News & Politics
June 15, 2021
Did Lawmakers Fix Texas’s Electric Grid?
Governor Greg Abbott said the Lege has done everything necessary to prevent future blackouts. We ask four experts whether that’s true.
TX Lege
Health
May 14, 2021
Turn On, Tune In, Feel Better: The Rise of Psychedelic Therapy in Texas
As clinics across the state offer ketamine therapy for depression, a bill would fund further studies on MDMA use and psilocybin for PTSD treatment of vets.
Politics & Policy
April 10, 2013
Crash Test
Over the past two decades a movement to increase the importance of standardized testing in public schools has swept across the country. It was born in Texas. Is Texas also where it might die?
News & Politics
January 21, 2013
20 Sessions
A brief history of every Legislature we’ve ever covered.
News & Politics
January 21, 2013
Hall of Fame
Hugo Berlanga D–Corpus ChristiTenure: Representative from 1977 to 1999Number of times on the Best list: 3I was the first Hispanic speaker pro tempore in the history of the House. I served under Gib Lewis, and he later told me that the reason he selected me is that he needed someone
Politics & Policy
January 20, 2013
Between the Lines
Ah, redistricting—that partisan, vengeful, hazardous battle for domination the Legislature fights every decade. Here we go again.
Politics & Policy
January 20, 2013
Let There Be Right
The Republicans whipped the Democrats in November. Now what are they going to do?
Politics & Policy
January 20, 2013
Dollars and Sense
When the Legislature meets in January, lawmakers know they won’t be able to cut their way to a balanced budget. Instead, they should do what a certain Republican governor did more than twenty years ago: raise taxes.
Politics & Policy
January 20, 2013
The Eighteen Billion Dollar Man
Texas is facing an unprecedented deficit in the next legislative session, so to help our poor, overworked elected officials, I went ahead and balanced the budget for them. And good Lord! It wasn’t pretty.
News & Politics
January 20, 2013
Business as Usual
Who’s the toughest opponent for Republicans who want to crack down on illegal immigration? Other Republicans.
News & Politics
January 20, 2013
A Q&A With Nate Blakeslee
The Democrats will most certainly fight the Republicans over immigration reform legislation this session, but the Republican’s biggest opponents are powerful interests within their own party. Nate Blakeslee talks about grassroot efforts, tea party champions, and why immigration has become one of the most important issues facing our state.
Politics & Policy
January 20, 2013
Show Me the Money
Paul Burka talks about cutting $18 billion from the Texas budget, separating the essential from the nonessential, and spending money on bricks and mortar.
The Culture
December 1, 2012
5 Things You’ll Be Talking About in December
1. When Tea Parties Attack! Article III, Section 9, of the constitution of the state of Texas tells us that when a new session of the House of Representatives is seated, its first order of business is to elect a Speaker. What the constitution doesn’t tell us is that the Speaker’s
Politics & Policy
July 31, 2012
Mothers, Sisters, Daughters, Wives
Read this National Magazine Award-winning story about how the Legislature slashed funding for women’s health programs in 2011 and launched an all-out war on Planned Parenthood that has dramatically changed the state’s priorities. The battle continues raging, and the stakes could not be higher.
Politics & Policy
June 30, 2012
Right to Strife
In Republican-dominated Texas, the May 29 primary might as well have been the general election. And what it revealed is a party perfectly capable of doing battle with itself, no Democrats required.
Politics & Policy
February 1, 2012
Mappily Ever After
Once again, redistricting has devolved into a bitter, partisan, confusing, chaotic mess. But take heart, voters! There is a better way.
News & Politics
June 30, 2011
Capitol Affair
How architecture changed the balance of power at the Legislature and other observations from my three decades covering Texas politics.
Politics & Policy
February 1, 2011
Who’s the Boss?
The Speaker’s race in the Texas House wasn’t just about Joe Straus. It was about two competing visions of democracy.
Politics & Policy
February 1, 2011
Session Up
This issue went to press four days before the start of the most important legislative session of our lifetime, when lawmakers face, in addition to the testy, high-stakes business of redistricting and the supercharged debate over immigration and voter ID, an epic fiscal crisis: a budget shortfall of up to