The 2025 Texas Legislature is over. See how far some of the most consequential bills made it.
Get up to date on the status of the session’s major bills, including some on their way to the governor’s desk. Full Story
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Featured coverage
Weary from COVID deaths, Hispanic Texans embraced vaccines. It saved their lives.
In the deadly summer of 2020, Hispanics in Texas were half of all COVID-19 deaths, spurring many to vaccinate. Today, in a startling flip, Hispanics make up less than a quarter of deaths from the disease. Full Story
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Texas school districts got their first A-F grades in five years. See how your school did here.
The Texas Education Agency released the 2022-23 school year ratings on Thursday after a 19-month legal battle over how those ratings are calculated. Full Story
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Texas is running out of water. Here’s why and what state leaders plan to do about it.
The state’s water supply faces numerous threats. And by one estimate, the state’s municipal supply will not meet demand by 2030 if there’s a severe drought and no water solutions are implemented. Full Story
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Latest coverage
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The one thing Texas won’t do to save its water supply
Texas property owners can use nearly as much water under their land as they want. That’s unlikely to change even as the state approaches a crisis. Full Story
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![High Plains Underground Water District field technician supervisor Billy Barron, left, and IT and permit administrator Gray Sanders measure a well, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, outside of Slaton.]()
Credit: Annie Rice for The Texas Tribune -
The fastest-growing city in the U.S. is in Texas, and it’s not the one you’re thinking of
With Princeton leading the Texas pack, the state continues to set the pace for the rest of the nation, with seven of the 15 fastest-growing cities. Full Story
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![The Dallas skyline from the Top o' Texas Tower ride at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas on Oct. 14, 2024.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Texas megadonor Alex Fairly joined forces with the GOP’s ultraconservative wing. He didn’t like what he saw.
Fairly, an Amarillo businessman, backed many candidates aligned with conservative West Texas billionaire Tim Dunn’s political operation in 2024. Now he’s disavowing what he says are dishonest and aggressive campaign tactics while pondering his path forward. Full Story
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![Alex Fairly speaks to Amarillo residents during a Conservative Patriots 4 Texas meeting on Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Amarillo.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
Can Texas clean up fracking water enough to use for farming? One company thinks so.
The Texas Legislature has also invested millions in research to clean the fracking wastewater. Critics say it’s not a viable solution to the state’s water crisis. Full Story
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![Technical Research & Development Manager Adrianne Lopez gives a tour of the Texas Pacific Water Resources’ project site greenhouse on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, outside of Midland.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
1 in 5 Texas schools got a D or F rating under new performance standards
Failing grades for districts were made public for the first time since 2019. They showed schools with the poorest students were more likely to get a low score. Full Story
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![A Nimitz Middle School student raises their hand during class Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023 in Odessa.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Texas measles cases grow to 742. Track the spread here.
Four more cases were reported in the last week from the ongoing measles outbreak connected to West Texas. Full Story
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![An editorial art for the West Texas measles outbreak tracker.]()
Credit: Yuriko Schumacher/The Texas Tribune -
East Texans united to stop a water sale to Dallas suburbs — for now
After a deal to pipe water from Lake O’ the Pines to North Texas came to light, residents voiced opposition everywhere they could to block it. Full Story
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![Mary Spearmon holds two of her grandchildren, Malikyi and Alajiah Elliott, at Hurricane Creek Park on the Lake o’ the Pines, where she would come with her late husband and their growing family to fish and enjoy the water, on April 9, 2025. “What about our future generations, our grandchildren and great grandchildren? What are they going to have if they take the lake?”]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
See how Texas House members voted on school vouchers
The House approved historic legislation that would implement school vouchers in Texas. Here’s how each representative voted. Full Story
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![Texas House of Representatives Members vote on an amendment for Senate Bill 2 in the House Chamber in Austin on April 16, 2025.]()
Credit: Kaylee Greenlee for The Texas Tribune -
See what each Texas state employee is paid: Search our updated database.
The Texas Tribune’s database of Texas state employees’ compensation is updated to represent salaries as of April 1. Full Story
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![Government Salaries Explorer]()
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To avoid a water crisis, Texas may bet big on desalination. Here’s how it works in El Paso.
