Top Texas donor slams Speaker Burrows, House members after legislative setbacks
Texans for Lawsuit Reform is threatening to primary House members who helped kill their major legislative priorities. Full Story
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![After coming up empty in the Texas Legislature this year, the state's biggest political donor, Texans for Lawsuit Reform, put out a blistering statement blaming House members for stifling its agenda. The letter blamed a slew of House members, including Houston Speaker Dustin Burrows, top, and freshman Rep. Mitch Little.]()
Credit: Susan Barber, Houston Chronicle -
See how your representatives in the Texas Legislature voted on this year’s major bills
Our interactive tool allows you to search how state lawmakers voted on the most consequential proposals debated during the session, which ended June 2. Full Story
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![Six boxes with lines and rectangles representing bills and votes for the session on a gray background. There's a large address bar with a pointer in the middle.]()
Credit: Illustration by Carla Astudillo -
Texas clarified when abortions are OK and aligned with RFK Jr. on health this legislative session
Amid a quiet legislative session for health, lawmakers’ priority legislation reinforced the U.S. health secretary’s agenda. Full Story
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![An entire floor of the Texas Department of State Health Services Labortory building in Austin, Texas is dedicated to newborn screening. May 1, 2025.]()
Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune
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A $20 billion effort to avoid calamity: Here’s what Texas lawmakers did to save the state’s water supply
Among other changes is a new law that says homeowner associations can no longer fine Texans for not watering their grass during a drought. Full Story
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![The secondary clarifier at the Bustamante Waste Water Treatment Plant expansion in El Paso, Texas on March 5, 2025.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
Texas parents and teachers worry bills to root out liberal sway from public schools pave the way for conservative bias
Advocates say the bills will give parents more power over their children’s schools. Critics say they don’t give parents anything they didn’t already have and will only strain their relationship with teachers. Full Story
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![Rachel Preston, a French teacher, at the state Capitol on Friday, May 23, 2025.]()
Credit: Julia Zeddies for The Texas Tribune -
Trans Texans brace for life under strict sex definition law
Texas has strictly defined man and woman, leaving trans Texans in legal limbo. Full Story
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![Leo Tyler Castillo-Anguiano poses for a portrait underneath an overpass in downtown San Antonio on May 26, 2025. Behind him is artwork of a woman holding a transgender symbol like a rosary, connecting the city’s predominant Catholic faith with a message of alliance with the transgender community.]()
Credit: Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribune -
With Rick Perry’s backing and $50 million from the state, Texas set to become a leader in psychedelics research
Lawmakers have approved funding clinical trials for ibogaine as a treatment for addiction and brain trauma. It comes as Texas contemplates banning THC. Full Story
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![The Rotunda seen from the Capitol Extension in Austin on Aug. 11, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Here are the new Texas laws that will affect trans and LGBTQ+ people
Of the more than 100 bills aimed at LGBTQ+ people in the state, less than 10 were approved by lawmakers this session. Full Story
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![Austin Pride Parade attendees wave rainbow flags as they pass the Capitol building, on Aug. 20, 2022.]()
Credit: Azul Sordo/The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ abortion bans are here to stay despite narrow clarification
Legal challenges have failed, elections haven’t moved the needle and the fight for a narrow clarification shows how immovable these laws are. Full Story
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![Protesters chant on Congress Ave. in front of the Texas State Capitol building at a pro-choice rally Friday, June 24, 2022 in Austin, TX. The Supreme Court overturned Roe V Wade Friday leading to national protests in response from pro abortion advocates. The announcement of the overturning would trigger an immediate ban on abortions in several states, including Texas. Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
Texas reined in recreational THC for more medical marijuana this legislative session
Texas passed sweeping changes to cannabis policy, including expanding the medical marijuana program and banning hemp products, while also boosting psychedelics research. Full Story
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![Hemp plants are seen at Caprock Family Farms, Friday, May 23, 2025, in Lubbock.]()
Credit: Annie Rice for The Texas Tribune -
Texas bill creating more weekend early voting could boost turnout, but delay election results
A bill headed for Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk may not go into effect until 2027. Election administrators say the changes could create staffing challenges. Full Story
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![The line wraps around the sidewalk at the Cinco Ranch Branch Library on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Ft Bend County.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Rep. Jolanda Jones announces bid to succeed Sylvester Turner in Congress
Jones, a Democrat elected to the Texas House in 2022 and previously served on the Houston City Council, joins a slate of candidates running to fill the solidly blue seat. Full Story
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![State Rep. Jolanda Jones, D-Houston, speaks in favor of Medicaid expansion during the budget debate in the Texas House on April 10, 2025.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
A look at the wins rural Texas scored in this year’s legislative session
Lawmakers sought to close gaps in education and support funding for agriculture, disaster preparedness and health care this year. Full Story
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![The Texas State Capitol on March 17, 2025.]()
Credit: Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott signs $8.5 billion public education funding plan into law. Here’s how it works.
The spending package will give schools more money for staff pay raises, operational expenses, special education and more. Full Story
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![A kindergartener's classroom at Kennedy-Powell Elementary in Temple, Texas.]()
Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune -
Sodas, candy to be banned from Texas food stamp purchases
Buoyed by the Trump administration's willingness to place restrictions on food assistance programs, Texas moves to limit junk food. Full Story
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![Local convenience store and meat market El Torito serves residents living along U.S. Highway 281 in San Benito, on June 29, 2018.]()
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Voters will have final say on billions of tax cuts for Texas homeowners, businesses
Texas is slated to spend $51 billion on property tax cuts over the next two years. Some worry that’s unsustainable. Full Story
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![An aerial view of new construction homes in a subdivision next to farmland and an irrigation canal in Edinburg, Texas on May 12, 2025.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
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 -
Rep. Tony Tinderholt, voice of the insurgent far right GOP, to retire from the Texas House
Tinderholt attributed his decision to retire to his confidence in a new conservative generation of lawmakers and a desire to spend more time with his family. Full Story
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![Surrounded by colleagues, state Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington, is overcome with emotion as he announces his retirement from the House on Sine Die, Monday, June 2, 2025.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune