Most Texans still see the nation as being on the wrong track, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. And the issue of political corruption and leadership is rising on Texans’ list of top problems facing the country.

In a new video, Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples, a declared candidate for lieutenant governor in 2014, vows that he will fight back against progressives who want to turn tomorrow's Texas into the California or Washington, D.C., of today. 

Gov. Rick Perry issued more than two dozen vetoes Friday, including a line-item veto that wipes out funding for the Travis County prosecutors who investigate government fraud and public corruption. He also vetoed a bill that would have had Texas law mirror gender wage protections in the federal Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009.

Two days after Gov. Rick Perry added transportation funding to the special session agenda, the Senate Finance Committee debated a bill that would increase road dollars by slowing the flow of money into the state's Rainy Day Fund.

U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, is asking the state comptroller to update a study on the fiscal impact of Texas' population of undocumented immigrants.

Gov. Rick Perry is pushing back against conservative critics who say the state budget is growing too fast. Perry is still analyzing the budget legislation, but his defense of it was the clearest signal yet that he plans to sign the two-year, $197 billion appropriations bill into law.

Gov. Rick Perry will start spreading the news of his state's strong economy to the Big Apple on Monday. A $1 million ad campaign, dwarfing previous buys in California and Illinois, is aimed at convincing businesses to bring jobs here.

This week in the Texas Weekly Newsreel: Now that the regular legislative session is over and the special session is under way, the focus has turned to who may be running for office in 2014, and to another round of redistricting.

At Thursday's TribLive conversation, state Sens. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, and Kirk Watson, D-Austin, explained their different votes on the state budget.

The number of naturalized citizens in Texas is on the rise, as is the purchasing power and economic output of the state's native-born and immigrant Hispanic and Asian populations, according to an Immigration Policy Center report.

A plan to fund Texas highway construction by diverting half of the money that currently feeds the state's Rainy Day Fund could find new life in a special session.

Lawmakers raced to get several bills passed before the 83rd Legislature's regular session ended. And with Monday's announcement of a special session, their work isn't done. Here's a look at the deals reached and the measures that fell short in the regular session. 

Monday marked the end of the 83rd Legislature's regular session, and the start of a special session on redistricting. Despite the quick turnaround, lawmakers had a chance to reflect on what they accomplished in the last 140 days. 

If Texas’ less-than-theatrical 83rd legislative session is remembered at all, it will be known for accords, not discord. Here's a look at top storylines from this session and what they could portend for the future.

A growing number of Republicans across the country are working to repeal their states’ income tax, using Texas’ economic success to make their case. Inside Texas, however, the state’s tax system is not universally beloved.

The budget deal that took a step closer to passage Wednesday evening would spend $3.9 billion from the state's Rainy Day Fund. That would leave more in the fund than many lawmakers or Gov. Rick Perry had earlier proposed.

UPDATED: After days of jockeying and one-upsmanship, the Texas House and Senate each approved measures Wednesday evening critical to passing their next two-year budget.

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.

Tax relief has become a key issue in the final weeks of the legislative session, and nearly all of the relief efforts are focused on the franchise tax paid by businesses. Use our interactive to track the status of those bills.

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.