Watch as the major and minor players in the Texas Capitol navigate lawmaking in the 86th Legislature. Our mini-documentary series takes viewers beyond the business of passing bills and showcases the personalities and predicaments lawmakers face throughout the session. Subscribe to our YouTube page and never miss an episode.More in this series

It’s a week into the 2019 Texas legislative session, and lawmakers and staff are finally settling in. For the the 33 freshmen in the two chambers, that meant moving into the State Capitol — a day many said felt like an end to the long road campaigning for the seat and an unofficial start of representing their constituents.

In the House, members unanimously elected state Rep. Dennis Bonnen as the new speaker, as expected. Bonnen’s bipartisan tone in his speech to the body resonated with his colleagues.

In the Senate, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick was noticeably absent on the session’s first day. It turns out that the White House had summoned Patrick to help President Donald Trump’s team write his Oval Office address on border security.

Patrick made it back to Texas in time to show a unified front with Bonnen and Gov. Greg Abbott on Day 2 of the session.

Watch the latest episode of our “Under the Dome” mini-documentary series chronicling the 86th Legislature.

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Alana Rocha was the director of news partnerships for The Texas Tribune until June 2022. She was previously a multimedia reporter, after working in television and radio news for eight years. Alana covered...

Justin Dehn was a multimedia producer, focusing on video and audio production, from 2010 to 2023. He’s been shooting and producing news for more than two decades. Justin has been behind the camera for...

Todd Wiseman was the senior editor for video and multimedia at The Texas Tribune, where he worked from 2010 to 2023. Todd previously worked at the Austin School of Film and Synthetic Pictures and interned...

Woojae Julia Song was a 2019 multimedia fellow at the Texas Tribune. Julia is a graduate of Northwestern University, where she studied journalism and Asian American Studies. She previously worked as a...