Three years after a police officer shot and killed their 5-year-old border collie, Mark and Cindy Boling watched Friday as the Texas House voted for a police canine training program they have been calling for since the day the dog died. Full Story
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After a bit of a Democratic gamesmanship shot down a major gun debate before it started, a measure that would allow gun owners with a concealed handgun license to carry their weapons openly in public is back on the House schedule Friday. Full Story
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UPDATED: The Texas House on Friday approved House Bill 40, which would pre-empt local efforts to regulate a wide variety of oil and gas activities. Full Story
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Texans grew accustomed to the swagger and bombast of Rick Perry, a governor who didn’t shy from confrontation with the Legislature and upended the notion that his office was inherently weak. Newly elected Gov. Greg Abbott, ever cautious and lawyerly, is cutting a different path. Full Story
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More lawmakers are skeptical of move to undo the Dream Act, House-Senate brinksmanship continues on tax relief and the Tea Party rallies on Tax Day — all that and more in the latest issue of our subscriber-only newsletter for political insiders ($). Full Story
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Voting against legislation isn't the only way to kill it. Some of the most powerful tools available to Texas legislators are found in the dry pages of their parliamentary rulebooks. Full Story
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In the Roundup: State lawmakers kept busy this week advancing a slew of items in both chambers – including a measure on the trade of shark fins. And they considered several controversial bills in committees. Full Story
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Health and Human Services chief Kyle Janek finds himself in the spotlight again over a contract awarded to a single bidder. Full Story
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Three years ago, a company called Geo Care Inc. gave HHSC chief Kyle Janek a blueprint for privatizing state hospitals. The only contract awarded — privatizing Terrell State Hospital — ended up going to that same company. Full Story
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Legislation that would relocate the state’s anti-corruption unit was temporarily derailed in the House on Thursday because of a missing element in the legislation. Full Story
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Texas A&M System Chancellor John Sharp has asked all vice presidents at the system's flagship College Station campus to submit letters of resignation prior to the arrival of the school's new president. Full Story
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A week after dozens of Purple Heart medals were awarded to victims of the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, the Army announced Thursday that those victims will also receive all possible benefits that come along with the medals. Full Story
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Looking to clear the Texas Department of Public Safety's name, the agency’s top official is asking the head of the state's anti-corruption unit to renew a halted investigation into $20 million no-bid border security contracts. Full Story
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Midnight marked the deadline for Texas' members of Congress to file their campaign fundraising reports with the Federal Election Commission. Here's a look at what they're raising — and spending. Full Story
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Proposed ethics reform legislation underwent a significant overhaul Thursday in a Senate committee. Gone is the plan to take state pensions from lawbreaking lawmakers. Also out: a proposal to stop legislators from cashing in on a piece of the public debt business. Full Story
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Full video of my 4/16 conversation with state Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, and state Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond — the chairmen, respectively, of the Senate and House Higher Education committees. Full Story
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The campaign manager for Ted Cruz’s successful 2012 Senate bid, John Drogin, will run a new political action committee that endorsed the senator on its first day in operation Thursday. Full Story
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The Texas Senate wants to limit growth in the state budget — by adding a fifth spending limit to state law. Full Story
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Just 2 percent of students enrolled in an institution of higher education in Texas are undocumented and pay in-state tuition — and most of them attend community college. Check out these students' enrollment by campus. Full Story
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Two months after a Brownsville-based federal judge halted President Obama's immigration program, attorneys for Texas will try to convince a three-judge panel at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans to keep it on hold. Full Story
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