Texas Legislature

Yesterday, Lubbock County officially opened its new Medical Examiner’s Office, bringing death investigations back to Lubbock after years of outsourcing autopsies. Officials gathered in the panhandle this week for the anniversary of the Smokehouse Creek Fire, the largest wildfire in Texas history. The 2025 legislative session passed several improvements to the state’s wildfire preparedness, but our Brad Burt reports that lawmakers say the work is not yet done.

Today is the first day of early voting in the Texas primary elections, with various federal, state, and local offices on the ballot. Early voting runs through Feb. 27. Texas is boosting wildfire preparedness across the state, with new funding for volunteer firefighters and emergency plans. Our Bishop Van Buren reports this comes as fire danger in the region is on the rise.

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.