The latest Texas Legislature news from The Texas Tribune.
Today, as we vote on House Bill 1, we are in the position of squeezing water out of rock, and the process is hard and dirty work. Democrats will say there is no water in the rock. They are wrong. Full Story
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We cannot solve this budget crisis with blind, across-the-board cuts. There are better choices. If we return to the pragmatic political approach that once defined our politics, we will keep alive the tradition of each generation sacrificing for a better Texas. Full Story
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Heated debate over the state budget is already under way, but as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, similar fighting has been playing out for at least three years across the country. Full Story
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State Reps. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio, and Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, react to the passage of HB4 and HB275, and preview of the upcoming battle over HB1, the House's bare-bones general appropriations plan for the next biennium. Full Story
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House lawmakers are considering a plan to privatize all of Texas' state jails for low-level felony offenders, a move they say could save the state up to $40 million. Full Story
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Heated debate over the state budget is already under way, but as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, similar fighting has been playing out for at least three years across the country. Full Story
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With the strum of a guitar and the whine of fiddle strings, Ray Benson and two other members of his band Asleep At The Wheel kicked off a rally Thursday to support the Texas Historical Commission, which faces deep budget cuts. Full Story
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House lawmakers voted this afternoon to preliminarily pass HB 4 and HB 275, two bills that together will balance the state's budget for the remaining months of the fiscal year through a mix of spending cuts and use of the Rainy Day Fund. Full Story
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Numbers aren’t all that’s buried in the budget. Lawmakers have filed hundreds of amendments that are political in nature, from repealing in-state tuition for illegal immigrants to trying to push Planned Parenthood out of the family planning business. Full Story
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The Senate Criminal Justice Committee today approved a controversial bill that would allow students to carry concealed handguns on college campuses. Full Story
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At this morning's TribLive conversation, state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, the longest-serving woman, African American and Democrat in the Texas House, forcefully argued that state funding of public education should not be cut — unless school districts are made to tap into their own reserves. Full Story
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We're liveblogging from the House floor, where lawmakers are expected to vote on HB 4 and HB 275, two bills that would balance the Fiscal Year 2011 budget and authorize lawmakers to withdraw $3.1 billion from the Rainy Day Fund. Full Story
With budget deliberation looming in the Legislature, Gretch Sanders of KUT News reports that funding cuts to one health program could mean a death sentence for some. Full Story
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Thirty new GOP state lawmakers took office this year, promising their constituents they'd cut the fat out of government. As the House prepares to vote on a slew of budget bills on Thursday and Friday, this freshman bloc is showing some clout. Full Story
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The House is scheduled to take up the full budget on Friday, and members filed more than 400 pages of amendments in advance of that debate. Here's the full set, in searchable, electronic form. Full Story
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In this week's TribCast, Evan, Ross, Reeve and Ben discuss statements by the Legislative Budget Board, the situation with gambling bills, and the saga of Willie Nelson. Full Story
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Lawmakers and lobbyists continue to spar over the accuracy of a recent Legislative Budget Board analysis of the effect House Bill 1 could have on jobs in the state of Texas. Full Story
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Proposed legislation that would establish a state-run guest worker program would legally satisfy the state’s appetite for cheap labor but not grant amnesty to people already in Texas illegally, according to the bill’s author. Full Story
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TSA agents could be charged with misdemeanor crimes for intrusive pat-downs of Texas travelers, under a bill filed by Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview, and co-authored by more than 40 other lawmakers. Full Story
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Hundreds of people rallied at the Capitol today to urge lawmakers to maintain state spending on Medicaid and CHIP, the health care programs for children, the disabled and the very poor. Full Story
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