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The longtime state legislator, who announced in June 2025 he wasn’t seeking reelection, vacated the seat to serve as a U.S. assistant secretary of defense.

As more and more data center developers submit proposals to build in Texas, questions about how they will impact Texas' grid and contribute to drought conditions across the state are widespread.

Critics say the governor must call legislators to Austin to pass state laws regulating data centers.

Data centers are no longer an emerging industry. Driven by cloud computing, crypto mining and artificial intelligence, they are spreading rapidly across Texas, and the projected cost of the tax break has climbed into the billions. On Monday, the state senate finance committee asked if it was time to end the sales tax break for data centers.

ERCOT and the PUCT said they've already taken steps to regulate large energy consumers and called for the state legislature to expand their authority.

Thirteen years ago, when Texas created the tax deal for data centers, state lawmakers expected to lose — at most — $14 million in tax revenue in Texas' next 2-year budget cycle. Now, state projections show it could lead to Texas forgoing more than $3 billion in the 2028-29 biennium.

Nearly a year after deadly flooding prompted Texas lawmakers to overhaul the state's flood preparedness laws, officials say some of those changes are already helping. But many of the state's biggest flood mitigation projects remain years from completion.

Abbott on Tuesday announced the launch of the Texas Classroom Commission, made up of current and former teachers, to identify innovative solutions for student success and provide recommendations ahead of the next legislative session.

A new investigative report paints a troubling picture of Camp Mystic's preparedness before last year's historic July Fourth floods, which killed 25 campers and two counselors. The 115-page report will now be used by the Texas Legislature to guide future policy changes.

The high court says Dallas, Houston, Austin and other cities improperly named the state of Texas as a defendant in a suit alleging telecom providers get an unlawful discount on the rates they pay to cities.

Abbott criticized Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza for delays in indicting defendants and generally not pursuing offenders harshly enough. Abbott says appointing his own statewide prosecutor and making district attorneys eligible for impeachment would fix that.

The deaths represent a relatively small portion of people in Texas prisons. But Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials told state lawmakers Monday it's evidence of a statewide struggle to curb contraband in correctional facilities.