TDCJ, which estimates climate control will cost $1.5 billion, said the federal judge’s order imposes “chaos and confusion” on the country’s largest prison system.
Johnson is hoping enough moderates are tired of Paxton-era culture wars to cross party lines. His GOP opponent, Mayes Middleton, is running as the outgoing incumbent’s ideological heir.
Lawyers for Jamaal Howard are asking Gov. Greg Abbott for a 30-day reprieve after two lethal injections failed to kill Christa Pike, leaving her hospitalized.
The updated 2026 election ballot tool is a major expansion and part of The Texas Tribune's mission to help Texans shape the future.
The ranch has been owned by an East Texas family for more than 80 years and is expected to be transferred to the state next year for development into a park.
Three seats on Texas’ 15th Court of Appeals are on the ballot in November. The court hears challenges to state laws and other consequential civil cases. Here’s what to know about the candidates.
This year’s festival featured conversations about the 2026 elections, AI, immigration, water and much more. Catch up now in podcast form.
“None of us are willing to go backwards and say, ‘Oh, well, we lost a few seats, so our policy agenda is going to change,” state Rep. Mitch Little said at last week’s Texas Tribune Festival.
State data show thousands of elementary school students receive this punishment each year.
Monday marks seven months since the U.S.-Iran war began, which has restricted oil and gas exports from the Middle East, raising prices ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
Advocates say takeovers help students in underperforming schools, while opponents argue communities lose control of their children’s education.
The beef industry has been under pressure recently from market disruptions, record high beef prices and small herd sizes. The groups say the ICE operations are another challenge for the industry.
Agriculture is the state's second largest industry. Here’s a look at the 2026 midterm candidates to oversee the agriculture department and where they stand on the issues.
The man was shot by a recent ICE recruit who was not wearing a body camera, according to news reports.
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 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.
LeJames Norman would become the fifth inmate put to death by the state this year barring a U.S. Supreme Court reprieve. His codefendant is scheduled for execution a week later.
Wayne Christian said his agency’s meeting kept him from addressing lawmakers about eliminating some public comments at the Texas Railroad Commission.
Redrawing political boundaries between the primary and general election raises serious constitutional concerns, the court said.
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.
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.
Rep. Henry Cuellar and Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina are both courting crossover support in a region where voters have been willing to defy Democratic or Republican labels.
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.
Gov. Greg Abbott was quick to criticize a similar vote last year, when he said the state may need to “micromanage” the city to protect water availability in the region.
The six-week wait for approval fits a pattern: On average, the Trump White House is taking longer than previous administrations to approve major disaster assistance, research shows.
Austin is considering new regulations for massive AI data centers amid growing concerns over their significant water and energy demands.
Lawmakers gutted an old state law that required a city council supermajority to approve a new housing development if neighbors petitioned the proposal.
Christian Castro was released a day after a federal judge rejected Minnesota’s bid to keep him jailed while Gov. Greg Abbott decides whether to sign extradition papers.
The state — which spent over $11 billion on Operation Lone Star — could receive more through a separate $3.5 billion reimbursement fund administered by the Department of Justice.
A Tribune-ProPublica investigation found Texas lawmakers repeatedly failed to take action that could have protected residents in flood-prone areas.
The Colorado district scrapped plans to use Bluebonnet materials just days into the school year.
The Trump administration declined to immediately appeal a ruling by a federal judge in Lubbock that invalidated parts of the 1934 National Firearms Act.
The Protect College Sports Act gained a burst of momentum with last week’s support from the SEC and Big Ten, but the clocking is ticking as the Senate prepares to leave town.
The sprawling district, vacated by former GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales earlier this year, went for President Trump by 15 points. But Democrats see an opening to win its Hispanic-majority electorate.
Members of the hemp industry are suing Texas, claiming that the ban on hemp-derived THC products impose an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce.
The Republican attorney general is starting a tour next week to promote the plan, which would create new housing and healthcare tax write-offs.
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.
Texas’ outgoing senator has insisted on written assurance that President Trump’s “anti-weaponization fund” is dead as a condition for voting to advance Todd Blanche’s nomination.
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.
