Late deal sends new economic incentives for businesses to governor
After the previous, widely criticized program expired in December, lawmakers worked hard to craft a plan that won overwhelming support in both chambers. Full Story
Karen Brooks Harper reports on the state budget and health and human services. An alumna of the University of Missouri-Columbia Journalism School, Karen arrived in Texas in 1995 to join the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, spent several years in Laredo and Mexico covering immigration and the drug war for Knight-Ridder newspapers, and has covered Texas politics for more than two decades for news organizations including the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Dallas Morning News and Reuters. She is based in Austin.
After the previous, widely criticized program expired in December, lawmakers worked hard to craft a plan that won overwhelming support in both chambers. Full Story
About $17 billion worth of commitments lawmakers made in the new budget were snagged in policy fights between the Texas House and Senate on Saturday night. Full Story
The proposal would leave billions of anticipated tax revenue untouched at a time when the state has more money coming in than lawmakers are constitutionally allowed to spend. Full Story
Lawmakers hope to hammer out a program to replace the embattled Chapter 313 program before the legislative session ends Monday. Full Story
Lawmakers are trying hard to come up with an agreement on how to replace an embattled 20-year tax abatement program for big companies that expired in December. Full Story
The two chambers have 10 days to cut a deal before the end of the legislative session, and they are miles apart on some of the very foundations of a corporate tax-abatement bill considered to be a priority for Republican state leaders. Full Story
With two weeks to go before the legislative session adjourns, chief budget writers still have not announced compromises on some of the largest fights facing the Texas Legislature. Full Story
It was a night of frustration, retaliation and, for some, elation as the stroke of midnight spelled doom for a lot of legislation. Full Story
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle threw their support behind a new requirement that the unit use only commissioned peace officers for enforcement actions. Full Story
Three years after the COVID-19 pandemic upset the fragile child care industry, about a third of the state’s child care providers remain closed. Full Story