The “Tax Man,” a Republican senator from Houston, has his best chance yet to shake up Texas’ property tax system. But it’s going to be an uphill battle.
Emma Platoff
Emma Platoff was a reporter at the Tribune from 2017 to 2021, most recently covering the law and its intersection with politics. A graduate of Yale University, Emma is the former managing editor of the Yale Daily News.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas Senate approves occupational licensing bill LGBTQ advocates call a “license to discriminate”
The bill passed on a 19–12 vote, with one Republican voting against it and one Democrat voting for it. It requires one more approval in the Senate before it heads to the Texas House.
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Texas Legislature 2019
“Republicans have been turned French”: Hardline Texas conservatives worry their allies have gone soft
Activist conservative groups have long been aligned with the lawmakers they helped elect, like Texas House Freedom Caucus members and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Are they still on the same page?
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Politics
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is investigating San Antonio for banning Chick-fil-A from its airport
“The Constitution’s protection of religious liberty is somehow even better than Chick-fil-A’s chicken,” Paxton wrote in a Thursday letter to San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and the rest of the council.
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Politics
After helping defeat the “bathroom bill” in 2017, business groups are back to oppose “discriminatory and divisive measures”
The groups are targeting two priority bills in the Texas Senate.
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Texas 2020 Elections
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.
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Politics
Texas Senate confirms Brett Busby for Supreme Court post
Busby, a Republican judge and former U.S. Supreme Court clerk, served on an appellate court in Houston until voters rejected him in November as part of a Democratic sweep.
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Texas Legislature 2019
With major policy differences emerging, state leaders continue to project unity
Halfway through the legislative session, lawmakers say they’re getting along. But they have a long way to go to achieve their goals this year.
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Politics
Trump to nominate Texas Supreme Court Justice Jeff Brown to the federal bench
If the U.S. Senate confirms Brown, the state’s highest civil court would see its second vacancy in a period of months.
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Courts
Greg Abbott tells state agencies to continue to “follow the spirit” of Texas’ open meetings law
A day earlier, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals struck down a provision of the law that makes it a crime for public officials to deliberate privately in small groups.