Bum Steers
December 11, 2023
2024 Bum Steer of the Year: Dan Patrick
The lieutenant governor has made himself the state’s most commanding politician. But with great power has come great irresponsibility.
Texas Lege
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1-50 of 94 Articles
Politics & Policy
November 30, 2023
The Texas House Chamber Is the Latest Victim of the War on Christmas
Traditionally, the capitol building has housed a gigantic tree. This year's is much more meager.
Energy
October 18, 2023
The Year the Texas Legislature Changed the Energy Game Forever
In 1999 lawmakers radically altered the electricity marketplace. We can all breathe easier—literally—because of it.
Politics & Policy
October 16, 2023
What’s Behind the Fact-Challenged Freak-out Over Colony Ridge?
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.
Politics & Policy
October 12, 2023
First They Came for Those Who Met With Nazis
After right-wing activist Jonathan Stickland hosted Nick Fuentes in his office, many in the GOP have attacked Stickland’s critics.
Politics & Policy
September 1, 2023
Republican and Democratic Cities Band Together to Blow Up the Death Star Bill
HB 2127, which strips municipalities of regulatory authority, was intended to target liberal cities. So why are conservative mayors so upset?
Politics & Policy
July 6, 2023
How to Lose Friends and Alienate the Legislature
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.
Politics & Policy
June 22, 2023
“The Most Abusive Environment I’ve Ever Worked In”: Former Employees of a State Legislator Tell All
Two high-profile workplace complaints made headlines at the Capitol this year, but insiders say others against Houston representative Shawn Thierry have been ignored.
Politics & Policy
May 27, 2023
The Texas House Has Voted to Impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton
The state’s top attorney will be suspended from duties, pending a trial in the Texas Senate.
Agriculture
May 26, 2023
If a Texas Bee Summers in California, Is Its Honey Still Texan?
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.
Politics & Policy
May 24, 2023
Is Ken Paxton Finally in Real Trouble?
The attorney general, under indictment since 2015, now faces potential impeachment from the Texas House.
Politics & Policy
May 12, 2023
The Texas House Voted to Advance Sports Gambling. It’s Still Unlikely to Become Law.
Legal sports gambling in the state still faces a long and complicated path that would require a constitutional amendment.
Politics & Policy
May 5, 2023
Does a “Family Values” Agenda Include Keeping New Moms Healthy?
Progressive faith leaders and women’s health advocates are adopting the messaging to push for a 12-month Medicaid extension for postpartum care.
News & Politics
April 27, 2023
One Aspiring Mother’s Nightmare in Post-Roe Texas
After learning that their long-awaited baby wouldn’t survive childbirth, two parents suffered the pain of finding maternal health care out of state.
Politics & Policy
April 25, 2023
Dan Patrick Tries Out a Trumpy Nickname for Texas Speaker Dade Phelan
Amid a debate over competing property tax–relief plans, the lieutenant governor isn’t holding back. But is “California Dade” a good insult?
Politics & Policy
April 21, 2023
Sex, Threats, and Late-Night Phone Calls: The Allegations From Inside Jolanda Jones’s Legislative Office
Last month, the entire full-time staff of the state representative from Houston resigned. They broke their silence to tell Texas Monthly their story.
Politics & Policy
April 20, 2023
Texas Secessionists Rail Against Censorship. Now One Is Suing a Republican Lawmaker for Calling Her Treasonous.
A right-wing First Amendment lawyer is representing a plaintiff suing representative Jeff Leach of Plano for harsh tweets about a TEXIT backer.
Politics & Policy
April 19, 2023
“Our Resolve Has Never Been Stronger”: The Relatives of Uvalde Victims Advocate for Gun Control in the Lege
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.
Politics & Policy
April 7, 2023
As Lawmakers Turn Their Sights on Drag Shows, LGBTQ Spaces Have Been Disappearing Across Texas for Decades
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.
Politics & Policy
April 4, 2023
Texas Has Declared War on Fentanyl. Drug Experts Say It’s Making the Same Old Mistakes.
Fentanyl killed more than 5,000 Texans last year. The Legislature is taking the epidemic seriously, but first responders and policy experts are skeptical.
Politics & Policy
March 30, 2023
The Lege Could Unravel a Hard-Fought Patchwork of Protections Against Predatory Payday Lending
In the ongoing push to preempt progressive policies at the local level, the GOP-controlled Legislature could undo protections against predatory payday lending.
Politics & Policy
February 27, 2023
Inside the Karaoke Bar Where Texas Lawmakers Serenade One Another
Legislators and staffers have been cavorting in one of Austin’s most dimly lit establishments.
Politics & Policy
January 31, 2023
A Republican Lawmaker Wants to Make Sure Foods Containing Fetal Tissue—Say What?—Are Clearly Labeled
Senator Bob Hall’s bill is an unusual measure to address a nonexistent issue.
