Under The Dome Archives - The Texas Dispatch

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Texas Windstorm Insurer Sends Four Recommendations to the Legislature, Including a Plan to Move Coastal Policies to Private Carriers

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association's board voted Oct. 8 to ask the Legislature for four changes in state law when lawmakers return in January 2027: a repeal of a special-judge requirement for lawsuits against the association, public money for storm-resistant construction, repairs to the 2025 law that rebuilt how it pays for a catastrophe, and a redesign of the program meant to move coastal policies to private insurers.

By The Texas Dispatch · Oct 15 · 6 min read

Agencies

New Texas Insurance Rules Give Newborns 60 Days of Coverage Starting Oct. 11

Babies born to Texans in state-regulated health plans will now be covered for their first 60 days, up from 31.

By The Texas Dispatch · Oct 12 · 2 min read

Cost of Living

Analysis: Texas Capped What Local Governments Can Take. On Nov. 3, Voters Decide What They’ll Give Up.

Early voting opened Monday on a question Texas has spent a decade engineering its way toward.

By The Texas Dispatch · Oct 21 · 14 min read

Interim Hearings

Rep. Carl Tepper Wants DA Accountability — and a Remedy That Fits the Problem

The reason the Texas House didn't subpoena José Garza had nothing to do with reluctance.

By Brad Swail · Oct 8 · 9 min read

Agencies

Analysis: Texans Are Paying More to Insure Everything They Own. The State Has Never Once Said No to a Rate.

The number came from the regulator herself.

By The Texas Dispatch · Oct 8 · 12 min read

Education

Comptroller’s Office Defends School Choice Safeguards as Senators Probe Pre-K Demand and Award Data

The Texas Comptroller’s Office told the Senate Education Committee on Oct. 7 that the state’s new school choice program runs on parent-approved payments and two layers of audit.

By The Texas Dispatch · Oct 8 · 4 min read

Education

Senate Panel Weighs Foreign-Funding Claims in Schools and State Board’s Curriculum Changes

Foreign money in schools and the way Texas teaches American history drew sharply different views at the Senate Education Committee on Oct. 7.

By The Texas Dispatch · Oct 8 · 5 min read

Education

Houston ISD’s Miles Calls Turnaround Texas’ Largest As Senator Presses on Lost Students

Houston Independent School District Superintendent Mike Miles told the Senate Education Committee on Oct. 6 that his three years running the state's largest district amount to "certainly largest turnaround in the history of Texas." Sen. José Menendez, D-San Antonio, pressed him on special education compliance and on the roughly 21,000 students who have left the district.

By The Texas Dispatch · Oct 7 · 4 min read

Health Care

Doctors Say Insurers Block Menopause Care as Health Plans Point to Surge in Claims

Doctors told a House subcommittee Oct. 5 that insurer rules, thin physician training and Medicaid gaps keep Texas women from menopause care.

By The Texas Dispatch · Oct 7 · 4 min read

Education

Four-Day School Weeks Cost Students Learning, Education Commissioner Tells Senate Panel

Texas students lose ground when their districts move to four-day school weeks, Education Commissioner Mike Morath told the Senate Education Committee on Oct. 6.

By The Texas Dispatch · Oct 7 · 4 min read

Housing

Texas Homeowner Premiums Up 79% in Six Years as Lawmakers Press Regulators on Rate Review

The average Texas homeowner now pays more than $3,500 a year for insurance, up from under $2,000 in 2020.

By The Texas Dispatch · Oct 6 · 5 min read

Health Care

Doctors Doubt a Single Hormone Test, but Witnesses Urge Texas to Study Baselines

A single blood test will not reliably predict menopause, a physician told a House subcommittee Oct. 5, and a panelist said no medical society recommends routine AMH checks.

By The Texas Dispatch · Oct 6 · 4 min read

Health Care

House Maternal Health Panel to Hear Hormone Testing, Menopause Treatment Access

The Texas House Subcommittee on Maternal Health, Menopause, and Access to Evidence-Based Medicine will gavel in at 9 a.m. Oct. 5 in Room E2.030 of the Capitol Extension to hear invited testimony on two interim charges: baseline reproductive hormone testing and hormone replacement therapy for perimenopause and menopause.

By The Texas Dispatch · Oct 5 · 3 min read

Agencies

Screwworm Response Sets Up $29.4M Budget Ask as Lawmakers Question Feral Hog Spending

A $29.4 million request to staff a permanent defense against screwworm and fever ticks now tops the Texas Animal Health Commission's budget wish list.

By The Texas Dispatch · Oct 4 · 5 min read