House lawmakers seek to force debate on controversial topics such as transgender rights, bathroom use, border security and abortion when the state's proposed two-year budget comes up on the House floor on Thursday. Full Story
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On Monday, the House Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee considered House Bill 59, which would allow lottery winners of $1 million or more to remain anonymous. Full Story
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The death of a 15-year-old girl who ran away from a Houston Child Protective Services office on Sunday has advocates and legislators grappling with the worst-case scenario of the state's shortage of homes for abused and neglected children. Full Story
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Despite pushback from some opponents, a House committee approved two bills Monday that would regulate the sale of powdered alcohol in Texas. Full Story
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The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear the Texas death penalty case of a Honduran national who was convicted for his role in a 1995 murder of 67-year-old Santiaga Paneque during a Houston home invasion. Full Story
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The Senate State Affairs Committee is taking up several bills Monday concerning eminent domain. Some of the legislation is aimed at providing landowners with more information about their rights and how the eminent domain process works. Full Story
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You might rejoice or bewail the death of a piece of legislation, but remember this time-proven adage: Nothing is really dead while the Texas Legislature is still in Austin. Full Story
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In a hearing Monday, Texas lawmakers will weigh whether to proclaim fantasy sports are legal. This comes after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton equated them to illegal gambling. Full Story
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A local Austin coffee bar has been fighting the TABC since 2015 for the right to sell crowlers, aluminum cans filled with draft beer and sealed with a pull tab lid. Legislators are trying to prevent similar conflicts in the future. Full Story
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Full video of Evan Smith's 3/31 conversation with state Reps. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, and James White, R-Hillister. Full Story
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No Texas Democrat has won a U.S. Senate seat in nearly 30 years or any statewide office since 1994. But U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke is optimistic he can break the streak, in part by eschewing consultants, pollsters and PAC money. Full Story
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Things almost never come out of the Texas Legislature — if they come out at all — in the same shape they went in. Principles give way to exceptions and compromise, and the final product can differ greatly from the original idea. Full Story
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In the Texas Political Roundup: Lawmakers attempt to add bathroom and immigration amendments to a Texas Railroad Commission bill, legislators are getting closer to a state budget, and how to interact with police may become required learning for Texas teens. Full Story
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Texas is one of eight states that does not have a ban on the books against bestiality. Full Story
Texas lawmakers might revive a special prosecuting unit in Travis County — this one only investigating fraud, not corrupt state officials. Full Story
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A House committee on Thursday discussed ethics reforms including measures that would give the public better and more easily accessible information about their elected representatives' potential conflicts of interest. Full Story
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The Senate voted 18-13 Thursday to pass a major private school choice bill, creating two public programs that would subsidize private school tuition. Full Story
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As North Carolina lawmakers voted Thursday to revise that state's "bathroom bill," Texas Republicans pushing a similar measure said they are not backing away from their proposal. Full Story
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A state senator is trying again to reform liquor laws that he argues are anti-competitive and protectionist. Full Story
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The judge in the securities fraud case against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has ruled that the trial should be moved out of Collin County and delayed. Full Story
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