Politics & Policy
January 26, 2023
How to Survive the Texas Legislature
The ways of the Texas Legislature are confoundingly weird. Here’s a guide to the madness.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
Breaking! A Democrat and a Republican Have a Nice, Substantive Conversation
Senfronia Thompson and Tom Craddick are two of the longest-serving Texas legislators—and two of the most collegial . . . usually.
Politics & Policy
January 12, 2023
The Lege Sets Its Sights on Voting Rights (Again)
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.
Politics & Policy
January 11, 2023
Texas Lawmakers Want to Make It Harder to Know What They’re Doing
State leaders used to invite coverage of their activity. Now the Texas Legislature is making reporting more difficult than ever.
Politics & Policy
May 26, 2022
A Year of “Protecting” Children in Texas
State leaders have campaigned in 2022 on saving Texas children from threats real and imagined. All the while, we’ve been selling them out.
Politics & Policy
May 25, 2022
Anti-Trans Politics Has Won in the Texas GOP, But Its Main Figurehead Lost
. . . and other key Texas Lege results from the primary runoffs.
Politics & Policy
March 2, 2022
Results: Texas Primary Election 2022
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.
News & Politics
December 15, 2021
The Supreme Court Sparks a Strange Alliance Between Advocates of Gun Rights and Abortion Rights
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.
Politics & Policy
September 30, 2021
Explaining the Most Bizarrely Shaped Districts in Texas’s Proposed Congressional Map
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.
Politics & Policy
September 21, 2021
How Might Texas Get Gerrymandered?
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.
Politics & Policy
August 10, 2021
Inside the Texas Democratic Legislators’ Hectic Month in Washington, D.C.
COVID outbreaks, covert vacations, anger at President Biden, and the other rich subplots in House Democrats’ attempt to block a restrictive state voting law.
Politics & Policy
July 26, 2021
The Texas Election Bill Contains a New Obstacle to Voting That Almost No One Is Talking About
Buried in the GOP proposal is a requirement that could—whether by intention or just sloppy legislative work—disenfranchise thousands of voters.
Politics & Policy
July 13, 2021
The Democratic Quorum Break Puts Greg Abbott in a Bind
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.
Politics & Policy
June 1, 2021
Texas Lawmakers Had Two Crises to Address. They Ignored Them in Favor of Sideshows.
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.
Politics & Policy
June 1, 2021
Inside the Texas Democratic Walkout That Derailed Senate Bill 7
After weeks of debating how to best combat the voting-restriction legislation, Democrats find a rare, though likely temporary, victory.
Business
June 1, 2021
Inside the Greater Houston Partnership’s Tense Fight Over Voting Rights
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.
Energy
May 20, 2021
Texas’s Oil and Gas Industry Is Defending Its Billions in Subsidies Against a Green Energy Push
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.
Politics & Policy
May 19, 2021
How Texas’s New Abortion Restrictions Passed After Years of Being Considered a Third Rail
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.
Politics & Policy
May 17, 2021
The Inside Story: How House Democrats Tempered a GOP Bill That Makes It Harder to Vote
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.
Politics & Policy
May 4, 2021
Some Legislators Want to Drown Out Local Austin Officials by Cranking Up the Volume at Bars
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.
Politics & Policy
April 28, 2021
Why Dan Patrick Is in a Quandary Over a Bill to Allow Texans to Carry a Gun Without a Permit
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.
Politics & Policy
April 22, 2021
Two Key Issues, Buried in Red Meat, to Watch for in the House’s Budget Debate
Amid a slate of culture war offerings, lawmakers are set to discuss Medicaid expansion and accessing COVID-19 relief funds for schools.
Politics & Policy
April 20, 2021
The GOP Case Against Texas’s Proposed New Voting Restrictions
A large majority of Texas Republicans believe the unsupported claims of leaders that the 2020 election was stolen. But some in the party think “election integrity” legislation could backfire.
Politics & Policy
April 17, 2021
Why Have Texas’s Restrictive Voter Bills Received Less Corporate Pushback Than the Ones in Georgia?
A few of Texas's big businesses have publicly criticized efforts to make voting more difficult. But many more, fearful of Republican retribution, are trying to keep their heads down.
Politics & Policy
April 16, 2021
10-Year-Old Activist Kai Shappley on Fighting for Trans Kids in the Texas Lege
The Pearland native went viral this week for her poised and powerful testimony against anti-trans bills.
Politics & Policy
April 7, 2021
The GOP’s Voter Restriction Bill Would Be a Do-over of the Attempted Voter Purge of 2019
Provisions of Senate Bill 7 would require some naturalized citizens to prove their right to vote.
Politics & Policy
April 2, 2021
Natural Gas Producers Are Getting a Pass From the Lege After the Blackouts
Many industries bear a portion of the blame for the failure of Texas’s electric grid. But one seems to be escaping strict requirements to better prepare for future storms.