Ross Ramsey
Texas Tribune
Austin, TX, United States
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Past articles by Ross:
Analysis: Abbott’s border initiative is expensive, ineffective and not as tough as it sounds
The results of the state’s $3 billion border security effort don’t match the up-front promises, and Gov. Greg Abbott is flipping the political script with loud opposition to a change in federal border policy. → Read More
Analysis: Rural Texas hospitals still searching for a remedy
The good news is that no rural hospitals in Texas have closed in the last two years. The bad news? They’re still in crisis mode, and the state government is still struggling to find a remedy. → Read More
Analysis: A health care problem too big for the Texas Legislature
Texas, unlike all but 11 other states, hasn’t expanded its Medicaid program. And it also hasn’t addressed the problem that’s supposed to help solve: The state’s worst-in-the-nation ranking for people without health insurance. → Read More
Analysis: If it was easier to vote in Texas, would turnout still be this low?
Texas has loaded its election and voting laws with obstacles — and also has remarkably low voter turnout. Maybe those two things are connected. → Read More
Analysis: If you can’t beat ’em, change the rules
Here’s something Democrats and Republicans have in common: When lawmakers are deadlocked, leaders turn to the rulebooks, searching for angles and rule changes that would turn things their way. → Read More
Analysis: Texas politicians can change their minds. But it helps if the public goes first.
Gov. Greg Abbott’s openness to marijuana decriminalization shows that the state, while conservative, isn’t immune to larger trends. → Read More
Analysis: Texas candidates run for the border
Texas candidates are talking all kinds of things right now, but one set of issues floats to the top, as it has in state elections for decades: border security and immigration. → Read More
Analysis: The Texas storms — actual and political — of 2021
Here are a dozen of my columns from 2021: highlights on the winter storm, redistricting, the state’s finances and on issues that could figure into this next round of elections. → Read More
Analysis: The Texas-Mexico frontier still tops the news — and state politics
For Texas voters, fear of an insecure border consistently overshadows other issues — electric grid failures, handgun regulation, abortion access — even when those things top the news. → Read More
Analysis: Different year, different race, different Beto
Sneaking up on a bruised Ted Cruz and almost winning the 2018 U.S. Senate race made Beto O’Rourke a big political name. But after that loss and a poor showing in the 2020 Democratic primary for president, the El Pasoan’s challenge to Gov. Greg Abbott is a different kind of contest. → Read More
Analysis: With grades like these for political maps, Texas won’t be making the honor roll
The new political maps drawn by Texas Republicans have run into some criticism from academics studying gerrymandering. That puts the Texans in the same boat with Illinois Democrats. → Read More
Analysis: Are lawmakers trying to make Texans more confident in elections, or less?
After conservative complaints about the national results in the 2020 election, Texas Republicans have tried to anticipate everything that might play against them in 2022, right down to who’ll be at the helm. → Read More
Analysis: Texas government won’t represent the state’s population unless its political maps do
The Texas Legislature is drawing new political maps to reflect the growth of the state recorded in the 2020 census. But their initial proposals don't look like the state demographically or politically. → Read More
Analysis: Texas’ foster care problems are clear. The response from state leaders isn’t.
The state’s foster care system has been dangerous to children and embarrassing to the state for years. But with state officials constantly chasing other issues, it’s still suffering from neglect. → Read More
Analysis: Schools open in Texas with unvaccinated K-6 students and months of learning loss to overcome
Public schools in Texas are reopening this month as parents, students and educators balance learning losses from virtual classes during the pandemic with an alarming rise in COVID-19 and a large number of unvaccinated students. → Read More
Analysis: The Texas electric grid and the improvements that didn’t come
Texas lawmakers passed major bills in response to the winter storm power outages that killed hundreds of Texans in February. But there’s still a lot to do. → Read More
Analysis: Regulating dangerous practices in the Texas Legislature
Lawmakers consider some things so safe that regulations can be loosened, while other matters get a tighter regulatory scheme. Consider guns and voting. → Read More
Analysis: Judge legislators by what gets their attention — and their neglect
As the Texas Legislature rolls into its final two weeks, it's fair to credit members with what they've done. But pay attention to what they ignored. → Read More
February’s storm and outages united voters wanting state action, UT/TT Poll finds
Having lived through a statewide winter freeze and electricity outages in February, a substantial majority of Texas voters said electric facilities should be weatherized, and most said government funds should pay for it. → Read More
Texans remain concerned about pandemic, but they’re returning to normal, UT/TT Poll finds
Texas voters haven’t thrown caution to the wind. However, they’re staying away from large groups, “avoiding other people as much as possible,” and are wearing masks when in close contact with people outside their households. → Read More