In this week's episode of the TribCast, Evan, Reeve, Julian and Ben discuss the meltdown in the House, the debate over sanctuary cities, and the latest in higher education.

Advocates for the elderly and disabled are fighting a proposal in the Legislature that they say would reduce the wages of the personal care attendants who provide services through the Medicaid Community-Based Alternatives waiver program. While the proposal was cut out of one bill Tuesday, the same language exists in a number of other bills, including the Senate version of the budget. 

After hours of contentious and often emotional debate, the Texas House passed HB 12, the controversial "sanctuary cities" legislation. The measure was passed on a 100 to 47 vote just after midnight.

Hey, Texplainer: What's all the talk about deadlines at the Legislature this week? Aren't there three weeks left in the session?

In this week's TribCast, Evan, Ross, Reeve and Ben discuss the Texas Senate, the budget being considered by the Texas Senate, and the influence of outside groups on the Texas Senate.

With fewer than five weeks left in the regular session, none of Gov. Rick Perry's emergency items — voter ID, sanctuary cities, sonograms for women getting abortions, a federal balanced budget amendment, and eminent domain protection — have made it to his desk. Perry's unfazed, however, and says there is plenty of time.

In this episode of the TribCast, Evan, Reeve, Ben and Mark chatter about Leo Berman, David Simpson, Jeff Wentworth, and David Dewhurst.

The first reading is just an introduction, the second reading is when the action happens, and the third reading is for final passage.

In this week's jam-packed episode, Evan, Ross, Reeve and Ben discuss higher education reformers, data security at the Comptroller's office, redistricting, the budget, and birthdays.

Texas lawmakers have six weeks left in the regular session, and their struggle with the state's tight 2012-13 budget is expected to take up much of that time and could even extend into a special session this summer. It's a hard job, and perhaps the best way to show you that is to let you decide for yourself how the $27 billion shortfall should be closed. Use our interactive budget shortfall app to see what you're willing to give up to close the gap.

This week on the TribCast, Evan, Ross, Reeve, and Morgan discuss rumors of the death of campus carry legislation, a controversial amendment with many names, and the latest on redistricting and the budget.

When Ellen Cohen decided, two months after losing re-election to her state House seat, to run for Houston City Council, a friend worried, “Isn’t that a step down?” Cohen’s answer? “No, it’s a step closer.” Running for city council “is on a different scale, sure," Cohen said, "but the immediacy of being able to do something in the city you chose to move to is really appealing.”

In this week's episode, Evan, Ross, Reeve, and Ben discuss the House budget and what it means for the Senate, pansexuals, and Western Civilization.

Feral hogs are a fast-growing —and destructive — problem. Does that mean recreational hunters in helicopters should shoot them? 

For the latest installment of our nonscientific survey of political and policy insiders, we asked how the state's top leaders are doing so far this session and which lawmakers — and which freshmen lawmakers — are standing out, for better or for worse.

If the signatures of state representatives on the hundreds of amendments to HB1 are any indication, possession of legible handwriting is not a prereqisite for holding elective office. We've selected the 10 most indecipherable John Hancocks from the more than 370 amendments. See if you can identify each one. 

Heated debate over the state budget is already under way, but as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, similar fighting has been playing out for at least three years across the country.

Thirty new GOP lawmakers took office this year, promising their constituents they'd cut the fat out of government. As the House prepares to vote on a slew of budget bills on Thursday and Friday, this freshman bloc is showing some clout. Many have vowed to not spend the remaining Rainy Day funds to close the next biennium's budget gap. Now that they're off the campaign trail and inside the Capitol, has their perspective changed? The Texas Tribune interviews Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Terrell, Rep. Raul Torres, R-Corpus Christi, and Rep. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock. 

In this week's TribCast, Evan, Ross, Reeve and Ben discuss statements by the Legislative Budget Board, the situation with gambling bills, and the saga of Willie Nelson.

For those who frequent the Texas Capitol but don’t feel like sacrificing the time it takes to get a concealed handgun license, there may soon be a special pass allowing them to bypass the building’s metal detectors at Capitol entrances.

For the latest installment of our nonscientific survey of political and policy insiders, we asked whether the Legislature will finish its redistricting chores or will need help, whether Republicans will be able to ensure future super-majorities, and how lawmakers will split four new congressional seats between the political parties.

This week's episode of the TribCast features Evan, Ross, Reeve, and Ben talking mostly about the budget, but also a bit about redistricting and academic research.

Those with a concealed handgun license, which currently means they must be 21 years old. Though it won't necessarily be that way forever, which raises another question: When it comes to gun safety, does age matter?

The senior executive editor of Texas Monthly on the biennial list of the Best and Worst Legislators, now coming together for the 20th time, on how he decides who's in and who's out, and on how this crop of lawmakers is shaping up.

The Texas Tribune interview with Texas Monthly Executive Editor Paul  Burka.

Anyone in the habit of calling state legislators has probably had the pleasure and/or pain of the hold music to which staffers must occasionally subject them. Is the music the lawmaker's choice, or is it out of his or her hands?

This week on the TribCast, Ross, Reeve, Ben and special guest Jim Henson discuss the Rainy Day Fund, Hispanic Republicans, Tommy Lee Jones, and a good deal more.