Texas countywide voting bill would allow fewer polling sites
Senate Bill 985 would revise a 2023 law that raised the minimum number of voting locations. County election officials say they’ve struggled to comply with it. Full Story
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![Early morning voters wait outside in the rain at the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center in Houston on Nov. 5, 2024.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
The Texas Senate wants more — and smaller — starter homes in new neighborhoods
The goal of the new legislation is to help drive down the cost of housing so that more Texans can afford homes. Full Story
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![Star Creek, a neighborhood in Allen, on May 8, 2023.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
How Texas lawmakers want to cut property taxes
House and Senate lawmakers plan to spend at least $6 billion on property tax cuts, but haven't yet agreed on how much relief should go to homeowners over businesses. Full Story
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![An East San Antonio neighborhood seen on Saturday, May 25, 2024.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Republican senators threaten Texas universities’ funding over DEI ban
In a letter, Sens. Brandon Creighton and Paul Bettencourt said they found “numerous” violations of the law, but didn’t provide specifics. Full Story
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![State Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, chair of the Senate Committee on Education K-16, speaks at a hearing on Jan. 28, 2025.]()
Credit: Leila Saidane for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate unanimously approves tax cuts for homeowners
The marquee proposal would increase the amount of a home’s value exemption from school taxes to $140,000 from $100,000. The legislation must win approval from the House next. Full Story
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![Housing development in Celina on Nov. 13, 2024.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott wants to set a high bar for local tax increases
Local officials, school advocates and tax policy experts said such a proposal could have dire impacts on basic services. 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 want more property tax cuts. Here’s how they may do it.
Gov. Greg Abbott said cutting taxes is a top priority, however, state lawmakers don’t have as much money to plug into tax cuts as they did two years ago. Full Story
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![A residential neighborhood seen Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Midland.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Texas Republicans want voters to provide proof of citizenship. Arizona’s law holds lessons.
A Votebeat analysis shows how such requirements risk disenfranchising key voter groups, including Native Americans and college students. Full Story
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![DALLAS, TX - SEPTEMBER 20, 2024: ExpressVote voting machines at a public verification test of the voting system at the Dallas County Elections Department building in Dallas, Texas on Friday, September 20, 2024. The test allows participants to validate the voting process by using ballots containing the same races and proportions as the upcoming elections in November. CREDIT: Desiree Rios for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Desiree Rios for The Texas Tribune -
Bill aimed at increasing transparency could sow chaos for election officials, experts say
Under state Sen. Paul Bettencourt’s bill, some individuals could submit requests for explanations of ‘election irregularities’ and potentially bring them to the Texas Secretary of State. Full Story
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![State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, on the Senate floor on Sept. 14, 2023.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Texas would need about $81.5 billion a year to end property taxes, officials say
Texas Republicans have been trying to reduce the state’s high property taxes for years, but some acknowledge eliminating them would be too expensive. Full Story
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![An Aerial image of a suburban neighborhood in San Marcos on October 18, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Harris County voter outreach proposal sparks another fight with Texas Republicans
The county plans to ID eligible voters and send them registration forms. GOP officials say it’s an end-run around state law. Full Story
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![The Harris County Clerk’s Office Elections Department presentation at DeBakey High School Civics Club’s voter education conference in Houston on April 5, 2024.]()
Credit: Joseph Bui for The Texas Tribune -
Texas legislators want to help property owners deal with squatters. But the changes could affect tenants.
Housing advocates say Texas laws fall short when it comes to property trespassers but they warn changes could worsen the state’s evictions crisis. Full Story
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![Terri Boyette, a homeowner in Mesquite, poses for a photo after testifying on squatting before the Senate Committee on Local Government on Wednesday, May 15, 2024 in Austin. Boyerte fought for months to get a squatter out of her home but laws regarding squatters prevented her from doing much for months.]()
Credit: Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune -
Texans get their first crack at electing the people overseeing the state’s complicated property appraisal process
In the state’s larger counties, voters can now elect people to the agencies that appraise property values. Full Story
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![Some Texans will soon have a say in who sits on their tax appraisal boards.]()
Credit: Callaghan O'Hare for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Supreme Court justice implies Democrats will cheat in 2024 election
Justice John Devine’s comments at a conservative event are the latest to prompt concerns about his impartiality as a jurist. Full Story
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![Texas Supreme Court Justice John Devine, far left, with fellow judges on the House floor in Austin in 2013.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Texans will face another election after approving property tax cuts
Voters in Texas’ 50 largest counties will now elect new three members of their respective property appraisal district boards. Full Story
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![The Mueller neighborhood in East Austin on Oct. 7, 2023.]()
Credit: John Jordan/The Texas Tribune -
Texas homeowners and businesses will get a tax cut after voters approve Proposition 4
The $18 billion property tax-cut package is aimed squarely at lowering school district property taxes, which make up the lion’s share of a Texas landowner’s property tax bill. Full Story
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![The Mueller neighborhood in East Austin on Oct. 7, 2023.]()
Credit: John Jordan/The Texas Tribune -
Senate Republicans say House managers failed to meet high burden of proof
Democrats, however, said their GOP colleagues “caved” to outside pressure in voting to acquit and return Ken Paxton to his job as attorney general. Full Story
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![State senators file into the Texas Senate to cast their votes on the articles of impeachment on Sept. 16, 2023.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Harris County’s election chief remains in legal limbo after judge rules that lawmakers can’t dissolve the position
Republican lawmakers targeted the Harris County elections department during this year’s regular session after numerous issues arose out of the 2022 election. Full Story
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![Harris County Elections Staff members sort ballot bags at the Elections Technology Center in northwest Houston on Tuesday, March 1, 2022.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Republican leaders want to improve elections in the state’s largest county. Their solution could backfire.
Unless a judge intervenes, Harris County is expected to dissolve its elections administration office later this year. The duties of running elections will once again be split between the county’s tax assessor and clerk. Full Story
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![Harris County Election Administrator Clifford Tatum speaks to the media on Nov. 8, 2022, at Harris County’s central count center at NRG Arena in Houston.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
With second special session underway, Texas lawmakers offer opening property tax-cut proposals
A stalemate among Texas’ top Republicans has dragged on for months. Tax-cut proponents in the House and Senate made their first pitches to end the impasse Wednesday. Full Story
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![Residents put up flags for the Fourth of July in a neighborhood on the south side of Pasadena on July 1, 2017.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune