The Texas Legislature is back for a special session. Here’s what we’re watching.

Lawmakers will have 30 days to tackle a packed agenda outlined by Gov. Greg Abbott, from flood relief to redistricting to THC products.
Better testing, less vaccine messaging among lessons learned from historic Texas measles outbreak

Faced with a skeptical religious community that became the center of the outbreak, public health officials say they may have pushed too hard on vaccine messaging.
Appeals court upholds Texas law limiting cities’ enforcement of local ordinances

The 2023 law, previously ruled unconstitutional by a Travis County judge, prevents cities from enforcing ordinances that don’t align with broad swaths of state law.
Canceled Baylor LGBTQ+ study stirs strong reactions in Waco

A grant to help churches better minister to LGBTQ+ people prompted fury. A decision to return the grant then spurred disappointment.
1.7 million Texans could lose health coverage under expiring tax credits, ACA changes in GOP megabill

Having never expanded Medicaid, Texas avoided most of the looming federal cuts other states will face. But the Affordable Care Act is a different story.
A guide to Texas’ special legislative session

Texas lawmakers start a 30-day special session July 21. They will tackle consumable THC, flood dangers, new congressional districts, abortion pills and other conservative priorities.
He came to the U.S. to support his sick child. Then he disappeared from a Texas detention facility.

Like most of the more than 230 Venezuelan men deported to a Salvadoran prison, José Manuel Ramos Bastidas had followed U.S. immigration rules when he arrived at the Texas border with Mexico. Then Trump rewrote them.
Federal DEI funding cuts threaten the work of the few remaining Black farmers in East Texas

Trump’s rollback is another example of the federal government’s lackluster efforts at giving Black farmers a boost in recent years.
Ken Paxton sues adult swimming organization for allowing transgender competitors at San Antonio event

The Texas attorney general said U.S. Masters Swimming violated the state’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act by allowing trans athletes to compete in women’s events.
Texas judge dismisses case against migrant deported to El Salvador for being an alleged gang member
DPS troopers labeled Pedro Luis Salazar-Cuervo, who remains in a Salvadoran prison, a Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang member based on a photo of him with a tattooed man.