The latest Texas House of Representatives news from The Texas Tribune.
Hey Texplainer: What happens to the bills that Perry doesn't sign or veto? Gov. Rick Perry has vetoed and signed a multitude of bills this year, but to date there have been 27 he allowed to become law by default. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/_KCA9930.jpg)
Lawmakers filed a whopping 5,796 bills during the 82nd legislative session and approved nearly a quarter of them. Use our updated data visualizations to take a closer look at how bills performed in the upper and lower chambers, how each political party and committee fared, and how many bills Gov. Rick Perry vetoed. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/DataVizSessionBills.jpg)
Gov. Rick Perry is not shy when it comes to using his veto pen. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/7e780d0c5f9e8a7e7bbd8dd2466b2e5f/BD%20INC%20Trio%2001%202011)
State Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, walked the floor shaking hands and receiving hugs from his colleagues in the waning hours of the 82nd regular session, which — after 22 years in the Texas House — will be his last. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/93edbd0d2f11cde97c2f1217510f749d/BD%20INC%20Chism%2001%202011)
Republican members of the Texas House reflected on the end of the regular session late Monday. Speaker Joe Straus praised lawmakers for showing "great discipline" and focus, while GOP Caucus Chair Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, warned Democrats they made a "bad strategic" move by pushing for a special session. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/Straus2XCMS.jpg)
The 82nd Texas Legislature’s regular session ends as it started, with lawmakers arguing about a shrunken state budget and redistricting. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/20110524-_CBM4523-Edit.jpg)
At this morning's TribLive conversation, I interviewed three veteran lawmakers — state Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Lake Dallas, state Rep. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, and state Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands — about how they and their GOP colleagues fared this session. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/d4cde9da3dd7c68fe4b5df21f5ed510f/TT%20Event%20Crownover%20Taylor%20Williams%2005%202011)
At this morning's TribLive conversation, I interviewed three veteran lawmakers — state Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Lake Dallas, state Rep. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, and state Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands — about how they and their Republican colleagues fared this session. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/f423fffa4d96c4b834980b4853641004/TT%20Event%20Crownover%20Taylor%20Williams%2007%202011)
At this morning's TribLive conversation, I interviewed three veteran lawmakers — state Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Lake Dallas, state Rep. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, and state Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands — about how they and their Republican colleagues fared this session. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/Republicans7.JPG)
As the Texas House and Senate haggle behind closed doors over a school finance plan we've updated our searchable database to include the latest proposals distributing the $4 billion in state funding cuts. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Tribune_Data_Public_Ed_Funding_Cuts.png)
At last Thursday's TribLive conversation, I interviewed three veteran lawmakers — state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, state Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, and state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio — about how they and their Democratic colleagues fared this session. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/TribLiveDemos696FTP.JPG)
At Thursday's TribLive conversation, state Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, critiqued the leadership of GOP Speaker Joe Straus during the 82nd Legislative Session. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/TribLiveDemos699FTP.jpg)
At Thursday's TribLive conversation, I interviewed three veteran lawmakers — state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, state Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, and state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio — about how they and their Democratic colleagues fared this session. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/6f53bfb54e615637654097a2c388de69/TT%20Event%20Elis%20Turner%20VandePutte%202011)
At this morning's TribLive conversation, state Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, warned his House Republican colleagues about overreaching in exercising their supermajority power. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/Sylvester_Turner.jpg)
It’s easier to spike legislation than to pass it, and timing is important. Nothing is dead for certain until the session ends, but lots of important things are not done, and the regular session ends on Memorial Day. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/279f2c922995416e2ba87c414a5506ec/BD%20INC%20Truitt%202011)
The House has blown its stack and made up again a couple of times since our last conversation, all within the rules, and all — if you take a long view of things —right on schedule. Senators, who had a group conniption fit last week, have remained clear to partly cloudy and calm. Full Story
It turns out you can do a lot of damage with nothing more than a rule book, which is hazardous in a place that often runs like a schoolyard: Conduct trumps content. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/737347e59c6e2ef045653947ad08675a/BD%20INC%20Demos%202011)
In this week's episode of the TribCast, Evan, Reeve, Julian and Ben discuss the meltdown in the House, the debate over sanctuary cities, and the latest in higher education. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Tribcast_2.jpg)
The Texas House took a step toward tougher regulation of payday lenders Wednesday, tentatively approving a bill that would require lenders to make more detailed disclosures to their borrowers. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/111809_padayloans001_jv.jpg)
Hey, Texplainer: What's all the talk about deadlines at the Legislature this week? Aren't there three weeks left in the session? Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/XMartinezTTA.JPG)