Costly New Bail Bills Would Needlessly Jail More People
Texas politicians are wasting your money to punish the working class.
Texas Legislature
Who Really Benefits from School Vouchers?
I do not pretend to know the motivation of Jeff Yass. But I do know that Mr. Yass is not a Texan, and I also know that Texas is not for sale.
Texas Foresees Strong Revenue, Full Rainy Day Fund. Who Will Benefit?
In his biennial budget projection, Comptroller Glenn Hegar says the state will have a healthy surplus, plus a full economic stabilization fund for the first time in history.
This Aspiring Social Worker Should Not Be Blacklisted
Imposing permanent punishments for old mistakes backfires by reducing the talent pool to address Texas’ social worker shortage.
Texas House Dems Trip Over Their Own Low Bar
On Tuesday, the most modest of boasts became famous last words for the lower chamber’s dwindling Ds.
‘This Weird, Messy State We All Love in Spite of Ourselves’
Abby Rapoport continued a family tradition of making the Texas Observer possible—by filling just about every role the organization has.
Bipartisan Legislators Join Calls for Clemency for Robert Roberson
The condemned Texas man was convicted of killing his daughter in 2003 based on an outdated ‘shaken baby syndrome’ diagnostic process.
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The Company You Keep
Ken and Angela Paxton have ties to a jet-setting lobbyist-turned-CEO caught in a tangled web of alleged fraud involving a powerful business clan and a commercial shipping giant.
Texas’ Plantation Prisons: Inside a 200-Year History of Forced Labor Shrouded in Secrecy
Punishments, injuries, and deaths—including from heat—on TDCJ farms are more hidden than they were in the years following convict leasing.
Ex-Legislator Faces Investigation for Possible Violation of Lobbying Law He Co-Sponsored
Chris Paddie is fighting back in court against a state ethics commission probe into his allegedly illegal lobbying.