McKenna West fled to Texas to give birth last month, saying she could not trust the biological parents after they asked her to get an abortion.

Republicans have seized on his past votes and comments to argue he will revert to his most progressive positions if elected, while Talarico’s campaign insists he has remained consistent.

Lawmakers recently learned of the slow progress made by the companies, which have four months to come under compliance with the law prompted by the 2024 Panhandle wildfires.

The decision clears the way for the 1-month-old’s biological parents to relocate him from Dallas to Los Angeles, where the couple lives, to seek treatment there. Their surrogate wants him in Texas.

Patrick has also rebuked ERCOT’s board for approving and then backtracking on a contract that would allow ERCOT’s CEO to earn $6.4 million in 2027.

The announcement ends a nearly year-long dispute with the Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services over the funding to Texas hospitals, which were slated to lose $27 million a day.

The fire has burned 90,000 acres, making it the second largest fire in the region’s history.

Tierra Walker, who was 20 weeks pregnant, died of a serious complication known as preeclampsia in December 2024.

Appointed a decade ago, the education commissioner insists that when he has direct oversight, academic gains follow. His critics await better student outcomes.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick balked at the contract two boards approved for Pablo Vegas. The ERCOT chief said officials then decided not to execute the deal.

The commission doesn't have anything to do with railroads. It regulates Texas’ oil and gas industry. Here’s where 2026 candidates Bo French, Jon Rosenthal and Arthur DiBianca stand.

Wayne Christian said his agency’s meeting kept him from addressing lawmakers about eliminating some public comments at the Texas Railroad Commission.

Last year, less than 30% of data centers responded to a state-mandated water usage survey conducted by the Texas Water Development Board.

The Trump administration has said the remote West Texas region needs measures to stop illegal immigration. But a bipartisan group of elected officials is pushing to halt that plan, especially in the national park.

State Rep. Ken King first proposed the Interoperability Council in 2025 following the Panhandle wildfires. The Legislature has failed to approve the proposal twice.

The Department of Family and Protective Services has been slowly moving foster services to contractors who aren’t giving enough details on costs, the Legislative Budget Board said.

The Public Utility Commission will vote to greenlight three proposals to build first-of-their-kind transmission lines after approving two massive lines last month.

McKenna West has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, saying she does not trust that the biological parents have the child's best interest at heart.

After Texas banned nearly all abortions, patients have struggled to get ectopic care. More than 300 patients here experienced substantial blood loss in 2023 and 2024, compared to 2018 and 2019.

Outdated technology and stricter requirements for Medicaid and SNAP food assistance have made it harder for Texas to give timely approval to applications, state officials and advocates say.

On the campaign trail, the governor said dismantling city-owned utilities will save customers money by introducing competition.

This is the first buy that Trump’s well-heeled political operation has made for a general election, underscoring how critical Texas’ Senate race is to the GOP’s hopes.

The attorney general won a lawsuit against the feds for withholding a Medicaid funding stream three years ago. Texas faces the same cut, but Paxton has stayed quiet.

Law enforcement agencies from across the country search the DPS Flock database once every four seconds, on average. After the Tribune inquired, DPS said it will limit which agencies can access the network.

This is the first year for education savings accounts, which allow Texas families to use taxpayer dollars for private or home schooling.

If not carefully vetted, candidates’ proposals to lower costs could exacerbate future affordability issues, experts say.

Abbott’s spokesman reiterated that Texas is not doing anything wrong that would disqualify hospitals from receiving nearly $10 billion in Medicaid funding annually.

These resources can help you locate data centers that are planned or operating in your community and who regulates them.

Starting Sept. 1, the Trump administration will withhold about $9.8 billion in extra funding that helps hospitals cover the difference between Medicaid payments and the actual cost of services.

The order came as The Texas Tribune was preparing to publish an investigation detailing how a state agency has devoted at least $30 million to building the state’s Flock surveillance network.

Following hours of testimony on Friday, the Public Utility Commission of Texas has approved two transmission lines to ship electricity to the oil-and gas-producing west.

Texas moms and surrogates say lawmakers can sharpen protections for both parties in contracts and regulate surrogacy agencies, but caution against severely limiting the practice.

The attorney for the couple’s surrogate McKenna West said in court she should be the mother of the newborn. The biological parents have a restraining order against West.

Lawmakers gutted an old state law that required a city council supermajority to approve a new housing development if neighbors petitioned the proposal.

A federal judge reasserted his 2023 ruling that the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals sent back for reconsideration. The law went into effect in March as the case proceeded.

More districts across Texas are at risk of intervention by the state’s education commissioner. Here’s what that means for public schools.

The agency that regulates the state’s oil and gas industry voted to adopt the new policy before sharing it with the public. It added more “listening sessions” when the public can speak to agency staff.

Energy regulators and industry experts warn that the state’s delays to major projects amid backlash from residents could create rolling blackouts and strangle growth of other industries that need power.

Some government officials said they understand the community’s anger, but warn that many of these contracts fall outside their jurisdiction.

After bulldozers entered Big Bend National Park, hundreds of Texans came to Wednesday’s meeting to ask the agency to keep federal border barriers out of state parks.

A surrogate’s fight for custody over the baby she birthed last week could lead to more restrictions on the rights of biological parents and on abortion clauses in surrogacy agreements.

Raphael Warnock, Kevin Stitt, Dolores Huerta, Maggie Haberman and other prominent voices in American political and civic life join us in Austin next month

Rising costs, slowing tax revenue and a sluggish economy have saddled some of Texas’ biggest cities with multimillion-dollar deficits.

The state’s power grid operator had already planned on auditing several data center proposals, but Abbott’s directive reworks the timeline and adds new requirements.

Austin ISD had two campuses failing state ratings for five consecutive years.

Without key details on the audits but the eagerness to support them, policy watchers question how impactful these audits will be in curbing data center growth.

Rio Grande Valley residents are unhappy with the economy, salaries, and other factors. That could sway their political views, according to political watchdogs.

The biological parents won a temporary restraining order against the surrogate, who tried to claim parental rights, and are with their baby, their attorneys say.

The Texas Broadband office made the announcement after facing scrutiny from lawmakers for changing the rules to seemingly favor companies such as Elon Musk’s Starlink.

Inflation and federal funding cuts have squeezed Texas’ child care subsidy, causing the Texas Workforce Commission to scale back the program.

An Alaskan surrogate has traveled to Texas for legal protection after a California couple has refused treatment for a severe heart condition.

A federal judge recently ruled that Texas must give defendants who are mentally incompetent to stand trial a state hospital bed within 21 days.

Public health officials said some parents are confused about what vaccines are required to attend Texas schools amid efforts to change recommendations.

Data center developers can use nondisclosure agreements and shell companies to shield the details of their deals from the public. Even state officials also say they need more transparency from the industry.

The Texas agriculture commissioner has openly criticized Gov. Greg Abbott for not taking a stronger stand against data center development. The governor has ignored him.

The fair banned firearms in 2024 after a shooting at Fair Park. Paxton’s lawsuit has faced multiple setbacks, the latest from a court appointed entirely by Gov. Greg Abbott.

Members of the hemp industry are suing Texas, claiming that the ban on hemp-derived THC products impose an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce.

On Monday, the governor ordered the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to audit all data centers wanting to connect to the state’s power grid.

Some cities are trying to make it more difficult to build apartments under a new housing law.

Dawn Buckingham said a contractor hired by U.S. Customs and Border Protection trespassed and significantly altered land in Presidio County without permission.

Rising uncertainty has led businesses that depend on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) pact to pull back on investment in Texas, experts say.

Although several synthetically derived cannabis products will be banned on July 31, delta-9 THC products will still remain legal.

The request comes after Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas and Electric Reliability Council of Texas to further regulate data centers’ use of the power grid.

Texas lawmakers accuse the state broadband office of favoritism and sweetheart deals after satellite internet providers received most of the funding.

Students and professors shared how SB 37 led to academic censorship at their campuses.

The laws, which make it easier to build apartments, face stiff resistance from North Texas suburbs. State lawmakers vow to force cities to comply.

The Texas Tribune’s database of state employees’ compensation has been updated to include salaries as of July 1.

Recent court rulings and new laws make it tougher for the state to remove children from their homes.

Diode Ventures said Gov. Greg Abbott's tougher stance on data center development in rural areas drove the decision to cancel the project

Midland school trustees argue they have minimal control over local taxes and can’t properly serve students as a recapture system redistributes millions of the district’s revenue.

The state’s higher education agency recommends Texas lawmakers revamp funding for public universities that rewards schools for student success.

A formula designed to reward colleges for student success generated larger payouts than budgeted. Now, Texas’ higher education agency may limit how schools receive such funding.

State and community leaders are working to keep the reVision soccer nonprofit alive after it was featured at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

MD Anderson is a global leader in cancer research, tapping hundreds of foreign-born scientists. Now Gov. Greg Abbott’s restrictions on H-1B visas may limit the talent pool.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dustin Burrows are questioning how the state distributes funding for internet services.

The Department of Family and Protective Service’s action comes four months after it placed EMPOWER into receivership in the wake of the deaths of two children under its care and staffing problems.

North Texas is growing and Dallas’ financial sector is booming. But the city is losing residents and businesses — and two major sports franchises are departing the urban core.

For years, the state has been the leading exporter of semiconductor chips. After the Legislature invested more than $1.5 billion into incentives since 2023, the industry has been booming.

Howden’s appointment follows weeks of speculation over who would take over running Texas’ elections before the November midterms.

The rule allows the federal government to deny green cards to immigrants who use a public program, such as Medicaid, food stamps and housing vouchers.

From addressing storm damage to mental health needs, here’s how to help or find resources.

Abortion isn’t polling as high as other issues that matter to women voters, and Democrats have also retreated on the topic.

The Big Three framed the move as a way to keep Texas fiscally conservative and help fund priorities like property tax cuts. Public education and school vouchers were exempted.

Texas officials have sued a Houston area postpartum center as well as investigated Rio Grande Valley hospitals over allegations of soliciting foreigners to have babies on U.S. soil.

Despite efforts to boost domestic energy production, Mexico will continue to depend on Texas for natural gas, experts said, undermining its stated goals of energy independence.

Protesters demanded feds release footage of the shooting and the three men who were in the van with Lorenzo Salgado Araujo before he was killed.

The wall would have blocked parishioners from reaching La Lomita chapel. A state representative has put a stop to those plans.

As of February, 21% of Texans who enrolled in a plan through the federal marketplace did not pay their first premium.

Fraudsters are increasingly using the ATM-like machines for fast access to money that’s difficult to trace.

From investment fraud to sophisticated schemes involving hard-to-trace digital currency, Texans lost more than $1 billion to crypto scams in 2025.

THC’s effects on issues ranging from homelessness to mental health were examined at Tuesday’s meeting with the Texas Senate Committee on Health and Human Services.

Last month, the Texas Republican Party included in its platform a ban on foreigners using American surrogates, arguing the practice allows children born under these circumstances to obtain U.S. citizenship.

Lawmakers and experts pin the blame for rising insurance costs on health companies consolidating and creating less competition.

Texas’ emergency management chief has repeatedly recommended that lawmakers require minimum training but a bill proposed after the disaster failed.

The exchange represents the most well-funded challenge to the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ duopoly of U.S. stock trading.

The university in East Texas is among other state colleges facing financial strains.

The Fort Worth Republican, one of the most hardline conservatives in the Texas House, had been floated for secretary of state in unconfirmed media reports ahead of his hire by the governor.

Cities and other water users have already paid $4.1 million to reserve water from a seawater desalination plant that is not close to construction.

Despite the spike in demand for measles shots following the deadly 2025 outbreak, exemptions on all vaccines for schoolchildren rose after the release of a downloadable exemption form.

The Texas Tribune has created a searchable database of the latest vaccine rates for school districts and private schools and how they’ve changed in the last year.