by Morgan Smith, The Texas Tribune July 18, 2017 *Correction appended. Seven weeks after legislative deadlock prompted Speaker of the House Joe Straus and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to hold dueling press conferences, each accusing the other of forcing the governor to call a special session, Texas lawmakers are back in…

by Julián Aguilar, The Texas Tribune July 18, 2017 As the state’s business leaders vie for a seat at the table during the North American Free Trade Agreement’s upcoming renegotiation talks, another interest group is hoping there is enough room for one more point of view. Unlike those who advocate for…

by Julián Aguilar, The Texas Tribune July 17, 2017 The state military patrol that’s been on the Texas-Mexico border since 2014 just got a $2.3 million boost from the federal government to help keep it in place. The Texas Military Department said on Monday it’s been allotted that money from…

By: Mark Richardson, Public News Service – TX AUSTIN, Texas – A coalition of rights groups is blasting Texas leaders for making anti-LGBTQ bills a priority when lawmakers convene this week in a special session. In a conference call with the media, the groups urged the Legislature to work on…

By: Ryan Gabrielson, ProPublica The Houston Police Department has ended its longstanding practice of using $2 chemical kits to make drugs arrests, a policy that had contributed to hundreds of wrongful convictions in recent years. In announcing the change, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said the department was abandoning the use…

by Alexa Ura, The Texas Tribune July 17, 2017 As state lawmakers return to Austin for legislative overtime, tech giant IBM is stepping up its fight to defeat legislation it says would discriminate against children and harm its Texas recruiting efforts. In an internal memo sent Monday to thousands of employees around…

by Emma Platoff, The Texas Tribune July 17, 2017 House and Senate Democrats on Monday unveiled their priorities for the upcoming special legislative session, including some measures that fall in line with the agenda Gov. Greg Abbott laid out in his call and some that depart entirely from it. In a joint…

by Patrick Svitek, The Texas Tribune July 17, 2017 Less than a year after he lost his bid to reclaim his U.S. House seat, former U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, is seriously considering another run for Congress, citing shifting political winds in Texas’ 23rd Congressional District following the election of President Donald Trump….

At some Texas universities, students accused of rape can transfer without a record by Matthew Watkins, The Texas Tribune July 17, 2017 When Sierra Smith told Baylor University she’d been sexually assaulted by a classmate during a 2016 spring break trip to South Padre Island, she hoped administrators would move…

(Press Release) Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom Price, M.D., announced today the largest ever health care fraud enforcement action by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, involving 412 charged defendants across 41 federal districts, including 115 doctors, nurses and other licensed medical…