Texas Legislature

The speaker's decision Tuesday to not seek reelection after months of scandal could have deep implications for the fight for the House majority.

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The quick political demise of Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen is the kind of insider news that buttresses what many think about people in politics — and trust.

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Local leaders felt targeted by state lawmakers even before the release of a secret recording that has imperiled the Texas House speaker's future. Bonnen says he was trying to convey a larger point about those officials and how they treat taxpayers.

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Decades ago, lawmakers passed a law that was meant to fully fund Texas Parks and Wildlife, but the money never seemed to make it to the parks. Now they're asking voters to create a constitutional mandate that parks get more money.

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The recording of Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen's raw political conversation with a conservative activist threw a partisan rock into the state Legislature's normally bipartisan pool. Now the members have to sort that out.

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We're livestreaming this week's TribCast recording, hosted by The Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith and featuring political reporters Cassi Pollock, Alex Samuels and Patrick Svitek. They break down the Dennis Bonnen tape released Tuesday.

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The recording revealed that top Republican lawmakers wanted the 2019 session to be painful for cities and counties — and 2021 to be even worse.

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Here’s who was mentioned in the recording where Republican Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen urged a hardline conservative activist to politically target members of their own party — and suggested he could get the activist's group media access to lawmakers next legislative session.

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Five towns have passed ordinances aiming to outlaw abortion. Critics say a legal challenge is likely.

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A local official had asked Paxton for legal guidance on special prosecutor pay — a major question in the criminal case against Paxton himself.

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Next week could see the public airing of a secret recording that has had the Texas Capitol twisted in drama for most of the summer. With that, members of the Texas House can decide whether their speaker, Dennis Bonnen, made a big mistake or a little one.

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The application was expected to draw interest from a number of companies and, once approved, lead to more competitive pricing.

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A newly implemented change to election law is leaving a trail of shuttered early voting polling places across the state.

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The Texas Tribune is suing to discover what happened to millions raised mostly from top lobbying firms, corporations, wealthy businesspeople and trade groups for the inauguration of Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

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The Granbury Republican announced Wednesday he wasn't seeking another term in the House and was instead running for county commissioner, but he has since changed course.

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The governor's executive orders after shootings in El Paso and West Texas are meant to address gun violence without gun control. But a Department of Public Safety network he tapped says it needs more resources — and is remaining mum on how it operates.

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Bohac's decision gives Democrats one of their best pickup opportunities next year in the Texas House.

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Repeated mass shootings can change officials' minds about their policy stances. After recent massacres, Texas politicians and officeholders are talking about guns in new ways.

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A new law increased the punishment for failing to stop and render aid to match the sentence for DWI manslaughter. The goal is to deter drunken drivers from leaving the scene of an accident.

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The conservative Empower Texans leader was out of favor with Republican state leaders at the end of the legislative session. Now he's on the outs with them in a whole new way.

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