Texas Tribune Brief

Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan will set aside about $35 billion for Texas projects

The funds will help advance existing plans, pay for much-needed repairs and launch other projects for roads, bridges, broadband access, electric vehicle charging stations and more.

Unvaccinated Texans make up vast majority of COVID-19 cases and deaths this year, new state data shows

The new state survey is the first time Texas health officials have been able to statistically measure the vaccine's true impact on the pandemic.

U.S. reopens land borders with Mexico to vaccinated travelers

The ports of entry were closed for 19 months in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19. Mexican nationals will need to present proof of vaccination to enter the U.S.

U.S. Justice Department sues Texas over new voting law

Republican Texas lawmakers passed sweeping legislation this year to further restrict the state’s voting process and narrow local control of elections.

In latest blunder, charges dropped against migrants arrested in Texas governor’s border crackdown because of faulty paperwork

The migrants were arrested for trespassing, but court documents failed to specify what property they allegedly trespassed upon. It’s the latest misstep in implementation of Greg Abbott’s border initiative, which has seen frequent violations of state law and disregard for due process rights.

Election results in Texas

Texas voters decided on eight proposed changes to the state’s Constitution. Voters in the San Antonio area chose a new Texas House member. And Austin voted down hiring more police officers.

Key U.S. Supreme Court justices express concern about Texas abortion law’s enforcement

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday grilled attorneys for abortion providers, the federal government and Texas over the state’s near-total abortion ban — and possibly hinted at support for allowing at least one legal challenge to the law to stand.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments over Texas’ near-total abortion ban Monday.

The high court’s proceedings will focus on how Senate Bill 8 is enforced. It’s hard to predict what the court could decide, but its ruling will likely determine the future of abortion in Texas and shape the legal battles to come.

For Texans who want a child but have difficult pregnancies, the new abortion law just made that journey even harder

Genetic testing allows Texans to find out early if their baby has a fatal condition. But often by the time they do find out, they will no longer have the right to terminate that pregnancy under the new state law.

How Texas Republicans moved beyond a bathroom bill to successfully ban transgender athletes from school sports

In 2017, conservative lawmakers failed to pass legislation targeting transgender Texans. Things were different this year.

FDA panel recommends approval of the Pfizer vaccine for kids ages 5-11.

The move opens the door to emergency use approval by the FDA. In Texas, about 2.9 million children would be newly eligible if that happens.

Gov. Greg Abbott signs off on Texas’ new political maps, which protect GOP majorities while diluting voices of voters of color

Texas lawmakers drew new maps for the state House and Senate, congressional delegation and State Board of Education. Here’s what Texans should know about the 2021 redistricting outcomes.

Universities in Texas with federal contracts are grappling with competing vaccine mandates from the state and federal government

Many of Texas’ higher learning institutions, which have collectively received billions of dollars in federal contracts, are trying to figure out whether they need to require employees to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. An executive order from President Joe Biden that requires all federal contractors to get a shot goes into effect soon but Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has already banned such directives in the state.

Gov. Greg Abbott’s pick for top Texas election post worked with Trump to fight 2020 results

As secretary of state, Fort Worth attorney John Scott would oversee election administration in Texas.

U.S. Senate Republicans block federal voting rights legislation that would override Texas’ restrictions

In their latest push to lift state-level voting restrictions, Senate Democrats failed to secure the 60 votes required to break a filibuster on the Freedom to Vote Act.

Republicans say Texas’ new political maps are “race blind.” To some voters of color, that translates as political invisibility.

With partisan fervor, Republicans drew new maps for Congress and the Legislature that dilute the power of voters of color. Now the lawsuits begin, as groups that feel marginalized battle for representation in the halls of power.

Legislators pass most — but not all — of Gov. Greg Abbott’s priority measures in final flurry of lawmaking

Lawmakers approved new political maps and decided how to spend COVID-19 relief money. But they didn’t pass bills about vaccine mandates or the criminal penalty for illegal voting.

Texans will decide eight proposed amendments to the state Constitution on Nov. 2.

Two proposed amendments — one regarding religious services and another related to nursing home visitors — stem from restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Early voting begins Oct. 18.

GOP primary foe Don Huffines sees impact as Gov. Greg Abbott pushes rightward

Huffines has been the most vocal fellow Republican taking on Abbott, pressuring him over his COVID-19 response, the border and other hot-button issues.

U.S. Department of Justice investigating abuse, mistreatment at Texas’ juvenile lockups

The department says it’s looking into whether the Texas Juvenile Justice Department provides “reasonable protection from physical and sexual abuse by staff and other residents, excessive use of chemical restraints and excessive use of isolation.”

Gov. Greg Abbott bans any COVID-19 vaccine mandates — including for private employers

Appeals court allows Texas abortion law to resume, stopping federal judge’s order to block its enforcement

Because of the way the law is written, it appears that clinics and doctors who performed abortions outlawed by the statute even while the block was in effect would now be vulnerable to lawsuits.

This undocumented young Texan faces uncertainty after DACA applications are closed

A University of Texas at Austin student who planned to apply to an Obama-era initiative for immigrants who came to America as children is stuck in limbo after a Texas judge halted the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

At least one major Texas abortion provider resumes procedure lawmakers tried to prohibit, after judge blocks near-total ban

The ruling late Wednesday from a U.S. District Judge doesn’t protect providers who perform abortions while the Texas law makes its way through the courts.

Texas' near-total abortion ban is temporarily blocked by a federal judge, spurring the state to quickly appeal

It wasn't immediately clear how the order may affect access to abortions in the state. The law is constructed in a way that people who violate it could be liable to litigation if enforcement is reinstated.

Texas prosecutor drops charges after migrants claim they were marched to private property, then arrested for trespassing

The Texas Department of Public Safety and U.S. Border Patrol insist the 11 men, arrested under Gov. Greg Abbott's border initiative, weren't set up for trespassing charges. But a county attorney decided the case was too muddled to prosecute.

Two Black members of Congress decry redistricting map that pits them against each other as discriminatory

Despite the objections of U.S. Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee and Al Green, a Senate committee voted out a redrawn congressional map Monday without addressing the overlap in their Houston districts. The map heads next to the full Senate for a vote.

Schools in Texas have reported more coronavirus cases in two months than they did in the entire 2020-21 school year

Two months into this school year, districts have reported 172,275 cases in students. But state data on school cases is incomplete and likely an undercount.

Texas House proposes map that increases Republican strength and decreases Black and Hispanic majority districts

The Texas Legislature is in the midst of its third special session, which is dedicated to redrawing political maps based on the latest census data that showed people of color fueled 95% of Texas’ population growth over the past decade.

State of Texas appears to be paying a secretive Republican political operative $120,000 annually to work behind the scenes on redistricting

Adam Foltz, now on the Texas payroll, played a key role in Wisconsin's redistricting last decade. A federal court threw out some of the maps and called the effort Foltz was involved in "an all but shameful attempt to hide the redistricting process from public scrutiny."

Court orders release of more than 200 migrants imprisoned in Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security clampdown

The men were arrested by state troopers and held for weeks without facing formal charges, a violation of state law. It’s the latest misfire in Abbott’s hastily assembled effort to involve Texas in patrolling the border.

Legislators in Texas reduce congressional districts that are majority Black or Hispanic, despite people of color fueling population growth

The proposed congressional map also increases the number of districts where Trump had a majority of voters over Biden in 2020 and protects Republican incumbents who might have been vulnerable by packing their districts with more Trump voters.

Migrants arrested by Texas in border crackdown are being imprisoned for weeks without legal help or formal charges

Defense attorneys have started asking courts to set migrants free because local justice systems, overwhelmed by arrests under Gov. Greg Abbott's border security push, are routinely violating state law and constitutional due process rights.

