The Latest Breaking News from The Texas Tribune

Despite intense political pressure, Republican Rep. Gary VanDeaver said he won’t support a bill that includes school vouchers. Rural Republicans like VanDeaver have long opposed school vouchers because of the unique role public schools they play in their communities.

The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents named the former dean and four-star general as the sole finalist for president Friday. Many believe Welsh is the right person to move the university forward after a pair of controversies bruised the school’s morale.

The outcome was an embarrassment to Gov. Greg Abbott, who spent seven months lobbying two dozen Republicans who signaled opposition to vouchers in April.

Judges overturned a state air pollution permit that was issued last year, arguing that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality illegally enabled Port Arthur LNG to avoid emissions control requirements.

Renteria’s attorneys unsuccessfully argued that the El Paso District Attorney’s Office violated his constitutional rights by not releasing all documents in his case. He was the eight person executed in Texas in 2023.

Last year, Texas joined more than 30 other states in banning TikTok on government-issued cell phones and computers. A nationwide coalition of professors are suing the state over the ban, arguing it has limited their ability to teach and research the social media app.

The second-term congressman pulled out of a run for Senate after both Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson courted him into their ranks.

The legal battle stems from the attorney general’s unsuccessful 2020 lawsuit that leaned heavily on discredited claims of election fraud in other states. Paxton’s lawyers argue that the bar’s lawsuit is an attempt to control how he runs his office.

Mexico said Texas’ Senate Bill 4 will violate the human rights of Mexican immigrants living in Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott said he plans to sign the proposal into law.

At a recent conference that featured a sitting state senator, so-called “TEXIT” supporters celebrated their movement’s incremental gains.

Livingston and Jasper residents hope a lawsuit will force their municipality-operated utility company to offer lower rates and create more transparency in setting rates. They’re among the 5 million Texans living outside the state’s deregulated market and cannot choose their energy provider.