Updated property tax reform proposal surfaces in the Texas House
The House Ways & Means Committee is expected to vote on the bill Wednesday. Full Story
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![Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, listens to testimony at the Ways and Means hearing on SB 2. Feb 27, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
UT faculty, students feel the impact of Airbnb blacklist
Texas added Airbnb to a short list of companies that can’t receive state money because they boycott Israel, though Airbnb says it does not. Now, employees at the University of Texas at Austin can no longer stay in Airbnbs while on school business. Full Story
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![The iPhone Airbnb app. March 26, 2019.]()
Credit: Emree Weaver / The Texas Tribune -
Backlash builds against UTEP president nominee Heather Wilson
Student activists, professors and community members have rallied to oppose Wilson's nomination, citing her anti-LGBTQ voting record. Full Story
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![Heather Wilson.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Court decisions have weakened Texas' open-government laws. Advocates hope that's addressed this year.
Lawmakers in the House and Senate have filed bills that aim to address a pair of 2015 court decisions seen as threats to open government. Full Story
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![Austin, Texas May 24, 2017: House and Senate coverage Rep. Dan Huberty on school finance, House pallbearers, Senate bills piling up, Dan Patrick selfie with Drew Springer, and Rep. Garnet Coleman feature.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Everyone wants a piece of the Texas budget. It's hard to succeed when most of the money is accounted for.
Disability advocates want the Texas Legislature to invest in pay raises for home care workers. Even in a year of surplus, it's a difficult battle. Full Story
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![Susie Angel on the back patio of her home with her attendant Sandy White in Austin on Jan. 30, 2019.]()
Credit: Emree Weaver/The Texas Tribune -
When big businesses want to fight their property tax bills, Texas law hands them an easy way, critics say
Supporters of the provision, known as equity appeals, say it's valuable for all property owners and stops taxing units from imposing unfair taxes. Full Story
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
State monitor orders Houston school trustees to halt superintendent search, according to reports
The directive came the same day that Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath expanded a conservator's oversight of Houston public schools. And it followed on the heels of Gov. Greg Abbott advocating for the state to take over the district. Full Story
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![Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath speaks to the State Board of Education members during a meeting in Austin on Jan. 29, 2019.]()
Credit: Emree Weaver / The Texas Tribune -
Debate over Texas abortion bill prompts tears, frustration and a boycott from Democrats
The hearing on a bill regarding "the rights of a living child born after an abortion" was delayed Monday morning due to a lack of a quorum. Full Story
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![Texas State Capitol on Jan. 8, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Border Patrol closes West Texas checkpoints as influx of migrants strains resources
A government spokesman said shutting down the checkpoints near El Paso is a temporary measure. Full Story
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![The United State Border Patrol inspection station on U.S. 67 between Presidio and Marfa, Texas is responsible for checking northbound traffic for undocumented immigrants and drugs.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Beto O'Rourke hires former top Obama aide as campaign manager
O'Rourke has brought on veteran Democratic strategist Jennifer O'Malley Dillon to lead his White House bid. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso speaks to his supporters at the final campaign rally before elections at UTEP, Monday, November 5, 2018, in El Paso, Texas. Photo by Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
Texas investigating highly contagious whooping cough at state Capitol
Lawmakers were alerted that a page on the House floor had the infection, triggering discussions about vaccine policies in the state. Full Story
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![State Capitol on June 20, 2017.]()
Credit: Austin Price for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate advances bill to shore up teacher pension fund
The bill would increase state, school district and teacher contributions to the fund, and provide a one-time additional check for retirees. Full Story
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![State Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, during a meeting of the Senate State Affairs Committee on March 27, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Some of the secrets of Texas government aren’t supposed to be secrets
The Texas Legislature, full of people who believe in open government and who also like to settle things quietly and outside of public view, is diving into open-government legislation. Full Story
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![State Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, during the Senate Education Committee meeting on Mar. 5, 2019.]()
Credit: Emree Weaver / The Texas Tribune -
Environmentalists take petrochemical giant Formosa to court over plastics pollution
For years, Diane Wilson has tried to get Formosa Plastics Corp. to stop discharging plastic pellets from its sprawling petrochemical complex on the Central Texas coast. This week, she's getting her day in court. Full Story
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![Diane Wilson organizes bags of that contain plastic pellet samples she's collected over the past three years. Seadrift, Texas. March 20, 2019.]()
Credit: Emree Weaver / The Texas Tribune -
In first South Carolina swing, Beto O'Rourke faces pragmatic voters intent on beating Trump
Whichever Democrat running for president places well in South Carolina's Feb. 29 primary will head into the March Super Tuesday contests — a rash of states that will include Texas — with momentum. Full Story
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![Former U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke campaigned in Charleston, South Carolina on March 22, 2019.]()
Credit: Abby Livingston/The Texas Tribune -
In Houston, Kamala Harris draws large crowd, prominent Democrats in first major Texas swing
"This is Harris County!" declared a bevy of colorful signs at a campaign rally Saturday for the California Democrat. Harris has made clear she plans to cede no ground to Democratic rivals who hail from the Lone Star State. Full Story
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![Democratic 2020 presidential candidate and Sen. Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at Texas Southern University on Saturday, March 23, 2019 in Houston.]()
Credit: Pu Ying Huang for The Texas Tribune -
Texas sues company behind Deer Park terminal fire
Attorney General Ken Paxton filed an environmental lawsuit against Intercontinental Terminals late Friday seeking tens of thousands of dollars in damages. Full Story
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![Smoke rises from a fire burning at the Intercontinental Terminals Company in Deer Park, east of Houston on March 18, 2019.]()
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Beto O'Rourke's first week marked by furious pace, freewheeling style
The former El Paso congressman hit six states in the first seven days of his nascent White House bid, plowing through the ups and downs of the trail while maintaining a breakneck pace. Full Story
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![Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate and former U.S. Representative Beto O'Rourke is surrounded by audience members at a campaign stop at Plymouth State University in Plymouth, New Hampshire, U.S., March 20, 2019.]()
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These naturalized citizens belong on the Texas voter rolls. A state review could have kicked them off.
Hear from naturalized citizens whose voter eligibility was questioned as part of the state’s flawed review of the voter rolls. Full Story
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Credit: Jacob Villanueva / The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Texas lawmakers will obviously need a special session, right? Only if they screw things up.
Halfway through the session, the Capitol's hallways are full of talk of a special session on school finance and property taxes. That won't happen — unless the Legislature makes a mess of the time it's got left. Full Story
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![Speaker Dennis Bonnen and state Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Houston, with other House members hold a press conference to announce their school finance bill on Mar. 5, 2019.]()
Credit: Emree Weaver / The Texas Tribune
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