The word of the day on Wednesday was tension, which infected the traditional weekly breakfast work meeting held by the state's top three leaders and later manifested itself on the House floor as members selected their budget negotiators. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/03/20/StrausPatrick.jpg)
A weekly leadership breakfast went sour Wednesday as the state's top three officials complained to one another about legislative packages and the tensions between a House and Senate that have just weeks left to complete their work. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/04/21/UP9A8694.jpg)
Texas House Speaker Joe Straus Wednesday named his five-member team to craft a final budget for the next two years, and House members urged the team not to focus on tax cuts — a contentious issue between the House and Senate. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/04/17/7C2A8151.jpg)
On this week's TribCast, Emily talks with Evan, Ross and Jay about pre-K reform drama, the House's resident dissenter, inter-chamber squabbles and Gov. Greg Abbott's role in all of it. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/03/11/TT-tribcast2015-1024x680-final.jpg)
The House State Affairs Committee has passed a measure that forbids the use of state or local funds for issuing same-sex marriage licenses. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/07/20/Rainbow_gavel.jpg)
Texas should honor its veterans by reforming the Hazlewood Act, which offers college tuition exemptions but is in jeopardy due to rising costs, write William McRaven, chancellor of the UT System, and John Sharp, chancellor of the Texas A&M System. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Veterans-OverheadView.jpg)
Land Commissioner George P. Bush used a speech Wednesday to mark his first 100 days in office. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/09/19/_BDA1067.jpg)
Amid concerns raised about the rising costs of a college tuition program for military veterans, a Texas Senate panel on Wednesday backed a plan that would tighten eligibility rules. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/02/27/SoldiersFtHood.jpg)
Two Houston attorneys have been appointed to replace Collin District Attorney Greg Willis as the Texas Rangers look into his friend and business partner Attorney General Ken Paxton. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/04/21/UP9A8560.jpg)
The Texas House and Senate are ignoring each other's work, slowing progress on bills like open carry and border security legislation. They're ruffling feathers, too. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/03/18/HB11Border375Bonnen2.jpg)
In this week's edition of the Trib+Water newsletter: One study finds inconsistent policies on fracking, another finds industry-supplied fracking data is incomplete and an interview with Yongli Gao of the Center for Water Research at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/04/08/Tribwater.jpg)
Both Google and an industry group representing major auto manufacturers have come out against a bill from state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, to create a pilot program to monitor and encourage testing of self-driving cars in Texas. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/03/18/SelfDriving.jpg)
A shift in the public debate over the relationship between oil and gas production and earthquakes happened Tuesday with a new study in Texas and a turnabout by the Oklahoma government on the issue. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/InjectionWell-2.jpg)
Amid public pressure to step aside, Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis is looking to recuse himself from any potential prosecution of Attorney General Ken Paxton. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/04/21/UP9A8603.jpg)
Former Bexar County prosecutor Ina Minjarez is set to become the next representative from House District 124. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/04/20/Split.jpg)
One of the Legislature's less consequential duties came before a House committee Tuesday: designating state capitals and symbols, from the Steak Capital of Texas (Hico) to the official State Pollinator of Texas (the western honeybee). Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/04/21/HoneybeeCowboy_royEhfj.jpg)
Five years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, environmentalists say BP settlement funds are providing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Gulf restoration projects. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/BPOilSpill.jpg)
The super PAC supporting former Texas Gov. Rick Perry's expected presidential candidacy has hired Glen Bolger, one of the Republican Party's leading pollsters, as a senior strategist and pollster. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/04/10/perrynra.jpg)
Gas industry activity “most likely” triggered a series of earthquakes that shook two North Texas towns from late 2013 through early 2014, new peer-reviewed research shows. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/01/21/7C2A3668.jpg)
A key member of the Texas House’s Republican leadership blasted Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick as a Washington-style politician a day after the Texas Senate passed its version of a sweeping border security bill. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/03/18/HB11Border245finger.jpg)