Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Monday, Feb. 17, 2025:
Who’s leading the vouchers fight in the House?
Every Monday this session, Blaise Gainey from The Texas Newsroom joins us for a look ahead at the Legislature. This week: a breakdown of the newly announced House committee chairs, with special attention to the lawmaker tasked with pushing the school choice bill forward.
More than 500,000 Texans, mostly Latinos, live in colonias – unincorporated communities with long-standing infrastructure issues. A two-year study just wrapped, assessing the severity of water access problems and what can be done to fix them.
Texas A&M’s Garett Sansom was one of the researchers and joins the Standard with the findings.
How Texas is doing economically
Earlier this month, the Dallas Federal Reserve put out an employment forecast predicting that the Lone Star State is going to add 225,000 jobs this year. The Texas Standard’s Sean Saldana reports:
What happens after an ICE raid? Cactus, Texas, still feels the impact
In 2006, a massive ICE raid swept up nearly 300 workers at a meatpacking plant in Cactus, Texas – one of the largest raids in U.S. history.
With workplace enforcement ramping up again, Texas Monthly’s Jack Herrera revisited the town to see what happened in the years that followed.
Austin area’s affordability crisis hits the grocery aisle
Moving outside of Austin doesn’t always mean escaping high costs – especially when it comes to food. With limited public transit and few grocery stores, some communities struggle with fresh food access. KUT’s Maya Fawaz reports.
This Week in Texas Music History
The Cavity Club was Austin’s infamous punk rock venue – and fittingly, it went out with a bang. Jason Mellard with The Center for Texas Music History at Texas State University shares the tale.
Texas bets big on Hollywood dollars
Texas lawmakers are poised to more than double film and TV production incentives this session, boosting last year’s historic $200 million investment. Some big names (Woody Harrelson, Dennis Quaid and Matthew McConaughey) are lending their voices to the push.
The Texas Tribune’s Pooja Salhotra shares more.
Texas’ paid parental leave plan isn’t working – here’s why
In 2023, Texas lawmakers touted a business-friendly paid parental leave insurance program as an innovative alternative to mandates in blue states. Two years later, few businesses are offering it, and most new parents still can’t afford to take time off.
The Houston Chronicle’s Taylor Goldenstein joins the Standard with the details.
All this, plus Alexandra Hart with the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
