Alejandro Serrano | The Texas Tribune

As speaker, Phelan oversaw passage of numerous conservative priorities, but he gave up the gavel under pressure from the far right over the House’s impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Soon after Birdwell announced his retirement, state Rep. David Cook, R-Mansfield, said he was running for the seat.

Texas officials suggested the federal government could pick up construction. However, during President Trump’s first term, his administration built about one-third of what the state was able to put up in the same amount of time.

The Texas governor used his time on the Republican convention stage to praise Trump on border security and to challenge the Democratic president.

A group of news organizations including The Texas Tribune had sued for access to the records.

House Bill 900 seeks to rid school libraries of inappropriate books by requiring book vendors to rate materials. A legal challenge says the law is too vague and broad.

For the first time in a generation, Texans were more likely to die of gunshot wounds than car crashes in 2021. Experts worry a lack of research on the issue has hampered the search for solutions.

House Bill 900 requires book vendors to rate all their materials based on their depictions or references to sex before selling them to schools. Vendors say the law aims to regulate protected speech with “vague and over broad” terms.

José Luis Bermúdez, who led the school’s College of Arts and Sciences, will leave his position after a deal to hire respected journalist Kathleen O. McElroy fell apart amid conservative pushback.

Gov. Greg Abbott over the weekend signed into law a bill prohibiting race-based hair discrimination in Texas workplaces, schools and housing policies. It goes into effect in September.

The CROWN Act would ensure protection for Texans who wear their hair in natural styles such as braids, locs, twists or knots.

The legislation would raise the minimum age for purchasing certain firearms but likely wouldn’t have been a hindrance to the Allen gunman obtaining a weapon. The bill still faces an uphill climb in the Legislature.