sordo for The Texas Tribune -
How RFK Jr., Democrats and Republicans found common ground over food labels in Texas
Texas is poised to lead the country in an initiative to inform denizens of what’s in their food. Food industry experts say it’s going too far. Full Story
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![A woman pushes her shopping cart down an aisle at a Brookshire Brothers grocery store in Buffalo, Texas, on June 29, 2023. According to clients of The Lord’s Pantry of Leon County, Brookshire Brothers is the only grocery store in the county which they describe as a food desert.]()
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Bill requiring that Texas sheriffs work with federal immigration authorities heads to governor’s desk
Senate Bill 8 would further expand the state’s role in enforcing immigration laws, long the sole jurisdiction of the federal government. Full Story
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![U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents escort detained migrants off a bus in Laredo on June 15, 2022.]()
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Texas lawmakers to allow smaller homes on smaller lots
State legislators passed an array of bills this year aimed at reining in the state’s high home prices and rents. Full Story
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![Homes under construction in the Mueller neighborhood in East Austin on Oct. 7, 2023.]()
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Bill to scrap STAAR test dies in the Texas Legislature
The state standardized test has long been criticized for taking instructional time away from teachers and putting unnecessary pressure on students. Full Story
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![STAAR themed decorations adorn the hallways of Wharton Elementary School in Wharton on April 21, 2018.]()
Credit: Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Legislature gives new city of Starbase authority to shut down local beach for SpaceX launches
Local organizations strongly opposed the measure, hosting phone banking events to urge lawmakers to vote against the bill. Full Story
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![A visitor stands on a dune at Boca Chica Beach near the SpaceX launch site on Aug. 8, 2024.]()
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Long-awaited raise for Texas judges in limbo over legislative pension clash
A bill to increase judicial salaries from $140,000 to $175,000 a year stalled amid a disagreement over lawmakers’ own retirement benefits. Full Story
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![Members of the Texas House of Representatives during their budget discussion on April 10, 2025.]()
Credit: Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribune -
Texas attorney general won’t get new powers to prosecute election crimes after legislative deadlock
Ken Paxton sought more power for his office to take up election cases. But lawmakers haven’t agreed on a measure that would give it to him. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks to the media on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, during a press conference following arguments in the case “Free Speech Coalition, Inc., et al. v. Ken Paxton, Attorney General of Texas,” at the Supreme Court of the United States in Washington, D.C.]()
Credit: Luke Johnson for The Texas Tribune -
Democrats lash out as Legislature bans school clubs that support gay teens
Tensions flared and the debate turned personal as Republicans said their bill empowered parents and denied predictions that the ban will endanger children. Full Story
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![Pride flags, stickers and masks, pronoun buttons and other merch are handed out at the AISD "Pride Out!" Party in the Park event at Eastside Early College High School in Austin on March 26, 2022.]()
Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune -
Texas Legislature approves $338 billion two-year spending plan with a focus on property tax relief
A boost in public school spending, school vouchers, and money for water systems are other highlights of the state budget, which was bolstered by a $24 billion surplus. Full Story
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![The State Capitol on Nov. 19, 2020.]()
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Texas moves close to ban on some land sales to foreigners
The Legislature has approved a conference committee report that lists sales to certain people from China, North Korea, Russia and Iran as threats to national security. Full Story
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![A horse grazes on a farm in Milam County on March 16, 2025.]()
Credit: Montinique Monroe for The Texas Tribune -
The one thing Texas won’t do to save its water supply
Texas property owners can use nearly as much water under their land as they want. That’s unlikely to change even as the state approaches a crisis. Full Story
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![High Plains Underground Water District field technician supervisor Billy Barron, left, and IT and permit administrator Gray Sanders measure a well, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, outside of Slaton.]()
Credit: Annie Rice for The Texas Tribune -
Texas just defined man and woman. Here’s why that matters.
Critics say House Bill 229, which has gone to the governor, discriminates against trans people, but the full effect remains to be seen. Full Story
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![Naia Fulton-Jones chants in front of the Texas Capitol to protest for transgender kids' rights on Tuesday, Mar. 1, 2022.]()
Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune -
A bill to air-condition all Texas prisons likely to fail again in the Senate
House Bill 3006 would have required the installation of climate control in state prison by 2032. Full Story
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![Inmates shuffle past new fans in the TDCJ Memorial Unit in Brazoria Co. on July 12, 2017. The prison was called the Darrington Unit until 2023.]()
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Texas poised to add $100 million to child care scholarship program
Reallocated funding for the program that will go to providers will benefit nearly 95,000 children on a waitlist for scholarships. Full Story
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![Teacher Pita Espinosa leads a group of young children in a song that teaches Spanish words at the Learning Tree childcare center in Yoakum on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Bill that would have banned Texas minors from social media misses key deadline
House Bill 186, approved by the lower chamber in May, never received a vote in the Senate. Full Story
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![Students check their phones while waiting for the bus following classes at Lufkin High School in Lufkin on Jan. 29, 2023.]()
Credit: Callaghan O'Hare for The Texas Tribune