The Brief: What Texans in Congress say so far about James Comey's firing
Last night, Donald Trump fired FBI director James Comey. Here's what Texans are saying about it. Full Story
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![FBI Director James Comey testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Intelligence Committee hearing into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election on March 20, 2017.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts -
Analysis: As the legislative session winds down, who will be king of the hill?
As the Legislature grinds its way through the final three weeks of the regular session, the state's top three leaders are pushing and shoving, figuratively speaking, to the finale and beyond — to the 2018 elections. Full Story
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![From left: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Gov. Greg Abbott and House Speaker Joe Straus.]()
Credit: Patrick: Laura Buckman & Abbott/Straus: Bob Daemmrich -
Houston Police Chief ready to reluctantly enforce "sanctuary" law
Once Senate Bill 4 goes into effect on Sept. 1, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said he's prepared to lead a police force that allows officers to inquire about the immigration status of people they detain. Full Story
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![Art Acevedo, chief of the Houston Police Department, speaking on the Race and Policing in Texas panel at A Symposium on Race and Public Policy on Jan 14, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
House passes bill on inappropriate teacher-student relationships
The House passed Senate Bill 7, which would penalize principals and superintendents who purposely hide incidents of teachers having sexual or romantic relationships with students. Full Story
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![State Reps. (l-r) Gary VanDeaver, R-New Boston, Ken King, R-Canadian and Joe Deshotel, D-Beaumont at a Public Education meeting on March 7, 2017.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
House tweak to Houston pension bill could buy firefighters' fund more time
Houston’s problematic pension funds, which have caused financial woes and spurred political battles for years, just moved closer to getting a massive makeover. Full Story
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![Retired Houston firefighters and police officers packed the Texas House gallery on May 8, 2017, as they await debate on a municipal pension bill that would affect their retirement payouts.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate backs bill that could disqualify transgender student athletes
The Texas Senate on Tuesday has approved a measure that could keep transgender athletes from competing in high school sports. Full Story
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![State Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, answers questions on Senate Bill 2095, a bill regarding steroid use by University Interscholastic League (UIL) athletes, on May 9, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Senate passes bill to ease licensing for immigration detention centers
The Texas Senate on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to legislation that would make it easier for the state to license privately-run detention centers as "family residential centers" in order to hold immigrant families in detention centers longer. Full Story
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Credit: KUT News -
Legislature passes much-criticized bill reforming oil and gas regulatory agency
A Democratic senator on Tuesday made a last-ditch effort to beef up a bill aimed at reforming and reauthorizing the state’s oil and gas regulatory agency — legislation environmental groups and watchdogs have decried as toothless. Full Story
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![Texas Railroad Commissioners Christi Craddick, Ryan Sitton and David Porter wait for their turn to testify before the Sunset Advisory Commission on Aug. 22, 2016.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Abbott: I urged pastors to pressure Texas House over "bathroom bills"
Gov. Greg Abbott confirmed Tuesday in a radio interview that he has urged pastors to pressure the Texas House to advance the so-called bathroom bills that have languished there for weeks. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott prays with event organizer Evelyn Davison at the 66th annual Texas State Prayer Breakfast in Austin on May 1, 2017. Davison has organized the event for the last 43 years.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Border city, county sue Texas over "sanctuary" law
Border town El Cenizo and Maverick County have sued the state of Texas over Senate Bill 4, claiming constitutional violations. Full Story
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![Crowds gathered inside the Texas Capitol when SB 4, the sanctuary cities bill, was considered in the Senate State Affairs Committee on Feb. 2, 2017]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
ACLU issues Texas “Travel Advisory” after governor signs “sanctuary" bill
One of the country’s largest civil rights groups is cautioning against traveling to Texas after Gov. Greg Abbott signed what critics have called an extreme state-based immigration bill. Full Story
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![U.S. Congressman Lloyd Doggett of Austin speaks at a protest in front of the Texas Governor's Mansion Monday May 8, 2017 after Gov. Greg Abbott did a private signing of SB 4 the sanctuary cities bill on Sunday.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Texas may require students to pass a citizenship test. How did you do?
Last week, House lawmakers advanced a bill requiring high school students to pass the civics test that immigrants take when applying for citizenship. We created a similar quiz, and more than 25,000 of you took it. Here's how you did. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Jacob Villanueva / The Texas Tribune -
T-Squared: Texas Tribune Festival tickets on sale now
Could there be a better time to talk politics and policy over three jam-packed days? Register for our seventh-annual ideas conference while the stakes are high but the price is (still) low. Full Story
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The Brief: It's bill-killing season at the Texas Capitol
The 140-day clock at the Texas Capitol seems to be ticking faster than ever, and bills are dying inside both chambers. Bill-killing deadlines may stop a bill from being heard on the House or Senate floor this session, but that doesn't necessarily mean the issue is dead. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick signs bills on last day of 84th Legislative session June 1, 2015]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
New in Trib+Health: Health care bill passes U.S. House
In this week's edition of the Trib+Health newsletter: GOP health care bill passes U.S. House, a big measles outbreak in Minnesota and an interview with Xiang Zhang of the Baylor College of Medicine. Full Story
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Legislators push to redirect auto theft prevention funding back to agency
Every year, Texans pay $2 on their car insurance to fund auto theft prevention. More than half of that money goes toward balancing the budget instead of the prevention agency. Full Story
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Credit: Tim Park for The Texas Tribune -
Here's what's at stake for Texas universities in Legislature's budget fight
Check out how each public university in Texas would fare under the House and Senate budgets. Full Story
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"Bathroom bill" in House misses key deadline — but issue stays alive
A key deadline passed on Monday without the House "bathroom bill" getting out of committee, meaning the bill won't make it to the House floor this session. But that doesn't mean the issue itself is dead. Full Story
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![Bathroom stalls at the Austin Convention Center in 2017.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
Bill stripping pensions from felon politicians advances
The Texas House voted Monday to strip government pensions from elected officials who commit serious acts of public corruption, moving the first major piece of ethics reform toward the governor's office. Full Story
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![State Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth; Gov. Greg Abbott; and state Sen. Van Taylor, R-Plano.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich / Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Hutchison helped shepherd Tillerson through Senate confirmation
Former U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, under consideration for the NATO ambassadorship, played a key role in shepherding U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson through his Senate confirmation. Full Story
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![Former U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas is shown speaking at The Texas Tribune Festival on Sept. 20, 2014.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich