The latest state government news from The Texas Tribune.
They haven't been sworn in yet, but three candidates newly elected to the Texas House have been asked to testify on the eve of their first legislative session in a lawsuit filed against their political consultant. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/DSC_0405.jpg)
Texas Secretary of State Hope Andrade is resigning effective Friday, her office has confirmed. Andrade has held the post since 2008, when her appointment by Gov. Rick Perry made her Texas' first Latina secretary of state. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/476c7bd2c1d027b8892fc64fb617ecf7/BD%20INC%20Andrade%20CMS%202011)
Full video of my 11/19 TribLive conversation with three incoming state representatives: Republicans Cecil Bell Jr. and Giovanni Capriglione and Democrat Mary Gonzalez. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/_KCA4139.jpg)
Texas lawmakers are once again heading into a legislative session facing concerns over the fiscal health of the state’s major pension systems, and changes to retirees’ health insurance may play a role. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TexasCapitol.jpg)
This week in the Texas Weekly Newsreel: George P. Bush announces he will run for something, Bryan Hughes steps up his run for House speaker, F1 is running residents out of Austin this weekend and three candidates are running for the late state Sen. Mario Gallegos' seat in Houston — so far. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/111612_ART.jpg)
Larson: The conservative House has a conservative speaker, and there's no reason to change leaders. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Larson.jpg)
Full video of my 11/15 TribLive conversation with state Rep. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, a declared candidate for speaker of the Texas House. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/Hughes-2.jpg)
The letters dribbling into House Speaker Joe Straus' mailbox raise questions about the House's redistricting last session, but that's just a way for his rivals to raise questions about his leadership. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TXTrib-StrausBebee-003.jpg)
At Thursday morning's TribLive conversation, state Rep. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, a declared candidate for Speaker of the Texas House, talked about the challenges and opportunities in taking on the current occupant of the job, Joe Straus. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/Hughes-Triblive-1.jpg)
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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Hughes-TTLA.jpg)
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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/2115f1476d71fc7646bf5a1a8ff3bfd3/BD%20INC%20Perry-Conference-Drug%20Testing%202012)
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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TxTrib-FilingBills_Tamir.Kalifa002.jpg)
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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/28613006748eaa2b11c0a0f162d7c7ec/DO%20NOT%20USE%20Straus-Hughes-Speakers%20Race%202012)
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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Bills-83rdLegSesh-2.jpg)
A petition calling for Texas to "peacefully" withdraw from the United States of America was filed on a White House website Friday. It already has enough signatures to warrant an official response. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/103109_txsecession001_jv.png)
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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Dewhurst-Straus-Close.jpg)
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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Yearbook-002.jpg)
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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/1bcf7f49e1f0cf64ab9d8d57ed9f5ae8/BD%20INC%20Hughes%202012)
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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Obama2012-Issues.jpg)
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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Cap_sized9.jpg)