Three of the best journalists covering the Legislature on what's happened so far and the road to Sine Die—what they're seeing in the House and Senate, which bills are likeliest to become law, how the effort to pass a balanced budget and fund the state's priorities is going, and how the complicated politics of moment are playing out.
Brad Johnson is a senior reporter and managing editor for The Texan and an Ohio native who graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 2017. He covers Texas politics along with a focus on fiscal and energy policy.
James Barragán is a politics reporter for The Texas Tribune with a focus on accountability reporting. Prior to joining the Tribune, James worked as a statehouse reporter for The Dallas Morning News and had previous stints at the Austin American-Statesman and the Los Angeles Times. In 2021, he was a finalist for the Toner Prize for Excellence in Local Reporting for his coverage of Texas politics during the COVID-19 pandemic. James was selected as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard in 2023-24. A Southern California native, James received his bachelor’s degree in history from UCLA. He is based in Austin and is a native Spanish speaker.
Karen Brooks Harper has covered Texas politics in and out of Austin for nearly 30 years. She's also covered the cartel wars along the TX-MX border, Congress in Mexico City, and 6 hurricanes, among other stories. Raised on blues and great food in the MS Delta, she lives in ATX with her family, her guitar, and her boxing gloves. In that order.