TribLive: How'd the Senate Do?
Here's full video of my May 30 TribLive conversation debriefing the 83rd Legislature with state Sens. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, and Kirk Watson, D-Austin.
Full StoryThe Texas Senate is the upper chamber of the state's bicameral Legislature. It is comprised of 31 state senators and the lieutenant governor, who serves as president of the Senate.
Senators serve four-year terms and are not term limited.
The second-highest post in the Senate is the president pro-tempore, who can come from either party and is usually determined ...
Here's full video of my May 30 TribLive conversation debriefing the 83rd Legislature with state Sens. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, and Kirk Watson, D-Austin.
Full StoryAt Thursday's TribLive conversation, state Sens. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, and Kirk Watson, D-Austin, talked about the 83rd Legislature's approach to public education reform.
Full StoryAt Thursday's TribLive conversation, state Sens. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, and Kirk Watson, D-Austin, explained their different votes on the state budget.
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UPDATED: At a federal redistricting hearing in San Antonio, lawyers for the state and the various plaintiffs agreed that the state Senate maps used in 2012 should be left as is for the 2014 elections. But they still differ on the House and Congress plans.
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Gov. Rick Perry signed a major water infrastructure bill into law on May 28. Speaking to reporters afterward, he remained coy about his political future and wouldn't say if he will add any items to the special session agenda.
Full StoryIf 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.
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The deadline for bills to win approval from the House and the Senate passed earlier this week, resulting in the death of a lot of legislation. Most of what remains is to reconcile differences between versions of legislation passed by both chambers. Our updated bill apps — one for House bills and one for Senate legislation — detail the results.
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David Dewhurst, the state's lieutenant governor for the past decade, started this legislative session looking for some momentous conservative victories. He's still looking.
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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.
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Texas lawmakers have 10 days left in the regular session. They haven't embarrassed themselves, spent much time in bitter fights or generated the sorts of headlines that have made voters think so little of Washington.
Full StoryA political scientist's analysis of Texas legislators' votes through April, and where those votes locate lawmakers on the partisan scale. Spoiler alert: The Republicans and the Democrats don't overlap much.
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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.
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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.
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It’s a little funny to talk to people at the Capitol who have been steeled in a culture of political warfare about the outbreak of peace. Many differences remain, but those blood veins that were sticking out on everyone’s foreheads and necks in 2009 and 2011 have smoothed out. For the moment, Texas civics is downright civil.
Full StoryFull video of my 4/11 TribLive conversation with state Sens. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston; Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio; and Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo.
Full StoryAt Thursday's TribLive conversation, state Sens. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston; Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio; and Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, weighed in on outreach to Latino voters.
Full StoryAt Thursday's TribLive conversation, state Sens. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston; Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio; and Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, talked about the sudden outbreak of peace and comity in the 83rd legislative session.
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State Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, is engaged in a long-term campaign to convince his fellow legislators that the state's bond debt is an urgent problem and that tax increases are part of a conservative solution.
Full StoryThirty-six years before U.S. Sen. Rand Paul held a nearly 13-hour filibuster, a Texas senator filibustered for 43 hours in the Texas Senate, setting a world record.
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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.
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The first budgets from the House and Senate are out, marked by their authors as mere starting points. Here's how they compare to each other, and to the current budget.
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The members of the Texas Senate have been placed in their committees, but where in the state do the committee members come from? Use this interactive to explore the geographic distribution of committee members in the Senate.
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In his seventh State of the State address, Gov. Rick Perry ignored controversial issues and urged state lawmakers to do the nitty gritty work of government: fund water projects, build more roads and improve education.
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The blocker bill, a tradition of the Texas Senate, gives the minority party power, because it requires that two-thirds of the Senate must agree before a bill is heard on the floor.
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Slightly more than 8,200 voters cast their ballots during the early voting period in the special election to replace the late state Sen. Mario Gallegos. Election day is Saturday in the race, which is likely to head to a runoff.
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The Texas Senate relied on chance Wednesday to determine which of them would serve for four years and which would serve for two years. For some legislators, the luck of the draw could have bigger political implications.
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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.
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