After hours of emotional debate Tuesday evening, the Senate approved omnibus legislation to increase abortion restrictions in Texas.

Pharmacists squeezed between the costs of drugs and the sometimes lower-than-cost reimbursements from Medicaid are looking forward to changes in managed care that will let them see behind the reimbursements and to challenge them.

Texas plans to launch 1,100 experimental projects using a transformational Medicaid waiver. The goal: to change the way health care is delivered to the state’s poor and uninsured. This interactive shows how $3.2 billion for those projects will be spent.

The federal government has approved 1,100 experimental projects that could transform health care delivery to the state’s poor and uninsured. But the plan has a big catch: Local health care entities have to pony up to get the federal dollars.

A panel of state senators will convene on Thursday to respond to Gov. Rick Perry’s call to add legislation related to abortion procedures, providers and facilities to the special session.

The bipartisan "farm-to-table" caucus landed a couple of key victories in its first legislative session, laying the groundwork for its effort to help local agricultural businesses crop up across Texas.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is urging Gov. Rick Perry to include a variety of conservative issues, such as the "fetal pain" and campus-carry measures, in the special session that Perry announced Monday. 

Whether they have a longstanding interest or are branching into new territory, some of the state's top political donors advocate for education issues. Use our interactive to track contributions to lawmakers who make decisions affecting Texas schools.

The House on Thursday knocked down a nonbinding motion to instruct conferees to keep an “anti-Medicaid expansion” amendment when they meet with Senate members to work out the final language of Senate Bill 7.

UPDATED: Gov. Rick Perry met with three health care activists who helped organize a protest of his speech before Austin business leaders Wednesday. Both sides said the meeting was cordial, though there were no breakthroughs.

From protecting endangered lizards to changing industry standards on fracking, energy and environmental groups have many competing interests in Texas. Use this interactive to track campaign contributions by some of the most influential such groups and donors.

The Senate raised the bar Tuesday evening in its standoff with the lower chamber by tying the provisions in a major franchise tax relief bill to key legislation being held up in the House.

Ahead of a Wednesday bill-passing deadline, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has sent an email to supporters urging them to ask their senators to vote out several anti-abortion measures.  

Two Texans, Gov. Rick Perry and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, are on the GOP's radar as potential 2016 presidential candidates. Use this interactive to see how they compare on issues like health care, abortion and immigration. 

UPDATED: Despite looming deadlines, the House postponed on Monday a vote on Senate Joint Resolution 1, which would allow voters to decide whether to set up a fund for water infrastructure projects.