TEXAS LEGISLATURE

City officials hope that allowing up to three units per lot will increase supply and slow the explosive increase in housing costs. The measure was approved by Austin City Council in a 9-2 vote late Thursday night.

In a Nov. 13 filing with the Texas Secretary of State, an attorney for Pale Horse Strategies LLC wrote that the firm would also conduct future business under the name “West Fort Worth Management LLC.”

To survive, Texas community colleges have to prove their worth. But residents of this rural north Texas town are questioning what's right for them.

Kate Cox, 31, at 20 weeks pregnant, has learned her fetus has a lethal abnormality that is almost always fatal at birth.

Cruz on Tuesday requested a unanimous consent decision on his AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act. The legislation was blocked by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, who said the mandate on private companies would be an overstep of congressional power.

Gabe Nolasco was born without a vital immune system gland. His family spent years in quarantines and advocating to state insurance so they could keep him alive.

In court filings Tuesday, the secretary of state’s office argued that the plaintiffs in the election contests “never served a citation” properly. But there’s no guarantee it’ll work.

A judge reversed a 2022 decision by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that involved its controversial “one-mile rule” to deny hearing requests.

Abbott is promising to continue the fight for “school choice” but staying mum on whether that means he will call another special session as he has previously threatened.

Not every downtown high-rise is a good fit for an office-to-housing conversion, but some officials and developers see benefits in turning unused space into new residential units.

Rudolph the Red-Nose Pumping Unit has long been a holiday tradition in Lufkin. The machinery, now used worldwide to extract oil from the ground, was invented by a local businessman.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department will stop pursuing eminent domain to take over the former park property south of Dallas. A private developer plans to turn it into a luxury subdivision.

The latest casualties were Senate Bill 5, which would spend $800 million on school safety measures through 2025, and Senate Bill 6, which would change the timeline of a trial after an election contest is filed by a citizen or group.

In an emergency request, the Center for Reproductive Rights is asking a judge to allow Kate Cox to terminate her pregnancy after she received a lethal fetal diagnosis.

Frazier was indicted in June 2022 on two charges of impersonating a public servant, a felony offense. He pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor charges as part of a plea agreement.

U.S. District Judge Janis Jack on Monday considers whether state’s foster care agency has made progress caring for most vulnerable children or should be held in contempt for the third time in an ongoing 2011 lawsuit.

Less than a week after a Del Rio-based federal judge ruled against Texas in the ongoing fight over the state’s razor wire, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals paused that decision while it reviews the case.

The Travis County district attorney still plans to pursue criminal charges in four cases. The officers whose cases are being dismissed will be allowed to return to duty.

The Texas House’s vote to block education savings accounts disappointed voucher advocates and likely spelled doom for additional public school funding. Both bands say they’ll keep pushing for their priorities during next year’s primary elections and the 2025 legislative session.

The decision to end work Tuesday leaves long odds for bills to boost school safety funding and make sure that election challenges don’t delay the implementation of property tax cuts, teacher pension raises and infrastructure spending.

Some members of the committee said such a ban, proposed two months after a prominent conservative activist was caught meeting with a famous white supremacist, might be a “slippery slope” or too vague.

The Biden Administration announced a crackdown on methane emissions, a major driver of climate change. Major oil and gas companies also signed on to a voluntary net-zero commitment.

Senate Bill 5 would send an extra $800 million to public schools for security upgrades over the next two years. But the measure is at risk of becoming the latest casualty of the rift between the Texas House and Senate.

Senate Bill 3 would also appropriate $40 million for state troopers to patrol Colony Ridge, a housing development outside of Houston, and allow the state to send money to local jurisdictions to offset the cost of enforcing another immigration-related bill.

Tax cuts were a major legislative priority for Republican leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott. The governor cannot certify the election results until the challenges are resolved.

Industry experts continue to argue over whether the electricity market in Texas needs to change to make the grid more reliable in winter and summer.

Experts argue other assertions made in the lawsuit filing are completely unsubstantiated, such as one claiming that vaccinated people were more likely to die from COVID-19, which Texas health data disputes.

William “Willy” Rice, the founder of Rice University, will be buried at his family plot after students called for his removal due to his slave-owning past.

Judge Alia Moses ruled in the federal government’s favor but chided the Biden administration for not allowing migrants to use international bridges to claim asylum.

The Texas Republicans opposed subpoenaing conservative donor Crow over his ties to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, casting it as a partisan attack.

In unincorporated West Odessa, residents relish their freedom. And they also go without basic services. Ector County Judge Dustin Fawcett, a young Republican with Ronald Reagan good looks and politics, wants to change that.

A new Harvard University study found an increase in the number of Texas households headed by people 65 or older spending more than 30% of their income on housing. Advocates say keeping older adults housed will require substantial public investment and reforms.

Texas rates have increased 22% on average so far in 2023, twice the national rate. More billion-dollar disasters have occurred in Texas this year than any other year on record.

House Bill 900 seeks to rid school libraries of inappropriate books by requiring book vendors to rate materials. A legal challenge says the law is too vague and broad.

Once a tool of journalists and concerned citizens to hold government accountable, open records requests have been increasingly used by political opponents and conspiracy theorists to slow down the pace of government.

As remote and hybrid working become the new normal, major Texas cities are facing a decline in office tenants. It’s too soon to tell what that means for the vitality of downtowns.

In August, a judge ruled that the state’s near-total abortion ban should not apply to medically complicated pregnancies. The state appealed that ruling to the Texas Supreme Court, putting it on hold.

Abbott on Tuesday backed Hillary Hickland, an activist mother who is running against Rep. Hugh Shine, R-Temple.

Inflation, stagnant federal funding for food programs and high housing costs mean that demand at food banks still hasn’t returned to pre-pandemic levels.

The announcement comes after the university spent more than $75 million to fire former football coach Jimbo Fisher. A&M did not immediately say how much it will pay Elko.

Abbott visited the San Marcos area to go skydiving with Al Blaschke, a 106-year-old World War II veteran who has already broken records for his own aerial feats.

Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth is holding a news conference to inform the community as early voting starts Monday for the upcoming joint runoff election.

Department leaders say they recognize that post-traumatic stress and other mental health issues are among the biggest dangers of the job.

The University of Texas at Dallas replaced three boulders — known as the Spirit Rocks — with trees, citing “extended political discourse.” Students say the quirky public square is a frequent venue for political messaging.

The motion, filed Tuesday, comes a week after a judge in Burnet County allowed the 3-year-old whistleblower lawsuit to proceed.

Vouchers were left without a clear path forward after a decisive vote Friday. Gov. Greg Abbott, who had threatened lawmakers with more special sessions to pass the proposal, seems to have turned his attention to punishing voucher opponents in next year’s primary elections.

The region that includes Amarillo, a Panhandle city of more than 200,000 people, and surrounding towns has long been a mental health care desert. Officials hope a new $159 million hospital can help reduce a massive spike in suicide attempts.

The Pew Research Center analyzed unauthorized immigrant data from 2021 finding that there’s been a significant shift in migrants’ country of origin and where they choose to live in the U.S.

The runoff features two Republicans from dueling factions of the party, Jill Dutton and Brent Money, vying to finish the term of former state Rep. Bryan Slaton, R-Royse City.

The moderate South Texas Democrat has held meetings with union leaders and filed a labor-backed bill this month. But he still shares some disagreements with the movement.

The expansion, which will start with a smaller pilot in four high schools between Texas and New Mexico, is being paid for by the Permian Strategic Partnership, a group funded by major energy producers.

After a report from Media Matters showed advertisements from major brands appeared next to antisemitic posts on X, the company sued the media watchdog group and its reporter. The Texas Attorney General’s Office plans to investigate the nonprofit for potential fraud.

According to new Texas Demographic Center figures, the Austin region continues to grow at the fastest rate, but Fort Worth was the city that attracted the most new residents between 2020 and 2023.

No members who voted against Abbott’s top legislative priority received the governor’s backing.

Murr, who represents Junction, suggested he wanted to come home to spend more time with family. He had become a target of hardline conservative supporters of Attorney General Paxton.

The debate, scheduled for Sept. 16, 2024, will be the first of four for the general election. The San Marcos school would be the first Texas university to hold a presidential debate, Texas State officials said.

A Texas judge will decide the fate of a Biden administration program that allows people from four countries to live and work in the U.S. for up to two years. A man who sponsored his friend for the program has fought to save it.

Abbott made the presidential endorsement after he and Trump served meals to service members deployed for Operation Lone Star, Abbott’s sprawling border security mission.

The Sherman school board also temporarily ended the superintendent oversight of its fine arts programs pending the results of the investigation.

Here’s how each representative voted on an amendment that removed school vouchers from the education bill on Friday.

The Republican-controlled Texas State Board of Education this week rejected most of the proposed textbooks that include climate science for eighth grade students. Five of 12 were approved.

If elected next year, Woodfill also plans to run for House speaker. His campaign accuses his 2024 opponent, conservative state Rep. Lacey Hull, of conspiring with incumbent Speaker Dade Phelan to work against conservatives.

The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents named the former dean and four-star general as the sole finalist for president Friday. Many believe Welsh is the right person to move the university forward after a pair of controversies bruised the school’s morale.

Despite intense political pressure, Republican Rep. Gary VanDeaver said he won’t support a bill that includes school vouchers. Rural Republicans like VanDeaver have long opposed school vouchers because of the unique role public schools they play in their communities.

The outcome was an embarrassment to Gov. Greg Abbott, who spent seven months lobbying two dozen Republicans who signaled opposition to vouchers in April.

Judges overturned a state air pollution permit that was issued last year, arguing that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality illegally enabled Port Arthur LNG to avoid emissions control requirements.

Renteria’s attorneys unsuccessfully argued that the El Paso District Attorney’s Office violated his constitutional rights by not releasing all documents in his case. He was the eight person executed in Texas in 2023.

Last year, Texas joined more than 30 other states in banning TikTok on government-issued cell phones and computers. A nationwide coalition of professors are suing the state over the ban, arguing it has limited their ability to teach and research the social media app.

The legal battle stems from the attorney general’s unsuccessful 2020 lawsuit that leaned heavily on discredited claims of election fraud in other states. Paxton’s lawyers argue that the bar’s lawsuit is an attempt to control how he runs his office.

Mexico said Texas’ Senate Bill 4 will violate the human rights of Mexican immigrants living in Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott said he plans to sign the proposal into law.

Livingston and Jasper residents hope a lawsuit will force their municipality-operated utility company to offer lower rates and create more transparency in setting rates. They’re among the 5 million Texans living outside the state’s deregulated market and cannot choose their energy provider.

At a recent conference that featured a sitting state senator, so-called “TEXIT” supporters celebrated their movement’s incremental gains.

The Texas House also voted to spend $1.5 billion on new state border walls, though that measure must be reconciled with the Senate version before it’s sent to Gov. Greg Abbott for consideration.

Voters in several Texas cities have sought to decriminalize marijuana. However, their efforts have been met by reluctant city councils that say they can’t go against state law.

Thirteen Texas Republicans opposed the GOP-led legislation, which would keep the government funded as Congress negotiates federal appropriations. The bill passed after nearly all Democrats came to back it.

Reporter Eleanor Klibanoff and photojournalist Shelby Tauber talked with Tribune editor Terri Langford about their reporting on a story of a 26-year-old Texan who was told her twin sons had a zero percent chance of survival after childbirth.

Fallon, who made the decision 24 hours after filing to run for his old Texas Senate seat, did not say why he changed his mind. His staff said the congressperson would provide more information later.

Lawyers for employees fired by Paxton’s office after they reported him to the FBI say they plan to begin issuing subpoenas in the case.

Twenty women are challenging the state’s abortion laws, saying they were unable to get the health care they needed for their medically complex pregnancies.

As oil and gas companies struggle to dispose of their wastewater in the Permian Basin, the city of Midland is challenging applications for disposal wells near one of its drinking water sources.

Fallon served in the Texas Senate for two years before running for Congress. He won’t see reelection in the U.S. House.

A&M System Chancellor John Sharp will recommend Welsh, a retired Air Force general, as the sole finalist for the job at a Board of Regents meeting later this week. Welsh has held the position in the interim since July.

Aaron Nielson will take a one-year leave of absence from BYU’s law school to lead the influential unit within the attorney general’s office.

The ban applies to all private businesses, including health care facilities like hospitals, which can jeopardize the health of those with compromised immune systems or other underlying conditions.

Indigenous ranchers in Texas are receiving help from nonprofits to rebuild bison herds in the state. One family in Sulphur Springs that received five bison last month invited Texas tribal members to see the herd in person.

Thousands of Texans rallied in front of the state Capitol Sunday to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, where the death toll has surpassed 10,000 people.

The buyout amount is the largest in college sports history.

After Max Hightower scored a role in the seminal American musical, administrators changed their policy on performers’ gender. After backlash, the school board directed the school to produce the original version “Oklahoma!” — not a youth version that cut Hightower’s solo.

The two new measure could bring $1.3 billion more to schools to pay for security systems, fencing and personnel training.

The committee action means school voucher legislation is poised to get its first House floor vote in recent history. Gov. Greg Abbott said if the Legislature fails to pass it this time, he will continue to call them back into session until they do.

The uptick comes after community colleges saw enrollment drop by about 80,000 students between 2019 and 2021.

Castro, the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, has made improving discussion of Latinos and Latino issues in politics a focus of his time in office.

The Martinsville Independent School District used a federal grant to replace four buses, which started transporting students last month. The principal believes he will save enough money on gas to hire a new teacher.

The Senate revved to life Thursday, holding committee hearings with little advance notice and advancing four bills that satisfy Abbott’s agenda.

House Bill 1, which stagnated during the previous special session, finally received a hearing in the lower chamber, a crucial step that will decide whether the proposal gets a full vote.

The neighboring regions are projected to collectively grow from 5.2 million to 8.3 million people by 2050. But the state still lacks an overarching plan to address critical housing and transportation issues, experts said.

The legislation behind the historic investment directs state agencies to send money to the state’s smaller, cash-strapped towns that have difficulty paying for upgrades. Federal money is also expected to flow to regions that need broadband.

The voter approval rate for school maintenance and construction costs dipped in 2021 after lawmakers required school boards to call them “tax increases.”

A full 30-day session amounts to about $1 million in per diem payments to lawmakers, which are meant to cover their expenses in Austin.

The 5.2 magnitude earthquake is tied for the fourth strongest in Texas history. It occurred in an area where oilfield companies have long been injecting wastewater from fracking underground.