The House and Senate budgets have both allocated about $218 billion for the state. But crucial differences remain on how much each proposal funds important resources.
Bobby Blanchard
Bobby Blanchard joined The Texas Tribune’s audience team in 2016 and led the team from 2021 to 2023, strategizing to expand the organization’s reach and engagement across all platforms. A graduate of UT-Austin, Bobby spent his first year out of college at The Dallas Morning News as a reporting fellow, covering Texas politics and breaking news. He got his start in journalism in the poorly lit basement of The Daily Texan, followed by internships at the Houston Chronicle, KUT News and the Tribune. Born and raised in the Houston area, Bobby is a native Texan.
Posted inState Government
The Brief: TABC’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad hearing
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission’s spending controversies landed them in the hot seat with Texas lawmakers on Thursday. The House Committee on General Investigating and Ethics grilled top officials from TABC for more than three hours.
Posted inState Government
The Brief: House panel takes up Convention of States
Lawmakers on a Texas House select committee are expected to consider today a resolution calling for a convention of states to amend the U.S. Constitution.
Posted inState Government
The Brief: An often-absent Dawnna Dukes
State Rep. Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin, has missed more record votes during the current legislative session than any of the 150 members of the House by far, a Texas Tribune analysis shows.
Posted inState Government
The Brief: The battle over veterans’ tuition
For years, Texas universities have raised alarms about the increasingly high cost of a state program called Hazlewood, which offers free college tuition to veterans’ kids. This session, lawmakers are poised to scale the program back.
Posted inState Government
The Brief: Will Texas Senate pass a texting ban?
The Texas Senate may take up a bill this week that’d ban texting while driving, marking the first time in six years the measure may make it a step further in the legislative process.
Posted inState Government
The Brief: It took 15 hours, but the House passed a budget
At about 1:30 a.m., the Texas House passed its version of the two-year state budget: a $218.2 billion document that delivered hefty blows to statewide GOP leaders.
Posted inState Government
The Brief: Texas House prepares for marathon budget debate
Texas House kicks off a marathon budget debate today. More than 400 amendments have been filed, so lawmakers are expected to work into the night and possibly even into the morning.
Posted inState Government
The Brief: Texas alcohol regulators could lose funding for out-of-state travel
Among the 400-plus amendments filed to the House’s proposed state budget, two legislators filed amendments that would cut off future out-of-state travel by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.
Posted inState Government
The Brief: Bathroom access? Border security? Abortion? It’s all in the budget amendments.
Bathroom access? Border security funding? Abortion? You’ll find these issues and more in the 400-plus amendments Texas House members have filed as they prepare to consider the chamber’s budget.
