Texas Legislature

Which private schools can participate in the $1 billion program, how they will be vetted and how they will serve students with special needs are questions raised by education experts and observers.

The ban, which went into effect in September, requires that school districts prohibit students from using cellphones and other personal wireless communication devices during school hours.

Applications will close March 17, with funding notifications sent to families beginning in early April. The rollout follows a years-long battle at the Capitol and marks a major victory for the governor after repeated failed attempts to pass similar legislation.

Tarrant County's 2026 elections are poised to be "the most important of our lifetime," local and state Republican officials said Sunday night after historically red Texas Senate District 9 flipped blue in a runoff election many saw as unwinnable for a Democrat.

The newly instated Texas Nutrition Advisory Committee is responsible for creating dietary guidelines and KERA’s Abigail Ruhman reports it has until September to produce a report that could effect continuing education requirements for medical providers. In the last legislative session, Texas lawmakers finally increased funding for disabled students. KERA's Bill Zeeble explains that the TEA must now figure out where to send the new money.

Texas will have more than 30 new laws on the books come New Year's Day, touching on everything from artificial intelligence regulation to property tax exemptions.

The TCEQ is weighing how to implement two new state laws that could tighten oversight of concrete batch plants.

More than 6,000 Texas smoke shops and related businesses could be forced to shut down if the ban goes into effect next November as scheduled. The industry is organizing a lobbying effort to get Congress to rewrite the law from a blanket prohibition to a regulatory approach.

The Supreme Court has cleared the way for a Texas congressional map that may help the GOP win five more U.S. House seats in the 2026 midterms. A lower court found the map is likely unconstitutional.

Texas lawmakers passed the bill, referred to as the "Women's Privacy Act" by supporters, earlier this year. It requires a person in publicly owned buildings to use restrooms, locker rooms, and similar facilities associated with the gender on their birth certificate. Enforcement of the controversial new law begins this Thursday.