Could Texas high-speed rail hit a speed bump this session?
Lawmakers are pushing more measures than ever before that could delay the Dallas-Houston bullet train project — and there’s even a special subcommittee tackling the topic. Full Story
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![The Japanese Shinkansen is a high-speed train used by JR Central in Japan. A private company is planning to build a rail line between Dallas and Houston using the same trains.]()
Credit: Norihiro Kataoka -
Analysis: Teacher pay raises and Robin Hood stall Texas lawmakers
The end of the legislative session — deal-making time — is looming, and the priorities set out by the state's top leaders three months ago remain undone. In fact, those centerpiece school finance and property tax measures aren't even teed up for the final negotiations. Full Story
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![Governor Greg Abott, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, and House Speaker Dennis Bonnen pet Pancake, the governor’s dog after their joint press conference. Jan. 9, 2019.]()
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Analysis: Can Texas Republicans raise the sales tax without suffering a backlash?
Lawmakers have proposed swapping higher sales taxes for lower property taxes — but leaving the final decision to voters. They don't have to do it that way, but it could move the blame from them — to the rest of us. Full Story
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![State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, in the Senate chamber on April 15, 2019.]()
Credit: Juan Figueroa/The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate passes legislation to prevent surprise medical bills with arbitration, mediation
Surprise medical bills happen when out-of-network health care providers and insurance companies can’t agree on the price of a medical treatment, leaving the patient to pick up the amount insurance won’t pay. Full Story
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![State Sen. Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills, during a February 21, 2018 Interim Committee on Higher Education Formula Funding.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate gives local governments more breathing room for property tax revenue growth
After a key Republican holdout agreed to bring a priority bill to the floor, the upper chamber increased an election trigger on revenue increases from 2.5% to 3.5%. But now both chambers must reconcile how they want to tackle rising school district taxes. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick speaks from the dais in the Senate chamber on April 9, 2019.]()
Credit: Juan Figueroa/The Texas Tribune -
Dan Patrick threatens to use "nuclear option" to skirt Senate tradition and bring property tax bill to the floor
"I respect our Senate rules, but I do not intend to let a procedural motion stop the Senate from passing this important bill," the lieutenant governor said. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Senate Parliamentarian Karina Davis on on the Senate floor on Jan. 9, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: For the Texas Legislature right now, it’s bipartisan or bust
The state's top three leaders bet everything on public education and property taxes this year, but they can't get where they're going — especially if they want to cut property taxes — without bringing some Democrats to their side. Full Story
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![House speaker Dennis Bonnen speaks to a colleague on the House floor on April 11, 2019.]()
Credit: Juan Figueroa/The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate approves two bills to override paid sick leave, local control over employment practices
LGBTQ advocates and business groups have warned that the measures could imperil municipal rules that outlaw discrimination. Full Story
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![State Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, lays out his bills during the Senate Education Committee meeting on Mar. 5, 2019.]()
Credit: Emree Weaver/The Texas Tribune -
Texas could soon increase the legal age to buy tobacco, though active military members might be exempt
Senate Bill 21 passed Tuesday, raising the legal purchasing age for tobacco products from 18 to 21. But its author amended the legislation to exclude active military from the age raise. Full Story
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![A student smokes a cigarette on the College of Communication plaza.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Texas reports on state government efficiency were kept secret. We're publishing them.
Since 2005, state lawmakers have received the agency's biennial report detailing inefficiencies in government, but this year the report was not made public. Full Story
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![Left to right: Outgoing House Speaker Joe Straus, presumptive House Speaker Dennis Bonnen and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick at a Legislative Budget Board meeting in Austin on Nov. 16, 2018.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
After 20 years of agitating for property tax reform, can Paul Bettencourt pull it off?
The "Tax Man," a Republican senator from Houston, has his best chance yet to shake up Texas' property tax system. But it's going to be an uphill battle. Full Story
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![State Sen. Paul Bettencourt speaks to Texas Tribune reporter Emma Platoff in his office on Feb. 13, 2019.]()
Credit: Emree Weaver / The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Legislative resolve isn’t always what you think it is
Texas lawmakers pass resolutions all the time. They can make the folks back home happy and commemorate people, places and things. And resolutions can serve — as one did for Senate Republicans this week — as a form of political advertising. Full Story
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![State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, speaks on his resolution to declare an emergency on the Texas-Mexico border on April 2, 2019.]()
Credit: Emree Weaver / The Texas Tribune -
Texas high-speed rail developer doesn't want state money. But the Senate's state budget could still delay the project.
Although Texas Central isn't planning on using state funds for its Dallas-Houston line, it says language in the spending plan could impede the project until a court definitively affirms the company's ability to use eminent domain. Full Story
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![An access gate to power lines is closed near John Stoneham's ranch on Wednesday, January 18, 2017 in Grimes County. The roughly 1,000-acre ranch, which has been owned and operated by the Stoneham family for nearly 150 years, is in the proposed path of a high speed rail line. The rail would potentially follow the path of the power lines. If the rail is built, Stoneham could lose about 50 acres of land in the middle of his property, limiting his access to grazing pastures.]()
Credit: Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News -
Analysis: A standard test for Texas lawmakers — fixing school finance
Texas lawmakers want to fix school finance, but they can't avoid looking for voter-pleasing side dishes, like property taxes and teacher pay raises, that could undermine the public education fixes. Full Story
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![Debate on House Bill 1, the House state budget bill, continues into its 12th hour as state Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie, shows the strain of a long night on March 27, 2019.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate approves occupational licensing bill LGBTQ advocates call a "license to discriminate"
The bill passed on a 19–12 vote, with one Republican voting against it and one Democrat voting for it. It requires one more approval in the Senate before it heads to the Texas House. Full Story
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![Dave Edmonson, Executive Director of Texas and the Southeast region for TechNet, speaks against discriminatory legislation during a press conference on March 27, 2019.]()
Credit: Emree Weaver / The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate moves to block local governments from partnering with abortion providers
Supporters say Senate Bill 22 would terminate "sweetheart rent deals," but abortion rights advocates say the legislation is the latest attempt in the legislature's years-long battle to reduce funding for abortion providers. Full Story
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![Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, answers questions about Senate Bill 6 on July 26, 2017.]()
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After helping defeat the “bathroom bill” in 2017, business groups are back to oppose “discriminatory and divisive measures”
The groups are targeting two priority bills in the Texas Senate. Full Story
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![Angela Hale, executive director for Texas Welcomes All, speaks during a press conference on March 27, 2019.]()
Credit: Emree Weaver / The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Texas lawmakers will obviously need a special session, right? Not so fast.
Halfway through the session, the Capitol's hallways are full of talk of a special session on school finance and property taxes. That won't happen — unless the Legislature makes a mess of the time it's got left. Full Story
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![Speaker Dennis Bonnen and state Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Houston, with other House members hold a press conference to announce their school finance bill on Mar. 5, 2019.]()
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Texas Senate confirms Brett Busby for Supreme Court post
Busby, a Republican judge and former U.S. Supreme Court clerk, served on an appellate court in Houston until voters rejected him in November as part of a Democratic sweep. Full Story
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With major policy differences emerging, state leaders continue to project unity
Halfway through the legislative session, lawmakers say they're getting along. But they have a long way to go to achieve their goals this year. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Gov. Greg Abbott and House Speaker Dennis Bonnen hold a joint press conference on the lawn of the Governor’s Mansion on Jan. 9, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr. / The Texas Tribune
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