Latest Texas state government News
Texas Republican attorney general sues over voter registration efforts in Democrat strongholds
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued two of the state's largest counties to block efforts to register voters ahead of the November general election, drawing claims of voter suppression from state Democrats. Paxton announced Friday a lawsuit to block...
New Mexico starts building an abortion clinic to serve neighboring states, train medical students
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Construction is getting underway on a state-funded reproductive health and abortion clinic in southern New Mexico that will cater to local residents and people who travel from neighboring states such as Texas and Oklahoma with major restrictions on abortion, Gov. Michelle...
Texas would need about $81.5 billion a year to end property taxes, officials say
Texas would have to spend tens of billions of dollars to get rid of the state’s property taxes, state budget officials said Wednesday — a reality check on some conservatives who want to end them once and for all. Republican lawmakers have been on a yearslong push to bring down...
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sues Bexar County over voter registration outreach effort
Bexar County officials moved forward Tuesday with a plan to mail county residents voter registration forms, defying Attorney General Ken Paxton ’s threat to use “all available legal means” to quash the effort. Paxton followed through Wednesday morning, filing a lawsuit in a...
State Fair of Texas is sued by state's Republican AG over new rule banning guns on premises
DALLAS (AP) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to block a ban on firearms at the State Fair of Texas, one of the state's biggest annual celebrations. Fair organizers earlier this month announced a ban on guns after a shooting last year on the...
Texas must build hundreds of thousands of homes to lower housing costs, says state comptroller
If Texas wants to rein in its high housing costs, it needs more homes, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar’s office said Tuesday — the latest sign that the state’s high home prices and rents have become a growing concern for the state’s top officials. Homebuilding in Texas didn’t...
Houston’s former mayor is the Democrats’ nominee to succeed the late US Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee
HOUSTON (AP) — Former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner was picked Tuesday as the Democrats’ nominee to succeed the late U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who died last month after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Turner, 69, will appear on the November ballot after securing the...
Millions of campaign dollars aimed at tilting school voucher battle are flowing into state races
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Millions of dollars are being spent this year to steer voters toward candidates for Republican-led Legislatures who not only support school vouchers, but will become key figures in implementing school choice programs in states across the U.S. Most recently,...
Texas youth lockups are beset by abuse and mistreatment of children, Justice Department report says
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Youth lockups in Texas remain beset by sexual abuse, excessive use of pepper spray and other mistreatment including the prolonged isolation of children in their cells, the Justice Department said Thursday in a scathing report that accused the state of violating the...
Texas senators grill utility executives about massive power failure after Hurricane Beryl
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The top executive of Houston's power utility told lawmakers Monday the company would lose momentum on changes after Hurricane Beryl if he resigned over the prolonged and deadly power outages that followed the storm plowing this month onto the Texas coast. “I...
