The latest Texas House of Representatives news from The Texas Tribune.
It’s tense at the Texas Capitol. It’s May — the last month of the session. Deadlines are arriving daily. Bills are dying. Legislative wish lists are drying up and blowing away. Blame the puppies. Full Story
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The Texas House approved new political maps last week as part of decennial redistricting. In many cases, the newly drawn state House districts changed boundaries so that Republicans could preserve their majority. Use this interactive map graphic the see the changes. Full Story
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It might not matter, in the end, whether the Senate wants to use some of the Rainy Day Fund to balance the budget. The House isn’t likely to go along unless the proposition is delivered on a tea cart pushed by Gov. Rick Perry and third-party conservative groups who have been hounding lawmakers to hold the line. Full Story
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Aguilar and Weber on a subdued debate over homeland security, Galbraith on rising concern about natural gas drilling, Grissom on a controversial psychologist, Hamilton on the aftermath of the Rick O'Donnell episode, Philpott on the comptroller's apology, Ramshaw with more on the statewide database of child abusers, E. Smith interviews Lance Armstrong, M. Smith on what House budget cuts would mean for school districts, M. Stiles on how redistricting would change things for each House member, Tan on the Senate's wobbly attempts to approve a budget and my interview with David Dewhurst: The best of our best content from April 25 to 29, 2011. Full Story
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House Democrats are applauding the Senate's delay in taking up what they call a “woefully inadequate” appropriations bill. Full Story
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The Texas House tentatively approved new political districts early this morning on a 92-52 vote after hours of nips and tucks that left the proposal they started with mostly intact. Full Story
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Texas state representatives will choose their voters today — grabbing the ones they want, ditching the ones they don't — as the decennial drawing of political maps reaches the floor of the House. Full Story
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The House got closer Wednesday to locking in measures to reduce the number of wrongful convictions in Texas. Full Story
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Responding to a Texas Tribune article about young adults who age out of foster care being denied their records, House lawmakers passed a bill today to require the prompt release of case files following a child's discharge from foster care. Full Story
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House lawmakers will get another day to pore over redistricting maps, after Democratic members vehemently opposed an effort to change the deadline for submitting amendments. Full Story
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Partisan redistricting aimed to protect or harm politicians only hurts the voters and their ability to participate in the political process. At its core, this is not about me or my party affiliation. It's about the people of Senate District 10. Full Story
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Hours after the state Senate passed a bill Wednesday that would merge the state's two juvenile criminal justice agencies, a House committee passed a similar bill. Full Story
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A coalition of Latino groups unveiled a redistricting map that would add five Latino-majority districts to the political map used to elect state representatives in Texas. Full Story
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Another bill on Gov. Rick Perry's emergency items list — eminent domain — tentatively passed in the House today, and it could further curb the government's right to take private property. Full Story
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With more than 3,000 bills and only 140 days to pass them, somebody's got to set priorities and make a schedule. Those somebodies are on the calendars committees. Full Story
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A panel of senators today discussed an abortion sonogram carve-out that would allow women in remote communities to wait just two hours after a sonogram to have an abortion, instead of 24 hours. Full Story
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At last Thursday's TribLive conversation, I interviewed state Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, and state Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, about the maps they and their colleagues will draw for the state's House, Senate and congressional districts. Full Story
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At last Thursday's TribLive, state Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, and state Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, the chairs of the Senate and House redistricting committees, respectively, talked about their approach to redrawing Texas House district lines. Full Story
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After his bill received heated debate on the floor, Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, withdrew his campus carry bill today. Full Story
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Thousands of protesters chanted "They say, 'Cut back.' We say, 'Fight back'" as they marched to the Capitol this afternoon to rally against proposed budget cuts. Full Story
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