Desalination can create millions of gallons of fresh water a day. But it is expensive and there are many environmental concerns. Full Story
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![An illustration of a glass of water, superimposed over reverse osmosis filters from El Paso's Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant.]()
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Explore Texas public schools’ college readiness, demographics and teacher salaries
Use our database to learn about Texas public school districts and campuses, including hundreds of charter schools and alternative campuses. Data is the most recent available. Full Story
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![School supplies are individually bagged in each cubbie in a classroom at Ott Elementary School on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020 in San Antonio.]()
Credit: Allie Goulding/The Texas Tribune -
A Texas school leader says material about diversity in state-approved textbooks violated the law.
The decision to strip chapters from books that had already won the approval of the state’s Republican-controlled board of education represents an escalation in how local school boards run by ideological conservatives influence what children learn. Full Story
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![People are seen from behind as the sit in auditorium chairs and hold up signs, including one that says “Let trans kids grow up.” They are facing a row of eight people at a high table, six of whom are raising a hand.]()
Credit: Danielle Villasana for ProPublica and The Texas Tribune -
How couriers changed the playing field of the Texas Lottery
Lottery couriers have gained newfound scrutiny in Texas after Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick raised questions about the use of a courier to sell an $83.5 million jackpot ticket. Full Story
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![Texas Lottery cards in a 7-Eleven in Central Austin on Feb 20, 2025.]()
Credit: Leila Saidane for The Texas Tribune -
Texas officials’ claim that school funding is at an all-time high ignores inflation and temporary federal money
A Tribune analysis also found the state’s share of the funds that schools receive per student significantly decreased in the last decade until recently. Full Story
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Credit: Yuriko Schumacher/The Texas Tribune -
Texas conservatives are using school board elections to exert influence over what students learn
In six Texas districts that used at-large voting systems, ideologically driven groups successfully helped elect school board members who have moved aggressively to ban or remove educational materials that teach children about diversity. Full Story
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![Keller Independent School District’s Board of Trustees listens to public comment during a meeting on Dec. 19. Board members are elected using an at-large voting system that dilutes the power of voters of color, according to a lawsuit.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune and ProPublica -
After COVID, Texas is less prepared for the next pandemic
Five years after Texas’ first COVID death, the state spends less on public health, vaccination rates have dropped and a distrust of authority has taken hold. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Diana Branzan for The Texas Tribune -
In Texas, private firms cash in on property tax late fees, piling debt onto struggling homeowners
Texans who fall behind on their property taxes face one of the most punitive systems in the nation, where private collection companies can tack up to 20% onto their bill. Full Story
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![Sarah Rojo disscuses hardships of being delinquent property taxpayers on Febuary, 23 2025 in Gardendale, Texas.]()
Credit: Callie Cummings for The Texas Tribune -
Voucher bills want to prioritize low-income families and be open to all students. Those goals might be at odds.
Neither of the Legislature’s voucher bills require private schools to accept certain students, which some warn could block the neediest children from access. Full Story
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![Children draw self-portraits at the Rowlett Public Library in Rowlett, TX on October 26, 2023. The self portrait is part of a “hero’s journey” activity run by the mothers where the daughters think about who they are, what makes them special, and what they want to become.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
How the Supreme Court of the United States and federal courts work and affect Texans
Here’s how federal courts help determine the fate of controversial issues, such as immigration laws, in Texas and beyond. Full Story
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![The United States Federal Courthouse in Austin on June 9, 2023.]()
Credit: Joe Timmerman/The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers want to make it easier to convert office space into apartments and condos
Supporters hope easing zoning rules will entice landlords to renovate and ease the state’s housing crisis. Full Story
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![A view of downtown Dallas from The Tower Club on the 48th floor of the Santander Tower in downtown Dallas, on Nov. 07, 2023. Texas metros have a glut of vacant offices space driven by the rise of remote work, overbuilding and other factors during the pandemic. One option companies are doing to combat the changes, is to convert office space into residential housing.]()
Credit: Ben Torres for The Texas Tribune