New abortion restrictions are impractical and resource-draining, Texas prosecutors say
District attorneys for Harris, Kaufman, Fort Bend counties voiced concerns over state’s new abortion law at the 2022 Texas Tribune Festival. Full Story
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![From left: Michael Hall, executive editor at Texas Monthly, moderates a panel with district attorneys Erleigh Norville Wiley (Kaufman Co.), Kim Ogg (Harris Co.) and Brian Middleton (Fort Bend Co.) at The Texas Tribune Festival in Austin on Sept. 24, 2022.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Beto O’Rourke shrugs off polling deficit, promises he won’t let down Democrats in South Texas
The Democratic nominee for governor said during The Texas Tribune Festival that he’s counting on a big turnout of voters energized by the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. Full Story
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![Democratic nominee for governor Beto O’Rourke speaks at The Texas Tribune Festival on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Watch a panel on Roe v. Wade at the 2022 Texas Tribune Festival
Ana Marie Cox moderates a conversation about women’s health, women’s rights and an uncertain future with former state Sen. Wendy Davis, state Rep. Donna Howard and Planned Parenthood CEO Alexis McGill Johnson. Full Story
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Ahead of the 2023 session, Texas lawmakers previewed their objectives. Here are five things you need to know.
Texas lawmakers on both sides of the aisle talked schools, abortion and guns in advance of next year’s session in a range of panels at The Texas Tribune Festival. Full Story
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![From left: Tribune political correspondent Patrick Svitek moderates a discussion about the 88th legislative session withHouse Republicans Four Price, Dustin Burrows, Ellen Troxclair and Craig Goldman at The Texas Tribune Festival in Austin on Sept. 23, 2022.]()
Credit: Azul Sordo/The Texas Tribune -
Republican Texas senator says he will support new rape exceptions for abortion
One of the longest-serving Republican state senators, Robert Nichols is among the first to say publicly he’d support revising the state’s abortion prohibition. He spoke Friday at The Texas Tribune Festival. Full Story
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![Senate Republicans Peter Flores, Kevin Sparks, Robert Nichols and Phil King speak on a panel moderated by Tribune political reporter James Barragán at The Texas Tribune Festival on Sept. 23, 2022 in Austin, TX.]()
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Boisterous agitators disrupt Hays County election machine test, badger Texas secretary of state
“Can we go back to focusing on the testing please?” official pleads as crowd demands answers to conspiracy theories. Full Story
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![Secetary of State John Scott listens to members of the public while they ask questions about the voting during a state-mandated logic and accuracy test at the Hays County Government building in San Marcos on Sept. 21, 2022. Questions mainly revolved around the saftey of the procedure of the voting machines, and the precautions the department was taking to elliminate errors within the counting process.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Texas AG says counties can spend COVID relief funds on extra pay for elected officials without public notice
The nonbinding legal opinion states local elected and appointed officials can receive up to $25,000 for work done during the COVID-19 pandemic on top of their regular salaries. Unlike other pay raises, these “premium pay” bonuses don’t need to be declared to the public ahead of time. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton attends a campaign event during a Bulverde Spring Branch Conservative Republicans meeting on May 16, 2022, in Bulverde. Paxton criticized President Joe Biden’s immigration policies, discussed voter fraud in Texas and praised the leaked SCOTUS draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade.]()
Credit: Kaylee Greenlee Beal for The Texas Tribune -
Long the subject of rhetoric, migrants have now become props in political theater
A long-reliable political playbook of highlighting immigration in election season has been escalated by Govs. Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis. Full Story
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![Dozens of migrants, including several family units, leave on a New York City-bound bus outside a shelter in El Paso on Aug. 31, 2022. The city and county of El Paso are sponsoring (to be reimbursed by FEMA) the voluntary trips to relieve pressure on local resources and shelters.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
EPA may try to block what could be the first seawater desalination plant built in Texas
Citing water quality concerns, the Environmental Protection Agency may refuse to recognize a permit that Texas approved Thursday for a marine desalination plant at the Port of Corpus Christi. Full Story
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![The inside of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant in El Paso on April 16, 2012.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
When Texas students campaigned for a more diverse history course, they got a lesson in politics
Students had been pushing for the State Board of Education to adopt a new, more inclusive social studies curriculum this year. Instead, the board delayed their scheduled update until at least 2025. Full Story
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![Round Rock ISD student Ayaan Moledina, 13, stands outside of Canyon Vista middle school. Moledina testified for more Asian American inclusion and accurate representation of Muslim Americans. Sept. 14, 2022.]()
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As fentanyl plagues Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott directs state police to focus on cartels
Abbott directed the Department of Public Safety to boost efforts to collect intelligence on cartels and investigate gangs in Texas that support drug and human smuggling. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton hosted 12 attorneys general from around the U.S. for a border security briefing at Texas DPS regional headquarters in Weslaco on Jan. 27, 2022.]()
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A free medical clinic opened in rural East Texas. Thousands poured in for help.
