Join the Tribune and Texas 2036 for a discussion on the 89th Legislative Session and Texas’ future
On June 6, after the legislative session has wrapped, we’ll examine what happened this Session and what’s coming next. Full Story
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Oil companies win protections from Texas Legislature ahead of selling fracking water
At least four companies say they are prepared to treat the water well enough to be released into rivers in West Texas. Environmental groups say the state is moving too fast. Full Story
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![Produced water ponds, constructed by Martin Water, in Lenorah, on Feb. 24, 2024. The Railroad Commission approved the construction of the ponds, used to treat and recycle produced water from fracking, next to the Circle 6 Baptist Camp in the Permian Basin.]()
Credit: Julian Mancha for The Texas Tribune/Inside Climate News -
Texas GOP’s bill requiring voters to prove citizenship stalls in House
Senate Bill 16 is imperiled after missing a deadline in the House. It was among the most sweeping proof-of-citizenship proposals in the U.S. and would have applied retroactively to all voters. Full Story
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![The Texas Capitol between the Texas Department of Transportation and the Secretary of State buildings in Austin on June 12, 2023.]()
Credit: Joe Timmerman/The Texas Tribune -
Bill allowing Texas colleges to pay their athletes gets Senate approval
Student athletes would be able to receive a slice of the billions of dollars Texas colleges generate in revenue from their sports teams. Full Story
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![The University of Texas Longhorns at Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium in Austin on August 31, 2019.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Daily Texan -
Bill limiting protests at public universities approved by Texas House
The proposal is largely in response to massive pro-Palestinian demonstrations last year. Critics say it would walk back free speech protections that conservatives advocated for in previous legislative sessions. Full Story
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![Protestors chant at Texas Department of Public Safety troopers as they begin to push students towards Guadalupe Street from the South Lawn during a demonstration in support of Palestine Wednesday, April 24, 2024, at the University of Texas in Austin.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
“Anti-Red Flag Act” that would limit when guns can be taken from people advances in Texas House
Senate Bill 1362 would prevent officials from taking someone’s firearms if they haven’t been charged with a crime or aren’t subject to a protective order under the Texas Family Code. Full Story
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![Patrons of the SAXET Gun Show look at handguns at the Richard M. Borchard Regional Fairgrounds in Robstown on Feb. 26, 2023.]()
Credit: Blaine Young for The Texas Tribune -
Texas oil companies face new deadlines to plug inactive wells
Senate Bill 1150, which is on its way to Gov. Greg Abbott, is a rare example of the Texas Legislature regulating the state’s oil and gas industry. Full Story
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![A plugged well on the Scouras’ property in Lee County on July 12, 2021. The Scourases are two of many Lee County residents whose water sources have dried up as a result of Vista Ridge Pipeline Project.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Texas bill allowing smaller homes on smaller lots amid housing affordability crunch advances in House
Senate Bill 15, a top priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, is part of a broad push by lawmakers to put a dent in the state’s high home prices. Full Story
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![A construction worker builds homes in far west San Antonio on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024.]()
Credit: Scott Stephen Ball for The Texas Tribune -
New limits for personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits may become a reality in Texas
The House made changes to the proposal that leave open ways for victims to be compensated beyond medical bills. Full Story
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![An ambulance is parked at Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas
at Austin in 2018.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune -
Bill to allow smaller homes on smaller lots resurrected in Texas House
A top priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the legislation would make it easier to construct homes on smaller lots. A House Democrat briefly killed the bill. Full Story
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![A stretch of suburban homes line the landscape southeast of San Antonio on July 26, 2023.]()
Credit: Joe Timmerman/The Texas Tribune -
After years of tension, Texas House emerges as cooperative partner for Dan Patrick and his conservative agenda
A 2024 war among Republicans tilted the House to the right. Now more closely aligned with the Senate, Speaker Dustin Burrows has accelerated action on bail, school vouchers and social issues. Full Story
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![Lt. Governor Dan Patrick speaks during the Texas GOP Convention Thursday, May 23, 2024 in San Antonio.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Texas DEI ban in public schools approved in the House
Senate Bill 12’s supporters say DEI programs use class time and public funds to promote political agendas. Full Story
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![Passing period at United South High School in Laredo.]()
Credit: Rachel Zein for The Texas Tribune -
Texas will require public school classrooms to display Ten Commandments under bill headed to governor
Both houses have approved Senate Bill 10 even though a similar Louisiana law was deemed unconstitutional. Supporters say Christianity is core to U.S. history. Full Story
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![The Ten Commandments, written out on a monument, sit outside the Texas Capitol on March 17, 2025.]()
Credit: Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribune -
Texas sheriffs would have to collaborate with ICE under bill poised for governor’s desk
The House approved Senate Bill 8, which mandates sheriffs request formal partnerships with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for designated deputies to serve administrative immigration warrants at their jails. Full Story
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![A law enforcement official walks past a transport bus used to carry migrants in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody before the departure of a chartered plane from Brownsville South Padre International Airport in Brownsville on May 18, 2019.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Loren Elliott -
Political appointees would have more control over Texas universities’ courses and hiring under bill approved in House
Senate Bill 37 would give more power to university regents, who are appointed by the governor, to vet and veto new curricula and administrators. Full Story
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![Texas State University campus in San Marcos, Texas.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune -
Starbase could shut down Boca Chica Beach more frequently under Texas legislation
The Texas Senate agreed Friday to make it easier for the new city, home to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, to shutter the beach during rocket launches. Full Story
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![A boy builds a sandcastle on the beach as SpaceX's Starship spacecraft atop its powerful Super Heavy rocket is prepared for a third launch from the company's Boca Chica launchpad on an uncrewed test flight, at Starbase, Texas, on March 13, 2024.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Cheney Orr -
Eviction bill now focuses on squatters in Texas House rewrite
The chamber jettisoned a provision tenants’ advocates warned would make it easier for Texas landlords to evict renters. Full Story
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![A tenant walks her puppies outside of an apartment where the tenants were evicted and the apartment emptied at the Life at Jackson Square apartments in Houston on April 11, 2023.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Major energy consumers will face new limits if Texas House approves proposal
The legislation would give ERCOT the ability to turn off power to major consumers in an emergency. Full Story
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![Construction workers build a portable building that will be used to house computers cooled by immersion technology on Oct. 22, 2021.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez/The Texas Tribune -
Vacant offices, strip malls may get new life as housing in Texas’ largest cities
The bill is part of a suite of GOP proposals aimed at curbing the state’s high housing costs — chiefly by allowing more homes to be built. Full Story
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![Empty real estate in downtown Brownwood on Sep 9, 2020.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas House bill allowing online voter registration got a public hearing — after missing deadline to become law
Texas is one of eight states without universal online voter registration. A lawmaker pushing for it says he’ll continue the fight. Full Story
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![Online voter registration application from the Texas Secretary of State. Voters in Texas cannot register online — nce filled out, the application must be printed, signed, and sent by mail.]()
Credit: John Jordan/The Texas Tribune