The latest Texas Legislature news from The Texas Tribune.
Some critics of House Speaker Joe Straus say he’s too moderate to run the Texas House. But Bryan Hughes, the man some hope will unseat Straus, has worked as a trial lawyer, a profession not associated with conservative causes. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst on Tuesday expressed support for a bill that would require welfare applicants to take drug tests. Critics of the bill say it needlessly targets the poor. Full Story
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In a preview of the impending 83rd legislative session, lawmakers filed more than 250 bills on Monday. The proposals would affect just about everything from public school testing to health insurance and how we buy milk. Full Story
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With the general election in the rearview mirror, all eyes are on the next political contest on the Texas horizon — the House speaker’s race. The Tribune called all 150 members of the Texas House to find out who has their vote. Full Story
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Bill filing for the 83rd legislative session kicked off on Monday, and lawmakers filed more than 250 bills on the first day alone. The Tribune has retooled last session's bill tracker and put it to work, pulling in all the legislation that's been filed so far for 2013. Full Story
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The state's top two legislative leaders reflect the split in the Texas and national GOP — between populist conservatives on one hand, and mainline, old-school Republicans on the other. Full Story
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Full video of my Nov. 8 TribLive conversation — a post-election debrief — with state Sens. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, and Dan Patrick, R-Houston. Full Story
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With 43 legislators in the freshman class and 24 more who were new after the 2010 elections, the 150-member Texas House has a lot of new blood — and a lot of inexperienced officeholders. Full Story
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At this morning's TribLive conversation, state Sens. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, and Dan Patrick, R-Houston, debated the Republican Party's challenge in attracting Hispanic voters. Full Story
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State Rep. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola and a candidate for speaker of the House, promised his colleagues on Thursday that he will decentralize power in the lower chamber if he is elected. Full Story
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At this morning's TribLive conversation, state Sens. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, and Dan Patrick, R-Houston, discussed President Obama's victory Tuesday night and what it means for Texas. Full Story
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What does four more years of an Obama White House mean for the policy issues facing the overwhelmingly conservative Texas Legislature — and the interest groups and constituents who guide the political process? Full Story
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The state House, state Senate and U.S. House delegations from Texas have more than four dozen new members between them. Get to know their backgrounds and faces. Full Story
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At the Trib's Oct. 29 symposium at Texas State University on the future of water, I talked with state Rep. Allan Ritter, R-Nederland, who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, and state Sen. Glenn Hegar, R-Katy, a member of the Senate Natural Resources Committee. Full Story
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The outnumbered Texas House Democrats have plenty of leaders, insists state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, of San Antonio. But that hasn’t stopped the chairman of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus from taking center stage. Full Story
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While comments by state Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, on his "evolving" attitude toward certain gay rights issues have garnered plenty of negative attention from conservative groups, the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll shows the Republican lawmaker's views are consistent with changing attitudes among many Texans. Full Story
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News flash: Texans aren't big fans of the state government in Austin, according to the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. But if you really want to get their dander up, ask about the government in Washington. Full Story
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Speaker Joe Straus defended the House's redistricting work and said they'll continue their legal fight after a second Republican — Bill Zedler of Arlington — joined Democratic inquiries about how Straus' staff handled those political maps in 2011. Full Story
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State Sen. Dan Patrick says he is ready to champion public schools at the Capitol when the 83rd Legislature convenes in January. Whether the education community is ready to embrace him in that role is another matter. Full Story
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Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst upset the normal order of things when he announced his committee leaders four months early. But he did the senators a political favor in the process. Full Story
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