The limited resumption will allow a southern port of entry in Arizona to reopen in phases. The move comes after 41 of 42 cases of screwworm have been reported in Texas.
Christian and Jewish leaders urged limits on using force as well as accountability for immigration agents who go too far.
“We were all thinking to ourselves, this is déjà vu. Is it really happening, and can I deal with it?” a Center Point Volunteer Fire Department chaplain said.
The buoys had forced the closure of two bridges near Eagle Pass for about three hours on Thursday when Rio Grande levels rose.
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.
ICE’s shift from using jails to find undocumented immigrants to arresting people on the streets risks violent encounters, experts say, such as the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo.
The Janice A. Pattillo Early Childhood Research Center will close classrooms in phases over the next few years, beginning with infants in the 2027-28 academic year.
Reitz, a partisan firebrand who has vowed to “destroy the left,” previously served as Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s top deputy.
Texas regulators are allowing AI data centers across the state to start up hundreds of new pollution sources with no public notice or environmental reviews.
Just 2% of Texas voters call abortion the state’s most pressing problem. Advocates are reframing the issue as one of reproductive healthcare that affects families’ pocketbooks.
The exchange represents the most well-funded challenge to the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ duopoly of U.S. stock trading.
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.
Galveston County alone is home to 22 refineries and chemical plants. Their level of emergency preparedness varies widely.
ICE detained the 56-year-old nun from Nigeria on Sunday but released her later that day after federal lawmakers intervened.
Cities and advocates are channeling support for LGBTQ+ residents into murals, lighting and rainbow-decorated sidewalks and stairs.
The system has been riddled with problems since it was updated last year. Some lawmakers and election officials want it fixed by November.
The State Board of Education approved the reading lists and K-8 social studies changes after months of debates.
The state constitution preserves public access to Texas beaches, but it doesn't give private groups the right to sue to enforce that access, the court ruled.
Allegations filed in the first five months of the new ombudsman’s work challenged course content, DEI, academic freedom and employment disputes.
Ali Danial Hemani successfully challenged a federal law prohibiting people who illegally use drugs from owning guns. Justices said that ban is a Second Amendment violation.
The more than $800,000 ad buy — the first by either candidate in the general election — continues the Austin Democrat’s push to win Latino voters as his race against GOP nominee Ken Paxton ramps up.
A U.S. General Accounting Office report found a host of problems at El Paso’s Camp East Montana, including a contractor losing a loaded gun on the property after it opened.
Conservation groups purchased nearly 300 acres in Burnet County after adding a similar-sized tract last year, giving the golden-cheeked warbler more protected habitat.
The Texas senator’s defeat to Ken Paxton sparked talk he’d join the “YOLO Caucus” of Republicans defecting from Donald Trump. This week, he sided with Senate GOP leadership on every key vote.
Menefee, 38, unseated U.S. Rep. Al Green, 78, to represent a redrawn Harris County congressional district. The men faced off after Republicans combined parts of their current districts into one.
A federal judge blocked the Texas Dream Act in June after it was challenged by the Trump administration and state officials declined to defend it.
The City Council rejected the treatment plant last year over cost and environmental concerns, but plans resurfaced as the city’s water woes continued.
The Houston hospital must set up the facility within 90 days of signing a settlement agreement with the Texas attorney general and and create a list of potential gender affirming patients, according to a document obtained by The Texas Tribune.
Andrea Pedro Francisco was scheduled to have surgery to remove an ovarian cyst in February but was detained by ICE, which has repeatedly denied her surgery. Nine doctors who reviewed her case said she’s at risk of a medical emergency.
The incumbent senator has dominated financially, thanks to an array of megadonors and dark money groups. The Tribune assembled a guide to the money behind the most expensive Senate primary ever.
As the Austin Democrat campaigns against big money in politics, he is being supported by a super PAC bankrolled by several billionaires, as well as nonprofits that do not have to disclose their funders.
The two contests are among the most closely watched U.S. House runoffs in Texas. Menefee, newly elected to Congress, faces longtime Democratic Rep. Al Green in a matchup spawned by GOP redistricting.
The latest version of the El Paso Democrat’s Dignity Act includes a key change to make it more palatable to Republicans. Some have gotten on board, but others are firmly opposed.
