Texas Legislature

Lubbock’s city council passed a resolution on Tuesday initiating the procedure to adopt a 90-day pause on the development of any large-scale data centers. The council will need to hold two public hearings before the moratorium can officially begin.

Lawmakers recently learned of the slow progress made by the companies, which have four months to come under compliance with the law prompted by the 2024 Panhandle wildfires.

Rural emergency medical service providers from West Texas appeared before Texas’ House State Affairs Committee yesterday, requesting that the legislature expand funding for rural ambulance operators. A Texas nonprofit is giving high-school students a chance to practice voting before they're old enough to cast an official ballot. Texas Public Radio’s Kory Cook reports students can participate individually, even if their school doesn't host an event.

French posted a photo on social media Sunday describing students of color at a UT football game as "foreigners displacing Americans."

The Texas Department of State Health Services is requesting $230 million in additional funding from state lawmakers to support local health departments, maintain critical programs and handle new responsibilities. On Friday, the agency presented its budget request ahead of the 2027 legislative session.

The City of Childress, about two hours northeast of Lubbock, issued a local disaster declaration on Friday due to the impact of extreme heat and drought conditions on the municipal water system. Meanwhile, the Texas Department of State Health Services is asking lawmakers for millions of dollars to support local health departments and disaster relief. KERA’s Abigail Ruhman reports Texas doesn’t have a dedicated fund to cover the costs of public health disaster response.

Texas Health and Human Services is asking the state Legislature for the funding to make more than 600 temporary eligibility worker positions into permanent jobs. The ask comes as Texas' backlog of Medicaid and Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, applications continues to grow.

Texas laws taking effect Sept. 1 will change how consumers repair electronic devices, strengthen oversight of residential solar sales and allow certain forms of gold and silver to be used as legal tender.

The changes came after the Texas Legislature passed a higher education reform bill in 2025.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott was in Lubbock yesterday, calling on the state legislature to instate stricter punishments for educators who have inappropriate relationships with students. Our Samantha Larned reports he used a Lubbock County cases as an example for the mandatory minimum sentence he would like to see for such cases. And over at Citizens Tower yesterday, Lubbock's city council approved a maximum property tax rate ahead of budget proposals.