Texas ranks last among states in access to health care and has the highest rate of uninsured people in the country. Two longtime doctors in rural Henderson County created a homegrown safety net to fill the gap. Full Story
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![Doug Curran in his office at the East Texas Community Clinic in Athens last November. Curran helped open the safety-net clinic in 2020 after decades of practicing medicine in the rural area and seeing the fallout of Texas’ high uninsured rate. Credit: Blaine Young]()
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How Texas’ abortion laws turned a heartbreaking fetal diagnosis into a cross-country journey
“It was just a matter of time before the baby died, or maybe I’d have to go through the trauma of carrying to term knowing I wasn’t bringing a baby home,” said 27-year-old Lauren Hall. “I couldn’t do that.” Full Story
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![Lauren Hall stands for a portrait in the room that would have been her child’s in her home on September 10, 2022. Hall had a non-viable pregnancy and had to leave the state in order to terminate, revealing gaps in the state's miscarriage exception after Roe v. Wade was overturned.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Watch: Candidates for statewide offices discuss disability issues
Tune in on Monday as candidates for statewide offices speak with Texas Tribune reporters Patrick Svitek and James Barragán at the 2022 Texas Disability Issues Forum. Full Story
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U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson, prominent Trump ally, weighing U.S. Senate run in 2026
Jackson recently launched Spanish-language TV ads in his reelection campaign, which is not competitive, in an effort to raise his profile with Latino voters. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Amarillo, speaks during the CPAC Texas 2022 conference at Hilton Anatole in Dallas on Aug. 6, 2022.]()
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Texas has banned more books than any other state, new report shows
Across the country, more books have been challenged and removed as religious and conservative groups target LGBTQ and race issues. Full Story
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![Books at Vandegrift High School's library on March 2, 2022.]()
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Texas social media “censorship” law goes into effect after federal court lifts block
The ruling Friday from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals likely means the case, which could have wide implications for online speech, will go before the U.S. Supreme Court again. Full Story
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![Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram icons displayed on a phone screen are seen in this illustration photo on April 6, 2022.]()
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Delayed: Mandatory maternal mortality rate data won’t be ready for Texas lawmakers in time for 2023 session
Lawmakers say they need the latest pregnancy-related death data to more precisely address the problem during the legislative session. But delays means they won’t see it until after the session ends. Full Story
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![Vanna Waldron (left) evaluates Erika Piñon at the Holy Family Birthing Center in Weslaco, Texas. Waldron is a Certified Nurse Midwife from Seattle, Washington, who is volunteering at the birthing center for a year.]()
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Texas’ child welfare agency blocked from investigating many more parents of trans teens
Friday’s injunction applies to all members of PFLAG, an LGBTQ advocacy group with more than 600 members in Texas. 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 -
Texas board rejects posthumous pardon for George Floyd — after recommending one to Greg Abbott
The state’s parole board did not explain why it was denying the request to pardon Floyd, who was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer, for a minor 2004 drug conviction. Last year, the board recommended Abbott pardon Floyd, then rescinded that suggestion. Full Story
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![People gather at the mural for George Floyd in the Third Ward in Houston on June 8, 2020.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune