Video: A Conversation With Sylvester Turner
Full video of my 4/30 conversation with state Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and a candidate for Houston mayor. Full Story
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Analysis: How Private Opinions Can Diverge From Public Votes
Tax cuts and politics ethics legislation have this in common: When lawmakers have to vote in public view, they're often forced to set aside their private opinions. Full Story
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Credit: Callie Richmond -
Budget Panel Breakdown: Democrats Short on Slots, Long on Experience
The budget conference committee will hash out a compromise of the chamber’s respective 2016-17 budget plans. Committee members include two Democrats who rank as the most experienced budget negotiators on the panel. Full Story
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![Sens. Lois Kolkhorst, Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, Jane Nelson, Charles Schwertner, Joan Huffman and Reps. Larry Gonzales, Sarah Davis, Sylvester Turner, John Otto and Trent Ashby make up the 2015 budget conference committee.]()
Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman -
A Look at the Priority Bills for Straus and Patrick
Here's an updated breakdown of House Bills 1-20 and Senate Bills 1-20, showing where House Speaker Joe Straus and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick are placing their priorities for the 84th legislative session. Full Story
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![House Speaker Joe Straus (left) and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.]()
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Analysis: Tax Cuts an Easy Way to Grade State Lawmakers' Work
The Texas Legislature has fewer than six weeks left in this session and thousands of bills to consider. But you can get a pretty good feel for how things are going by watching their efforts to cut taxes. Full Story
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![State Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick at a budget press conference on Jan. 27, 2015.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
A Look at How House, Senate Budgets Compare
This week, the House and the Senate named the members of a conference committee that will resolve the differences between the two chambers' budget plans. Here’s a look at how the two proposals compare, with details on some areas where the plans diverge. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Emily Albracht and Todd Wiseman -
Grassroots Advisory Panel Creates Drama for Patrick
The panel of conservative activists that is advising Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is putting him in a tricky spot as he navigates leadership politics under the dome. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick during inaugural parade up Congress Ave. on January 20th, 2015]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Legislative Tensions Peak at Leadership Breakfast
A weekly leadership breakfast went sour Wednesday as the state's top three officials complained to one another about legislative packages and the tensions between a House and Senate that have just weeks left to complete their work. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during Texas Public Policy Foundation's grand opening of new building on April 21st, 2015]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Analysis: Legislative Dance Partners Stepping on Each Other's Toes
The Texas House and Senate are ignoring each other's work, slowing progress on bills like open carry and border security legislation. They're ruffling feathers, too. Full Story
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![Texas House Ways and Means Chairman Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, talks over amendments to border security legislation on March 1, 2015.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
House Backs Bill Pushing "Right to Try" Experimental Drugs
The Texas House on Tuesday tentatively passed House Bill 21, the “right to try” bill that would allow terminally ill patients to try experimental drugs that have passed at least the first of three FDA trial phases. Full Story
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Credit: Todd Wiseman -
Analysis: Abbott's Caution on Display in Tax Fight
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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![Gov. Greg Abbott at a Tax Day press conference on April 15, 2015.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
After Misfire, House Reloads Open Carry Bill
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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![State Rep. Larry Phillips, R-Sherman, held an impromptu press conference to explain the postponement of his open carry bill after House Democrats raised a point of order on April 14, 2015.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Analysis: Winning and Losing Without Even Voting on the Bills
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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![House Parliamentarian Chris Griesel shows the rule book to a group of House members including Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview, during a point of order called on HB 11 March 18, 2015.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Shark Fin Ban Back on the House Menu
A proposal to ban the trade of shark fins in Texas sailed through the Texas House on Wednesday, but it faces choppier waters ahead: the Texas Senate, where similar legislation foundered in 2013. Full Story
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![A bowl of shark fin soup with crab meat at Ho Ho Chinese BBQ in Austin.]()
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Sales Tax Cut a Key Piece in Bonnen's $4.9 Billion Tax Cut Plan
House Ways and Means Chairman Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, laid out a $4.9 billion tax cut plan Wednesday featuring cuts in sales taxes and business taxes. The Senate's plan cuts business taxes and property taxes. Full Story
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![Ways and Means chair State Rep.Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, while debating State Rep. Sylvester Turner on HB11 border security bill March 18, 2015.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Aycock: School Finance Plan is "First Best Attempt"
Most Texas school districts would see increased funding under proposed changes to the state's public education funding system, House Public Education Chairman Jimmie Don Aycock, R-Killeen, said Tuesday. Full Story
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![House Public Education Committee chair Jimmie Don Aycock, R-Killeen, on the floor during House Bill 1 debate March 31, 2015.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Analysis: Two Tax Plans, but Only One Comes With a Distinct Sales Pitch
The Texas Senate has touted its plans for cuts to property and business taxes publicly. The House has some alternatives, but it is way behind in the race to build public support. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announces the filing of SB1 with a series of property and business tax cuts for Texans on Feb. 24, 2015.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Efforts to Divert Border Security Funding Mostly Fall Flat in Budget Debate
House Democrats tried — and mostly failed — to divert funds allotted for border security and the Texas Department of Public Safety to other departments during Tuesday’s budget debate. Full Story
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![State Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, confers with State Rep. John Otto, R-Dayton, during a point of order called on House Bill 11 on March 18, 2015.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Texas House Avoids Voucher Vote in Budget Debate
The Texas House was poised to take a vote banning private school vouchers as it adopted the state budget Tuesday. But about nine hours into the debate, the lawmaker carrying the measure withdrew it from consideration. Full Story
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Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman / Chris Cole -
Video: Rep. Gonzales on the House Budget Process
With more than 350 amendments filed for debate, House members are in the midst of a budget discussion that will stretch well into Tuesday night. State Rep. Larry Gonzales, R-Round Rock, sheds some light on the process. Full Story
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Credit: Bob Daemmrich