Texas Legislature

The high-priority bill boosts per-student funding and reduces property taxes across the state.

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Gov. Greg Abbott has until June 16 to sign or veto bills. Here's how some of the Texas Legislature's most important bills fared in the 2019 session.

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The conservative groups who made a feast of former House Speaker Joe Straus for 10 years have a new target: Straus successor Dennis Bonnen.

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Advocates say recent court rulings created loopholes in laws meant to make government transparent. Lawmakers sought to close those this year — but may have created a loophole for themselves.

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"We've got this," the governor tells plumbers worried as their profession faces deregulation next year in Texas.

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In the last episode of our podcast about the 86th Texas Legislature, