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. 

The Senate version of House Bill 5, which it approved Monday, still allows students to complete diplomas in specialized areas, or "endorsements." But it changes the courses required to graduate under those endorsements.

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.

One Texan's transparency is another’s right to privacy, and people in politics generally find it easier to demand openness than to provide it.

The House on Monday sent five members to negotiate a budget with the Senate, with instructions to avoid anything that looks like it would expand the state's Medicaid program. 

UPDATE: Gov. Rick Perry told House Republicans in a private meeting this week that he could support a budget that breaks the state's constitutional spending cap, according to several attendees. But many are still wary of doing so.

Going by the Texas Weekly Index, which is based on the results of contested statewide elections over the 2010 and 2012 political cycles, the state's most conservative districts are in the Panhandle. Use this interactive to see charts that illustrate the political climate of each district.

UPDATED: Austin Democrat Jade Chang Sheppard said Wednesday that she will run for the Texas House seat that will open after Rep. Mark Strama's current — and last — term in office next year. 

In 2011, Texas House Democrats were dejected, demoralized and badly outnumbered. Their numbers have improved. Now the question is whether they can move as a bloc.

Last week, House Speaker Joe Straus appointed a committee to examine the state's Code of Criminal Procedure. Committee members and relevant interest groups were caught by surprise, but they say the code is long overdue for revisions.

Full video of my January 22 TribLive conversation about family planning and women's health with state Reps. Donna Howard, D-Austin, and Sarah Davis, R-West University Place.

The Legislature has its own jargon, and it sometimes feels like members are speaking a different language. Blocker bills? WADA? Chubbing? LARS? Here's a guide — in the form of a multiple-choice quiz — to what they're saying.

At this morning's TribLive conversation, state Reps. Sarah Davis, R-West University Place, and Donna Howard, D-Austin, talked about whether the new state-run Texas Women's Health Program will have enough providers without Planned Parenthood. 

Full video of my January 17 TribLive conversation with state Rep. Allan Ritter, R-Nederland, the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee.

At this morning's TribLive conversation, state Rep. Allan Ritter, R-Nederland, the chairman of the House National Resources Committee, talked about his desire to withdraw $2 billion from the Rainy Day Fund to jump-start the state water plan.

The budget proposals released by lawmakers this week show an interest in revamping school testing and the state's economic incentive programs.

The House's Democratic minority was dealt a blow Monday when the chamber passed an amendment to its rules to limit legislators' ability to derail bills based on clerical errors. 

Twenty journalists have spent nine months researching the personal financial interests of members of the 83rd Legislature. Eyebrows — and hackles — may be raised, but this kind of transparency is good for Texas.