The latest Texas Legislature news from The Texas Tribune.
As state Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, winds down her career in the Legislature, she is fixing to begin a new one with Academic Partnerships, a Dallas-based company that helps public universities convert their courses into online offerings. Full Story
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The easiest way to win an election is to have the votes. The next easiest way is to change the rules of the election. Some political folks, inside and outside the Texas Senate, are looking at the rules. Full Story
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Another veteran is retiring from the Legislature, special election candidates are flinging endorsements at each other, and a doctor is leaving the House. Full Story
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The outspoken head of the state's fourth-largest school district— newly crowned as Superintendent of the Year — on school finance lawsuits, the impact of cuts to public education funding and the upcoming transition to end-of-course exams. Full Story
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A new law imposing citizenship restrictions on deputy and volunteer voter registrars has voting rights groups worried that fewer Texans — in particular, fewer minorities — will cast a ballot next year. Full Story
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A student organization at Gov. Rick Perry’s alma mater, Texas A&M, has started a petition requesting that the governor immediately call a special legislative session to end in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. Full Story
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On Friday, Gov. Rick Perry spoke at the Family Research Council's annual "Values Voters Summit" in Washington. Watch his remarks, courtesy of C-SPAN. (Note: The speech begins in progress due to a signal loss.) Full Story
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The redrawing of political district lines — which ideally happens just once a decade after a federal census — could create a series of crazy election cycles for Texas voters and candidates. It happened in the 1990s, and it could happen again now. Full Story
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In the wake of Michael Morton's release from prison last week based on DNA testing that shows someone else killed his wife 25 years ago, defense lawyers are calling for reforms to ensure prosecutors must turn over exculpatory evidence. Full Story
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Murphy, Ramshaw and Root on Rick Perry and race, Philpott on Perry's vague economic plans, Tan and Wiseman on Barack Obama's foray into Texas to defend his jobs plan, Aguilar on Perry's proposal to send U.S. troops to Mexico, Ramshaw on efforts to leash rising health care costs, M. Smith on upcoming legal challenges to the state's school finance system, Aaronson interactively explores Medicare spending proposals, Galbraith on efforts to pass — and to oppose — a $6 billion water program, Grissom on the release of a man wrongly convicted of murder and Hamilton on efforts to let the public write some legislation: The best of our best content from October 3 to 7, 2011. Full Story
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U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann's proposal came ahead of the Family Research Council’s Values Voters Summit on Friday, a chance for the candidates to showcase their social-conservative credentials. Full Story
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The Texas Senate Business and Commerce Committee is hoping to bring the state Capitol into the 21st century by experimenting with crowdsourcing, using the internet to gather input from the public on bills they're considering. Full Story
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The concept of crowdsourcing — soliciting information from a wide range of people responding to an open call over the internet — could play a significant role in the way Texas lawmakers handle a key issue next session. Full Story
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A looming special election in Bryan, and movement in Fort Worth and El Paso top the list of political moves this week. Full Story
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Lost track of who's leaving and who's staying in legislative office? Full Story
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The federal redistricting panel in San Antonio is sharpening its crayons and asking the pack of lawyers in that case to make suggestions about corrective maps. Full Story
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The possibility of five or more new Republican senators in 2013 opens a tactical door for conservatives who'd like to gain control of the Legislature. Full Story
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The lawsuits over public education funding that are currently taking shape will be the latest in a long history of court intervention in Texas' school finance system. But how much can the judiciary do to fix it? Full Story
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State campaign news, candidate announcements, retirements and rumors from the past week. Full Story
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Aaronson on the shrinking of state government, Aguilar on the controversy over in-state tuition for the children of undocumented immigrants, Galbraith on Rick Perry vs. the EPA, Grissom on a startling development in a 25-year-old murder case, Hamilton on Ken Starr's first year as president of Baylor, Ramsey on what inmates have to do with redistricting, Ramshaw on the state's crisis in insurance coverage, Root on Perry's presidential grind dance and Smith on obstacles to addressing childhood obesity: The best of our best content from Sept. 26-30, 2011. Full Story
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