Dan Patrick on the budget, school choice and the bathroom bill (video)
Full video of Evan Smith's 1/11 conversation with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Full Story
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Texas Legislature faces a shift in border security funding debate (video)
In 2015, state lawmakers approved $800 million for border security efforts. But the election of Donald Trump as president has some Republican lawmakers thinking there will be a change in spending plans this session. Full Story
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Slideshow: 85th Texas Legislature kicks off
The Texas Tribune's photographers were on hand at the state Capitol on Tuesday to capture scenes from the opening day of the 85th Legislative Session. Full Story
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![Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos gavels in the 85th Legislature on January 10, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
State Rep. Dawnna Dukes' case headed to grand jury next week
Travis County prosecutors will ask a grand jury to indict State Rep. Dawnna Dukes next Tuesday, KXAN reported Tuesday. Full Story
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![State Rep. Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin, on the House floor for opening day of the 85th Legislature on January 10, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Speaker Straus breaking a trend seen with his predecessors
House Speaker Joe Straus won a fifth term in that post on the first day of the legislative session. And unlike his predecessors, he's more secure politically now than when he started in 2009. Full Story
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![State Rep. Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, is sworn in as speaker of the Texas House on opening day of the 85th Legislature on January 10, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Texas lawmakers focus on friendship on legislative session's first day
With pomp and circumstance inside the Capitol and protests and prayer rallies outside it, the Texas Legislature kicked off its 85th session on Tuesday. Full Story
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![A man preaches in the Capitol rotunda before the start of the 85th Texas Legislature on Jan. 10, 2017]()
Credit: Marjorie Cotera for the Texas Tribune -
In 150-0 vote, Texas House backs Speaker Joe Straus for record-tying fifth term
San Antonio Republican Joe Straus was re-elected unanimously by House members Tuesday for a fifth term, joining former House Speakers Pete Laney and Gib Lewis for the longest tenures presiding over the House. Full Story
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![Rep. Joe Straus makes remarks after being being sworn in for his fifth term as speaker of the Texas House on Jan. 10, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Tighter Texas budget looms as lawmakers return for another session
State lawmakers will descend on Austin today for the 85th Legislative Session, facing a tight fiscal picture, varying priorities from their leaders and all the politics that naturally accompany the last regular session before statewide elections. Full Story
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Get all your 85th Texas legislative news in one place
As state lawmakers kick off the 85th Legislative Session on Tuesday, you can use our session page to watch livestreams of the floor action and stay caught up on all the news from the session. Full Story
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After announcing resignation, Dawnna Dukes confirms plans to serve another term
State Rep. Dawnna Dukes confirmed to the Texas Tribune in an email Monday that she is not resigning, months after announcing plans to resign in January. Full Story
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![State Rep. Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin.]()
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Hegar gives lawmakers dour revenue estimate for 2017 session
Facing sluggish economic forecasts, Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced Monday that lawmakers will have $104.87 billion in state funds at their disposal in crafting the next two-year budget, a 2.7 percent decrease from the last session two years ago. Full Story
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![Ahead of the start of the 85th Legislature, state Comptroller Glenn Hegar offers lawmakers the revenue estimate for the biennial budget.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Once again, the Texas Legislature is mostly white, male, middle-aged
Here’s a look at the demographics of the 85th Legislature by lawmakers’ race, gender, age, education and religion. Full Story
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![The 84th legislative session ran from Jan. 13 through Jun. 1. State lawmakers enhanced gun rights, allowed epilepsy patients to use medicinal cannabis oil and outlawed local bans on fracking.]()
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Analysis: The will of the voters — when the Legislature agrees
The so-called "bathroom bill" unveiled by Republican leaders last week is the latest piece of legislation that would overwrite local laws with state regulations cooked up in Austin. Full Story
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![State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick discuss details of a so-called "bathroom bill" on Jan. 5, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Rodney Ellis leaves Texas Senate with criminal justice legacy
The 2017 legislative session will open without former state Sen. Rodney Ellis, a 26-year lawmaker who became a criminal justice reform titan in the upper chamber. Full Story
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![Retiring Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, listens to testimony during the Senate Committee on State Affairs hearing on religious freedom on Feb. 17, 2016.]()
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News of Rep. Dawnna Dukes' change in plans fuels questions for potential successors
As a news report came out Saturday that state Rep. Dawnna Dukes no longer plans to leave office, the hopefuls looking to succeed her in House District 46 were left wondering whether there was still a campaign left to be run. Full Story
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![Texas State Representative Dawnna Dukes is honored at the unveiling of the African American Portrait Project at the African American Cultural and heritage Facility in Austin, Texas. June 9, 2014.]()
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Citing "bathroom bill," Percy Jackson author declines Legislature invitation
Author Rick Riordan is declining to attend the Texas Legislature’s celebration of authors event, saying the reason is because of the proposed "bathroom bill." Full Story
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![Author Rick Riordan.]()
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With "bathroom bill," Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick plows into "tough fight"
While Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has called a so-called bathroom bill a legislative priority, the issue has largely cooled off on the national stage and opposition to similar legislation in Texas had begun to gain momentum. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst unveil the text of Senate Bill 6, which would require transgender people to use bathrooms in public schools, government buildings and universities based on “biological sex,” on Jan. 5, 2017.]()
Credit: Todd Wiseman / The Texas Tribune -
Texas reproductive rights groups brace for Legislature
Reproductive rights advocates have expressed concern that Texas lawmakers will take bolder steps in the upcoming session to defund abortion providers and dismantle access to abortion, birth control and other sexual health services. Full Story
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![Protesters of Texas' fetal remains burial rule gather outside the Governor's Mansion on Jan. 6, 2017.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
For Rep. Dawnna Dukes, delayed resignation yields bigger pension check
State Rep. Dawnna Dukes announced her retirement in September, but doesn't plan to make it official until Tuesday. That would make her annual pension payout $3,220 bigger. Full Story
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![State Rep. Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin, speaks with media following the presentation of a $15,000 scholarship donation to Huston-Tillotson University at the African American Heritage Festival on the University campus in Austin, TX on Feb. 27, 2016.]()
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Whitmire may avoid some pension votes amid conflict-of-interest concerns
After some Dallas City Council members voiced concerns this week over Whitmire’s work at a law firm whose client list includes city pension fund boards, the Houston Democrat said he would likely abstain from voting on Dallas-specific bills. Full Story
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![Sen. John Whitmire D-Houston holds up a copy of newspaper with an article regarding CPS on the front page as he questions John Stephen, a consultant hired to give a report on Texas child protective services during an October 26, 2016 Senate Finance Committee hearing]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera