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Texas Legislature

When the AI Cloud Comes for Texas Water

Legislators are (sort of) beginning to grapple with the grim costs that come with the state’s data center boom.

by Miranda Williamson

Keep Reading

Could This State Senate Runoff Be a Tipping Point for Tarrant County?

by Tyler Hicks

Texas’ Top Voucher Vendor Taps Abbott Allies in Contract Bid, Program Rollout

by Justin Miller

Police ‘Secrecy Grab’ Dies After Senate Refuses Uvalde Compromise

by Michelle Pitcher

Dec 12, 2024

Will Texas Finally Wind Down Border Security Spending?

Top state officials have already made promises that, under Trump, money can be shifted to education. But that didn’t happen last time.

by Francesca D’Annunzio

Nov 07, 2024

‘They Bought a Legislature’: What the GOP’s Gains Mean for Vouchers in Texas

Republicans nearly ran the table in state House races, shoring up Governor Abbott’s school voucher majority for the 2025 session.

by Josephine Lee

Nov 06, 2024

Texas House Dems Trip Over Their Own Low Bar

On Tuesday, the most modest of boasts became famous last words for the lower chamber’s dwindling Ds.

by Justin Miller

Oct 23, 2024

In San Antonio, House Races Could Determine Future of Public Ed and Vouchers 

Abbott-induced financial crises in public school districts are at the center of key legislative elections in Bexar County and beyond.

by Josephine Lee

Dade Phelan, a white man in a suit and tie, prepares to bang his gavel. Behind him is a light board showing how different representatives vote on the current bill. Mar 26, 2024

Dade Phelan’s Efforts to Expand Healthcare Still Leave Many Struggling in His District

The House speaker has never backed full Medicaid expansion, and GOP resistance could now harden.

by Kim Krisberg

Mar 11, 2024

The Booksellers’ Revolt

The READER Act would have required vendors to rate books on "explicitness" before selling to schools—and blacklisted those that didn't comply.

by Matthew Patin

Four uniformed Texas national guard troops stand near a Texas Department of Public Safety SUV, near barbed wire which stands at the border with Mexico in El Paso. Mar 01, 2024

Federal Judge Halts Texas Deportation Law

"Surges in immigration do not constitute an 'invasion' within the meaning of the Constitution."

by Gus Bova

The March/April issue of the Texas Observer, featuring some of our best work in 2023. The cover depicts a cartoon of young boy dressed as a militia member. Dec 26, 2023

Top 20 Stories From the Year We Nearly Went Under

After roaring back with an issue on women’s health, we exposed heat deaths at Tesla and USPS, went after Angela Paxton, and broke news on queer rights.

by Lise Olsen and Gabriel Arana

Dec 14, 2023

Texas Is Challenging 150 Years of Immigration Law

Senate Bill 4 could be the vehicle for the U.S. Supreme Court to finally unleash Lone Star Republicans on the world’s huddled masses.

by Gus Bova

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