President Obama said Thursday that Austin was the perfect spot to kick off his “Middle Class Jobs and Opportunity” tour because the city was doing so many things right economically. Obama stopped by Manor New Tech High School and also visited a pair of Austin companies, Applied Materials and Capital Factory.

President Obama will begin his swing through Austin on Thursday with a brief meeting with Gov. Rick Perry on the tarmac at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. 

UPDATED: With the prospect of Medicaid expansion on life support, protesters gathered at the Capitol on Wednesday to urge state leadership to expand coverage to poor adults, and state Democrats announced that they’re still searching for a legislative vehicle to expand coverage. 

The House and Senate took time on Wednesday to honor the state's living World War II veterans, including Gov. Rick Perry's 88-year-old father, Ray Perry.

UPDATED: The House’s most sweeping attempt at tax reform this year passed on a preliminary vote on Tuesday after hours of at times acrimonious debate. House Bill 500 which would spend an estimated $667 million over the next biennium. 

While Texas voters grumble more about property taxes than the state's franchise tax on businesses, Gov. Rick Perry is focusing on the latter.

A controversial program that school districts around the state use as an economic incentive tool would continue for another 10 years under a bill passed overwhelmingly by the House on Friday.

The Texas Legislature has gotten into the habit this session of reversing its votes, raising concerns over how well lawmakers understand the hundreds of bills they're voting on.

House members on Wednesday passed two bills that take aim at the practice of budget diversions, in which fees collected for specific purposes are used in another manner. The measures now go to the Senate.

A bill that would draw $2 billion for water projects from the Rainy Day Fund is set to hit the House floor Monday afternoon. The debate could turn to focus on what it means to be a fiscal conservative in the Tea Party era.

A debate in the Texas House on a supplemental budget bill Friday veered into debates on the Travis County district attorney's drunken driving charge and the murder of two Kaufman County prosecutors.

Efforts by state lawmakers to find money to repair South and West Texas roads torn up amid a drilling boom appear to be stalling, according to some officials working on the matter. Officials warn about the hazards of not maintaining these roads.

As lawmakers debate how much money to leave in the state's Rainy Day Fund, Gov. Rick Perry is relying on a very specific figure: 7.5 percent. 

After spending most of the day locked away in negotiations, the Senate unanimously approved a measure pulling $5.7 billion from the Rainy Day Fund for water and road projects and public education.

UPDATED: After unexpectedly voting to end the Texas Lottery Commission earlier Tuesday, the Texas House reversed course Tuesday afternoon with a vote to continue the commission.