At Thursday's TribLive conversation, state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, and ethics and campaign finance lawyer Randall "Buck" Wood talked to the Tribune's Ross Ramsey about transparency in political giving.

Texas provides a looking-glass view of the national picture on the issue of guns — though with its own Texas flavor, of course. 

UPDATED: House lawmakers on Wednesday put their stamp of approval on a measure that would keep the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in business for another 12 years. But they tacked on a few more amendments. 

House Bill 500, the Legislature's most sweeping attempt at reforming the franchise tax this session, was drastically rewritten Thursday morning by its Senate sponsor, state Sen. Glenn Hegar, R-Katy.

The University of Texas of the Permian Basin professor and expert on Texas oil history on the current fracking boom and how it compares to the great booms of the past, as well as the strange way in which the Railroad Commission came to regulate oil and gas drilling.

Advocacy groups and business owners urged lawmakers to crack down on companies that misclassify their employees for tax and immigration purposes. But in the final days of the session, the measures have run out of steam.

In this session's ethics battles, watchdogs say there’s more contradiction than conviction. 

A dispute over permitting in the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District may foreshadow fights the rest of the state could soon face as crippling drought conditions persist.

A day after a budget breakthrough appeared imminent, negotiations were thrown back into limbo.

UPDATED: Budget negotiations stretched late into the evening on Wednesday, but lawmakers said privately they didn’t expect to announce a deal until Thursday. 

On the latest Agenda Texas, from KUT News and the Tribune: Efforts to include Texas in the Affordable Care Act's expansion of Medicaid have come down to a single budget rider.

Evan, Emily, Ben and Reeve discuss the musical stylings of Houston physician and major Republican donor Steve Hotze, recently released emails from the governor to University of Texas System regents, and the state of the state's water funding.

Your evening reading: Abbott urges groups to contact him if they were targeted by IRS; Gohmert rips Holder at hearing; Dewhurst calls for investigation of abortion provider

Harris County authorities and the Texas Department of State Health Services are investigating a Houston doctor accused Wednesday by an anti-abortion group of performing late-term abortions in 2011.

UPDATED: After the Senate concurred with amendments in the House, a bill adding restrictions and requirements for regents of the state's university systems is on its way to the governor's desk.

UPDATED: The Texas Senate on Wednesday approved legislation that would require a foster child's guardian to give informed consent before that child could be put on psychotropic drugs. The Senate will now conference with the House on a final agreement.

Last week Houston physician Steve Hotze, a major Republican campaign donor, announced he was suing the federal government over the Affordable Care Act. This week, he's singing a similar tune — literally.

At the start of the legislative session, bills that would strengthen the state's charter school system, overhaul teaching requirements and address accountability for underperforming school districts were a top priority for many advocacy groups and some lawmakers. Use our interactive to track their progress.

With less than two weeks before the end of the 83rd legislative session, efforts to find more funding for the Texas Department of Transportation are sputtering.

As the fertilizer plant explosion in West continues to elicit debate about regulation, one factor that hasn’t been discussed as much is the unique needs of the soil in Central Texas.