Twenty-five prospective legislators have signed a pledge to block Democrats—who now hold 43 percent of the seats—from all influence in the lower chamber and neuter the next Speaker.
The North Texas state senator voted to acquit the attorney general in September but has called for new proceedings to evaluate Paxton’s fitness for office.
House leadership–backed Jill Dutton defeated anti-impeachment voucher proponent Brent Money in a special Texas House election.
Competing factions of the GOP have turned a small-stakes Texas House runoff into an all-out proxy war.
The law, which would have required booksellers to rate every book they sold to school libraries, was overturned by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The front-runner for the Democratic Senate nomination to challenge Ted Cruz is raising gobs of money without traveling the state much—a strategy seemingly favored by the national party.
The lieutenant governor has made himself the state’s most commanding politician. But with great power has come great irresponsibility.
Traditionally, the capitol building has housed a gigantic tree. This year's is much more meager.
In 1999 lawmakers radically altered the electricity marketplace. We can all breathe easier—literally—because of it.
The Houston exurb offers cheap land to hardworking families. But some in the GOP see the benefit in demonizing the migrants who’ve moved there.
After right-wing activist Jonathan Stickland hosted Nick Fuentes in his office, many in the GOP have attacked Stickland’s critics.
HB 2127, which strips municipalities of regulatory authority, was intended to target liberal cities. So why are conservative mayors so upset?
The governor has long suffered from the reputation that he’s a policy lightweight. He’s turning it around this year in five easy steps.
Two high-profile workplace complaints made headlines at the Capitol this year, but insiders say others against Houston representative Shawn Thierry have been ignored.
The state’s top attorney will be suspended from duties, pending a trial in the Texas Senate.
HB 590 wants only honey “exclusively” made in Texas to be labeled as “Texas honey,” but that’s not as sweet a deal as it seems.
The attorney general, under indictment since 2015, now faces potential impeachment from the Texas House.
Legal sports gambling in the state still faces a long and complicated path that would require a constitutional amendment.
Progressive faith leaders and women’s health advocates are adopting the messaging to push for a 12-month Medicaid extension for postpartum care.
After learning that their long-awaited baby wouldn’t survive childbirth, two parents suffered the pain of finding maternal health care out of state.
Amid a debate over competing property tax–relief plans, the lieutenant governor isn’t holding back. But is “California Dade” a good insult?
Last month, the entire full-time staff of the state representative from Houston resigned. They broke their silence to tell Texas Monthly their story.
A right-wing First Amendment lawyer is representing a plaintiff suing representative Jeff Leach of Plano for harsh tweets about a TEXIT backer.
Families of Texas mass shooting victims waited more than twelve hours to testify on a bill that would raise the age to purchase certain guns.
There are fewer gay bars in Texas today than there were in the eighties. Owners of those that remain say they aren’t going anywhere.
Fentanyl killed more than 5,000 Texans last year. The Legislature is taking the epidemic seriously, but first responders and policy experts are skeptical.
In the ongoing push to preempt progressive policies at the local level, the GOP-controlled Legislature could undo protections against predatory payday lending.
Legislators and staffers have been cavorting in one of Austin’s most dimly lit establishments.
Senator Bob Hall’s bill is an unusual measure to address a nonexistent issue.
The ways of the Texas Legislature are confoundingly weird. Here’s a guide to the madness.
Senfronia Thompson and Tom Craddick are two of the longest-serving Texas legislators—and two of the most collegial . . . usually.
Republicans in the Texas House and Senate have filed a blizzard of bills seeking to crack down on alleged voter fraud and increase state control over elections. Here’s an annotated guide.
State leaders used to invite coverage of their activity. Now the Texas Legislature is making reporting more difficult than ever.
State leaders have campaigned in 2022 on saving Texas children from threats real and imagined. All the while, we’ve been selling them out.
. . . and other key Texas Lege results from the primary runoffs.
Greg Abbott wins the GOP nomination outright, Ken Paxton is heading to a runoff against George P. Bush, and democratic socialists running for U.S. House have a good night.
Texas’s “abortion bounty” law makes it more difficult for courts to review measures that might violate the Constitution. Now California is using the same tactic to regulate weapons.
Not only does TX-33 in Dallas look like a snake eating its own tail, it also packs non-Anglo voters into one district more tightly than before.
GOP mapmakers have two new congressional seats to play with as the redistricting process commences, but ensuring they both go—and stay—Republican will be challenging.
COVID outbreaks, covert vacations, anger at President Biden, and the other rich subplots in House Democrats’ attempt to block a restrictive state voting law.
Buried in the GOP proposal is a requirement that could—whether by intention or just sloppy legislative work—disenfranchise thousands of voters.
Primary challengers say Texas’s governor is weak. The failure to pass new restrictions on voting, a GOP priority, will add fuel to their criticism.
Fearing primary challenges, GOP lawmakers focused mostly on wedge issues such as guns and abortion, rather than the COVID-19 pandemic and the failure of the state’s electric grid.
After weeks of debating how to best combat the voting-restriction legislation, Democrats find a rare, though likely temporary, victory.
Before a Democratic walkout blocked the passage of an "election integrity" bill in the Texas Lege, members of the partnership had split over how to respond to the legislation.
The state's energy business has long counted on tax breaks and other largesse. Whether renewables or fossil fuels get more depends on how you do the math.
Greg Abbott signed a bill banning abortion once a heartbeat can be detected and letting Texans sue those who “aid and abet” a woman getting the procedure.
Members of the minority party knew they didn’t have the votes to kill Senate Bill 7, but won a few useful amendments behind closed doors.
A House bill doesn’t identify the capital city by name, but would make it the lone municipality in Texas whose noise ordinances are set by the Lege.
The lieutenant governor is no stranger to forcing votes on controversial issues, but a new gun bill the House passed has concerned some members of his Senate caucus.