Abortion providers in Texas ask U.S. Supreme Court to fast-track their challenge to state’s near-total abortion ban

The Supreme Court had previously declined to block the law but didn't rule on its constitutionality.

Troopers create “steel wall” of patrol vehicles in Del Rio as feds continue to repatriate Haitians

Gov. Greg Abbott says the line of law enforcement and military vehicles is stopping migrants from crossing the Rio Grande into Del Rio, where the number of migrants camped under a bridge keeps dropping.

Texas’ ban on school mask mandates draws federal investigation for possibly violating the rights of students with disabilities

The U.S. Department of Education announced the inquiry days after the Texas Education Agency quietly updated its guidance to say school districts can’t require masks.

Doctor who admitted to violating Texas’ near-total abortion ban sued under new law

The lawsuit comes after Dr. Alan Braid said he performed an abortion prohibited by the law earlier this month. Braid said he was motivated by a “duty of care.”

Texas Republicans have the redistricting tools to preserve their power. The process begins Monday.

Lawmakers must redraw the state's political maps to account for a decade's worth of growth, but the process leaves enough room for political manipulation. Here's how it'll work.

Delta variant, lax mask policies delay Plano family’s return to school

Parents remain divided over whether to require masks in the classroom. For Carmen Campbell, there’s just too much uncertainty right now to feel comfortable sending her son back. Listen in the weekend edition of The Brief podcast.

Gov. Greg Abbott backpedals on pledge to shut down border crossings and blames Biden administration for confusion

Abbott’s announcements come as thousands of migrants — mostly from Haiti — have gathered under an international bridge in Del Rio.

State of Texas abortion ban prompts push in Congress to pass federal reproductive rights bill, while renewing filibuster feud

U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced the House will take up the Women's Health Protection Act of 2021 in late September, but the bill faces steep odds in the Senate.

New report says,Texas foster care children exposed to sexual abuse, given wrong medication and neglected in unlicensed placements

The federal judge overseeing the decadelong lawsuit against Texas for conditions in its foster care system cut this week’s hearing short. She proposed all parties involved, including the governor, “cut to the chase” to identify solutions.

Gulf Coast prepares for heavy rainfall, flash flooding as Tropical Storm Nicholas batters Texas

Gov. Greg Abbott signed a disaster declaration in three cities and 17 counties in the storm's path.

How El Paso has escaped the worst of the COVID-19 delta variant surge

High vaccination rates, geography and a sense of community in the wake of Walmart shootings help keep El Paso’s delta numbers low, experts and locals say. www.texastribune.org

President Joe Biden says Texas’ new abortion law “unleashes unconstitutional chaos”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the Supreme Court's decision not to halt the law "an injustice" and Vice President Kamala Harris promised the administration would defend abortion rights.

State of Texas law banning abortion as early as six weeks goes into effect as the U.S. Supreme Court takes no action

President Joe Biden denounced the implementation of SB 8 saying his “administration is deeply committed to the constitutional right established in Roe v. Wade.”

Republican bill tightening Texas election laws is headed to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk

Senate Bill 1 rewrites Texas election laws to further restrict the voting-by-mail process and outlaw local voting initiatives meant to widen access, namely those pushed by Harris County that were disproportionately used by voters of color.

Abortion providers appeal to U.S. Supreme Court in last-ditch effort to block new Texas law banning the procedure as early as six weeks

The law, which is one of the most restrictive in the country, will take effect Wednesday.

As the second special session of the Texas Legislature comes to an end, lawmakers are close to passing much of Gov. Greg Abbott’s conservati

Lawmakers have less than a week remaining.

Legislators in Texas advance new voting restrictions as Democratic hopes of killing the legislation wane

Democrats used every tool they had, fleeing the state en masse and forcing two special sessions, but a Republican bill to rewrite state election laws won initial approval in the House Thursday. Once the House and Senate work out some differences, it appears headed to the governor's desk.