Fact pages · Not satire
Texas Issues: The Facts
Plain, sourced explainers on the Texas issues our satire is about. Short answers first, sources at the bottom of every page.
These pages are written straight, by the editors of Moria Media, and updated as facts change. Last updated 2026-10-17.
- Can Texas cities require water breaks for construction workers?Generally no. HB 2127, in effect since September 1, 2023, bars cities and counties from regulating in fields covered by several state codes, including the Labor Code, and it eliminated Austin's and Dallas's construction water-break rules. A trial court declared the law unconstitutional in 2023, but an appeals court reversed that ruling in July 2025. A petition asking the Texas Supreme Court to review the case was filed in June 2026.
- Do Texas prisons have air conditioning?Only partly. As of October 1, 2026, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice reported 38 fully and 53 partially air-conditioned units, with about 53,900 cooled beds. About 90,000 incarcerated people lacked air conditioning. In September 2026, a federal judge ordered all Texas prisons air-conditioned by the end of 2029; the state has appealed.
- Does Texas have enough water, and how is it paying for more?Texas projects a widening water gap. The 2027 State Water Plan, adopted in July 2026, estimates a drought-of-record shortage of 5.8 million acre-feet per year by 2080 and about $174 billion in needed projects. In November 2025, voters approved Proposition 4, dedicating up to $1 billion a year in existing sales tax revenue to the Texas Water Fund.
- Does Texas have the highest uninsured rate in the U.S.?Yes. In 2024, the latest year with Census Bureau state figures, 16.7% of Texans had no health insurance, the highest rate of any state and about double the national rate of 8.2%. Texas also had the highest uninsured rate for every age group. The Census Bureau's 2025 national report did not include state figures.
- Has Texas expanded Medicaid?No. Texas is one of 10 states that have not adopted the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion. Expansion would cover nearly all adults under 65 earning up to 138% of the federal poverty level, with the federal government paying 90% of their cost. Using 2024 data, KFF estimates 605,000 uninsured Texas adults are in the resulting coverage gap.
- How are data centers affecting the Texas power grid?Data centers are the largest driver of projected electricity demand growth on the ERCOT grid. Recent forecasts far exceed the 85,508 MW record peak set in August 2023, though ERCOT says its 2026 preliminary forecast overstates growth. In June 2025, Texas enacted SB 6, setting interconnection, cost and emergency rules for loads of 75 MW or more.
- How do Texas property taxes work?Texas has no state property tax and no personal income tax. School districts, cities, counties and special districts set their own property tax rates on values set by county appraisal districts. In November 2025, voters approved raising the school homestead exemption from $100,000 to $140,000, and to $200,000 for homeowners 65 or older or disabled.
- How does the Texas school voucher program work?Texas Education Freedom Accounts, created by Senate Bill 2 in 2025, put state money into education savings accounts that families can spend on private school tuition and other approved education costs. The Legislature set aside $1 billion, private-school accounts are worth $10,474 per student, and the program began with the 2026-27 school year.
- What does Texas abortion law allow in a medical emergency?Texas bans nearly all abortions but allows a licensed physician to perform one when, in reasonable medical judgment, the patient has a life-threatening physical condition from the pregnancy that risks death or substantial impairment of a major bodily function. A 2025 law, Senate Bill 31, clarified that the risk need not be imminent.
- What does the Texas Ten Commandments classroom law require?Senate Bill 10 (2025) requires every Texas public school classroom to display a Ten Commandments poster at least 16 by 20 inches, using text set in the law. In April 2026 the full Fifth Circuit upheld it 9-8. Challengers asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case on Aug. 17, 2026; that petition is pending.
- What happened in the February 2021 Texas winter storm?In February 2021, extreme cold knocked out power plants and natural gas supplies across Texas, and ERCOT ordered rolling blackouts that left more than 4.5 million people without power, some for days. The Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed 246 storm-related deaths. Lawmakers then required weatherization and restructured ERCOT's board.
- What happened with Texas's 2025 congressional redistricting?In August 2025, Texas redrew its U.S. House map mid-decade to raise Republican-leaning seats from 25 to 30 of 38. House Democrats left the state for two weeks to deny a quorum. A federal panel blocked the map, but the U.S. Supreme Court stayed and then reversed that ruling, so the 2025 map governs the 2026 elections.
- What is the minimum wage in Texas?The Texas minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, the same as the federal minimum, because Texas law adopts the federal rate by reference rather than setting its own. Employers may pay tipped workers a cash wage of $2.13 an hour if tips make up the difference. Texas cities cannot set a higher minimum for private employers.
- Why does Texas have its own power grid?Texas has its own grid mainly because its utilities kept their power within state lines, which kept them outside federal regulation of interstate electricity sales under the 1935 Federal Power Act. The grid, run by ERCOT since 1970, remains outside the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's jurisdiction and answers to the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Legislature.
Also see: Where the 2026 Texas U.S. Senate candidates stand.