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.]()
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Texas to expand how schools discipline students
House Bill 6, which now heads to the governor, targets the increase in violence that has plagued schools since the pandemic. Full Story
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![A student walks through the halls of Lufkin High School in Lufkin on Jan. 29, 2023.]()
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Automatic denial of bail for some migrants fails to pass Texas House
Supporters said the proposal, which sought to amend the state constitution, would improve safety. Critics said it would violate due process and unfairly target minority groups. Full Story
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![An undocumented migrant after being arrested in Kinney County on Nov. 9, 2021.]()
Credit: Gabriel V. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune/ProPublica -
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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Top deputies to Attorney General Ken Paxton pushed out over sexual harassment allegations, lawsuit says
The harassment allegedly took place while the two were on leave from the agency working on Paxton’s impeachment defense. Full Story
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![Then-Texas Solicitor General Judd Stone II speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on April 26, 2022.]()
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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.]()
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Once again, Texas Legislature unlikely to pass ethics legislation this year
Lawmakers filed dozens of bills that would increase transparency around spending in elections and strengthen penalties for campaign and lobbying violations. None are poised to pass. Full Story
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![Members work to get bills in by deadline on the House floor on May 15, 2025. May 15 was the final day for the House to file bills, with the hard deadline at midnight.]()
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Bill curbing the flow of abortion pills into Texas likely dead
Proponents of SB 2880 have singled out Rep. Ken King, House State Affairs committee chair, for letting the bill languish. Full Story
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![Nurse practitioner Debra Lynch holds a box of mifepristone, the first drug used in a medication abortion regimen. Practicing under Delaware's shield law, Lynch prescribes the pills via telehealth, largely to patients in abortion-restricted states like Texas.]()
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Texas’ mail-in voting rules pushed voters to cast ballots in person — or not vote at all, study finds
New research from the Brennan Center for Justice suggests that 2021 ID requirements in a recent overhaul of Texas election laws could explain some of the drop in mail voting. Full Story
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![Then-interim Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins shows what a mail-in ballot envelope looks like at election headquarters inside NRG Arena on Oct. 5, 2020.]()
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Texas will require state documents to reflect sex assigned at birth
Many trans Texans have changed the sex listed on their birth certificate, driver’s licenses and other documents. They say their identities will be invalidated under bill headed to governor's desk. Full Story
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![The crowd gathered at a rally for Trans Day of Visibility at the Bexar County Courthouse listens to pediatrician Dr. Lulu in San Antonio on March 31, 2023.]()
Credit: Blaine Young for The Texas Tribune -
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.]()
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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.]()
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Texas bill penalizing cities and counties for progressive policies misses House deadline
Senate Bill 2858 would have expanded a sweeping state law intended to erode the authority of the state’s major urban areas. Full Story
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![The Austin downtown skyline on Sept. 22. 2022.]()
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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.]()
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Texas likely to expand medical marijuana program eligibility amid looming hemp ban
House Bill 46, which awaits Gov. Greg Abbott’s approval, would include more patients with chronic pain and allow for prescribed vaporized and aerosol products. Full Story
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![An engineer at Texas Original Compassionate Cultivation in South Austin tests for impurities on April 30, 2021.]()
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“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.]()
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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.]()
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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.]()
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Lawmakers near deal to spend $20 billion over two decades on water crisis
The deal allocates $1 billion a year to water projects for 20 years, which some groups estimate is a fraction of what Texas needs to save its water supply. Full Story
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![The SAWS’ Steven M. Clouse Water Recycling Center in San Antonio on Aug. 23, 2024.]()
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Texas lawmaker abruptly spiked his bill to punish cities that don’t deal with homeless encampments
The bill would have withheld some tax dollars from cities that did not comply with state law. Full Story
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![A tent stands in a field after being removed from a homeless encampment underneath Interstate Highway 45 in Dallas, Texas on Friday, July 22, 2022.]()
Credit: Emil Lippe for The Texas Tribune