Watch House Speaker Joe Straus discuss the Texas legislative session
Watch a livestream of Texas House Speaker Joe Straus discussing the 85th Legislative Session with Jim Henson of the Texas Politics Project. Full Story
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![Chief Justice Nathan Hecht applauds Speaker Joe Straus on the opening day of the 2017 Texas legislative session, Jan. 10, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
How to make sure your voice gets heard at the Texas Capitol
What issues matter most to you this session? Texas House Parliamentarian Chris Griesel explains one of the most basic ways to engage elected officials on those issues: speaking up. Full Story
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Analysis: Is this Texas state budget trick constitutional?
The Texas Senate is proposing a new accounting trick to balance its 2018-19 budget. The contrivance would work, mathematically speaking, but it raises constitutional questions and faces derision from the House. Full Story
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![Road crews were prolific in the Midland region in 2016 following an oil boom, when heavy truck traffic obliterated highways.]()
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Straus agrees with Patrick on their different audiences
In a radio interview Thursday, House Speaker Joe Straus said Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has a different audience than he does. "He’s an entertainer, a talk show guy. And a statewide elected official. I’m not," Straus said. Full Story
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![House Speaker Joe Straus and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick at a Texas Legislative Budget Board meeting on December 1, 2016.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for the Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Can Abbott assemble an army for this session’s pre-K fight?
Gov. Greg Abbott has hit tough sledding with his call for more spending on early education in Texas. Lawmakers aren't warm to the idea, to say the least, and the governor hasn't assembled an army of supporters to back up his position. Full Story
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Senate panel OKs bill requiring schools to teach teens about interacting with police
The proposal, Senate Bill 30, is a bipartisan response to deadly encounters between law enforcement and civilians seen in recent years throughout the country. Full Story
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Texas Senate passes bill to cut franchise tax paid by businesses — later
The Texas Senate approved legislation Tuesday that aims to eventually slice — and possibly eliminate — the state’s franchise tax, a levy on businesses earnings that’s widely unpopular among the state’s Republican leadership. Full Story
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Senate passes property tax bill state leaders love, local officials oppose
The Senate voted 18-12 in favor of bill that would require an election if a local government entity wanted to increase some of its tax collections by 5 percent or more. Full Story
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Bill that would reduce handgun license fee headed to full Senate
A measure approved by a Senate committee would reduce the first-time fee for a license to carry a handgun from $140 to $40 and the annual renewal fee from $70 to $40. Full Story
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![Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, during a Sept. 15, 2016 Senate Finance Committee hearing.]()
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House Democrats try again for a minimum wage hike
Though the proposals are unlikely to get very far, House Democrats are again pushing for a minimum wage increase in Texas. Full Story
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Stolen after Super Bowl in Houston, Tom Brady's jersey recovered in Mexico
After being stolen from the Patriots' locker room at NRG Stadium in Houston last month after the Super Bowl, quarterback Tom Brady's jersey was traced to Mexico, according to officials involved in the investigation. Full Story
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![New England Patriots' James White (R) scores a touchdown in the fourth quarter against the Atlanta Falcons at Super Bowl LI in Houston, Texas, U.S., February 5, 2017.]()
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Analysis: Cutting the Texas budget, even with money on hand
If Texas legislators cut the state budget this year, it won't be because they didn't have the money. It'll be because they didn't want to spend the money they have. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman / Paul Hudson -
In Texas House, uncertain fate of bathroom bill could reverberate
The Texas “bathroom bill” has made it to the House but chamber leaders are hinting that the controversial legislation may never reach the chamber's floor for a vote. Full Story
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![With less than a week before lawmakers convene, preparations are underway to welcome members of the state House of Representatives for the 85th session of the Texas Legislature.]()
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Funding for Abbott's pre-K program flat lines in both chambers (video)
In the Texas Political Roundup: Both the House and Senate budget plans have zeroed out the funding for Governor Greg Abbott’s early education grant program. Plus, the “bathroom bill” advances in the Senate. And one lawmaker files a bill that would penalize men for masturbating. Full Story
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Universities face funding cuts of 6 percent to 10 percent in Senate plan
In an attempt to make major changes in how higher education is funded, the Senate Finance Committee is proposing major cuts to each state university. Full Story
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Senate gives approval to two abortion-related bills
The upper chamber gave final passage to a bill that would ban what opponents call "partial-birth" abortions and put restrictions on donating fetal tissue, and initial approval to one that would ban doctors from performing dilation and evacuation abortions. Full Story
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![A woman reflects quietly in the waiting room at Planned Parenthood of Gulf Coast's ambulatory surgical center in Houston Friday, August 2, 2013.]()
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Texas bullet train firm calls provision added to budget a "job killer"
Officials with Texas Central Partners, the private firm developing the Houston-Dallas high-speed rail line, said the rider added to the state senate's proposed budget Wednesday would put their project at risk. Full Story
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![A high-speed Texas train is planned to run near railroad tracks along Hempstead Road in northwest Houston.]()
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Watch as Texas House committee debates anti-"sanctuary" bill
The Texas House State Affairs Committee is set to debate a bill that would gut funding from local and state entities that don’t enforce immigration laws. Full Story
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![Critics of Senate Bill 4, a bill banning sanctuary cities, protest at the Texas Capitol as the bill is scheduled to be debated before the Senate State Affairs committee on Feb. 2, 2017.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Patrick: Straus "out of touch with the voters" on bathroom bill
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Wednesday that House Speaker Joe Straus is "out of touch with the voters" for opposing the so-called bathroom bill that passed the Texas Senate a day earlier. Full Story
![House Speaker Joe Straus and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick at a Texas Legislative Budget Board meeting on December 1, 2016.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for the Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate tentatively approves "bathroom bill"
After several hours of debate, the Texas Senate on Tuesday tentatively signed off on the “bathroom bill” on a 21-10 vote. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick confers with State Sens. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, Royce West, D-Dallas, on March 14, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune