Justin Miller

Remembering David Richards, 1933-2025 “If there’s anything good in Texas—academic freedom, labor, voting rights, education, politics—his litigation facilitated it."

On November 13, surrounded by family and listening to Guy Clark songs in the capital of the state on which he left such an enormous mark, David Richards left us at the age of 92.

A memorial essay from Louis Dubose:

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Hey y'all, today is GivingTuesday so please consider making a donation to the @texasobserver.org and support the one-of-a-kind independent journalism that we bring to Texas. We may be small but we are also mighty--especially with your help! texasobserver.fundjournalism.org/donate/?camp...

Texas’ Top Voucher Vendor Taps Abbott Allies in Contract Bid, Program Rollout The New York firm Odyssey is now running the state’s lucrative voucher scheme with a little help from the governor’s friends.

The company that won the contract to run Texas' new school voucher program leans on former Abbott aides for help www.texasobserver.org/texas-vouche...

My University Just Taught Extremists How to Eliminate Academic Programs They Don't Like Texas Christian University handed its power to the people working hardest to dismantle learning itself.

New from Alexandra Edwards: There’s a particular kind of despair that comes from watching an institution abandon its principles in real time. It’s not the dramatic betrayal of a single moment. It’s slower than that.

SNAP Shutdown Will Leave Texas Students like Me Hungry I don’t know when this shutdown will end or when my benefits will be reinstated. But I do know we are worth more than the petty arguments of political powerhouses.

New from Miranda Williamson: "On Nov. 1, SNAP benefits will no longer be distributed. About 11.4 % (nearly 3.5M) of Texans will lose access to healthy, nutritionally complete meals. I will no longer be able to buy meat or fresh vegetables. I will lose the only reliable way I have to eat lunch."

Texas Can’t Keep Up with Surge in Workers’ Wage Theft Complaints State labor investigators struggle to process more and more paycheck complaints, with millions of dollars in workers’ pay at stake.

New from José Luis Martínez: Last year, state investigators faced the highest number of paycheck complaints in nine years and a prior internal audit noted that it typically took months just for complaints to be assigned to an investigator.

Trump's ICE Arrested a Whistleblower Who Exposed Sexual Assault in Detention. Now, He’s Left the Country. Douglas Menjivar is a survivor and activist. He’s also married to a U.S. citizen, but he was caught up in the president’s mass deportation agenda anyway.

New from @francescadnunz.bsky.social: It was two days before his 50th birthday and he already had plans to celebrate with his wife, a U.S. citizen. Instead, ICE placed him in a detention center he once protested against.

'Failures and Grift’: Gina Hinojosa Wants to Stop Greg Abbott from Making History The five-term Austin state representative will wage an underdog campaign to deny the powerful Texas governor an unprecedented fourth term—and the chance to further entrench his “corruption.”

Out today, News & Politics Editor @byjustinmiller.bsky.social's interview with @ginafortexas.bsky.social: "I’m running to be a governor for Texans, for working families, for working Texans, for the school children of Texas. And it’s time our people had a voice."

Inside the Rift Between Texas Dems and a Soros-Backed PAC The Texas Majority PAC is the latest deep-pocketed initiative meant to turn Texas blue. But have its dollars just brought more discord?

A good lock at the rocky relationship between the Texas Majority PAC, financed with tens of millions from Gorge Soros, and some Texas Dems who question their influence and effectiveness. www.texasobserver.org/inside-rift-...

Inside the Rift Between Texas Dems and a Soros-Backed PAC The Texas Majority PAC is the latest deep-pocketed initiative meant to turn Texas blue. But have its dollars just brought more discord?

New from @samrussek.bsky.social: While some local Democratic party chapters speak effusively of their partnerships with Texas Majority PAC, others liken it to a bait-and-switch operation that commandeers the grassroots manpower of established county parties & fails to deliver on its lofty promises.

Texas Domestic Workers Face Trump Attack on Minimum Wage Advocates warn a proposed rule by the Department of Labor will deepen the country’s “crisis of care.”

Trump hastens plan to deny domestic workers the minimum wage. www.texasobserver.org/texas-domest...

Where are the Latino statewide Democratic candidates in Texas? www.texasobserver.org/latino-top-b...

Is a Strong Latino Candidate Texas Democrats’ Only Hope? The party is long-overdue for such a leader at the top of the ballot.

From @byjustinmiller.bsky.social in our magazine: At the 2012 Democratic National Convention, the largely unknown Julián Castro became an instantaneous political phenom and a seemingly inevitable rising party star.

But the party's traveled a rocky road since then ...

Texas GOP Says Flood Relief Is Priority. Here’s the Climate Policy They Won’t Pass. Republican lawmakers have for years refused to engage with precautionary climate resilience and disaster-response measures.

NEW: TX Rs blame decamped Dems for holding up flood response. They also argue a disaster-response bill they shunned in the regular session wouldn't have gone into effect until after the 7/4 flood.

Here's the climate bills they've ignored for over a decade now: www.texasobserver.org/texas-gop-sa...

Texas Lawmakers Push ‘Massive Secrecy Grab’ to Shield Police Files As public attention has shifted away from policing reform, legislators attempt to shove information into the dark.

Our top story, from @michellepitcher.bsky.social: Advocates for police transparency say a new bill would supercharge cops' ability to shield misconduct from the public. www.texasobserver.org/secrecy-g-fi...

Can Anything Halt the Gerrymandering Arms Race? Texas Dem quorum-breakers are seeking to protect voter rights nationwide, but they’re likely engaged in little more than a perfunctory game of chicken.

Can Texas Dems' quorum break halt a seemingly inevitable gerrymandering arms race? texasobserver.org/texas-house-... #txlege

Poetry Archives

#Celebration! I’ve been Poetry Editor for @texasobserver.org for a year! Please, please, share, repost and read up on the #Poetry section of the magazine!

I will create a thread of the poems that have made it into the mag while I’ve been editor! #PoetrySky

www.texasobserver.org/topics/poetry/

How Trump’s IRS May Unshackle Churches from Their Political Restraints As if everyday life in these United States wasn’t politicized enough, your local house of worship could soon become a part of the campaign battlefield.

My latest from @texasobserver.org: Christian right activists have long chafed at the Johnson Amendment, contending that it makes the IRS into “speech police” and chills the constitutional rights of religious leaders. A new IRS ruling may give them a big win www.texasobserver.org/trump-irs-te...

A Hill Country native reflects on her own family's harrowing flood experience on the Fourth of July 23 years ago. www.texasobserver.org/hill-country...

Some news for y'all: I'm now the News & Politics Editor for the @texasobserver.org , leading our coverage of the Lege, elections, and other Texas news. If you've got a pitch, a tip, or anything else, email is in the bio #txlege

Some news for y'all: I'm now the News & Politics Editor for the @texasobserver.org , leading our coverage of the Lege, elections, and other Texas news. If you've got a pitch, a tip, or anything else, email is in the bio #txlege

‘The House Got Rolled’: Gene Wu on the Trials of the 89th Texas Legislature “We can only play the hand that we're dealt.”

"Q: Do you think Democrats could have stood united in withholding support for [a speaker] longer in order to try to secure actual concessions?

A: Is it possible? Of course. Anything’s possible. I could suddenly turn into a fish." www.texasobserver.org/house-got-ro...

‘The House Got Rolled’: Gene Wu on the Trials of the 89th Texas Legislature “We can only play the hand that we're dealt.”

New from @byjustinmiller.bsky.social: The job of leading the minority party in the Texas House has long consisted, at best, of harm reduction and something like emergency room triage. Rep. Gene Wu tells us about trying to stop the bleeding this session.

Texas Quietly Downsizes Border Security Spending But outlays remain far above state funding prior to the Operation Lone Star era.

New from @byjustinmiller.bsky.social: Without fanfare or open debate, the GOP-controlled Texas Lege just effectively halved the amount dedicated to its multi-billion-dollar border security operations—from a proposed $6.5 billion down to about $3.4 billion.

Texas Quietly Downsizes Border Security Spending But outlays remain far above state funding prior to the Operation Lone Star era.

New from me: Texas quietly downsizes border security spending—mainly for state border wall—though still remains above pre-OLS levels www.texasobserver.org/texas-quietl... @texasobserver.org

His words from 2004 still hold up all too well

Needless to say, Dugger didn't bite and instead became a persistent thorn in LBJ's side as he rose to the presidency.

The obituary is a worthwhile read—if only for Dugger's account of his visit to LBJ's ranch in 1955, where the future president proffered a poolside quid pro quo. texasobserver.org/ronnie-dugge...

The @texasobserver.org's founding editor Ronnie Dugger has passed away at age 95. He forged the publication in the '50s and 60s into an independent organ of progressive muckraking and a bulwark against prevailing conservative forces that dominated the state then—and now.

Texas Set to Create State Bitcoin Reserve that Would Accept Private Donations The latest version of the bill includes a previously nixed provision to allow Texans to donate crypto to the fund.

From @byjustinmiller.bsky.social: The House approved the measure with overwhelming bipartisan support on a 101-42 vote, with no debate over the wisdom of getting the state into the business of investing in highly speculative virtual coins. Opponents included 21 Republicans and 21 Democrats.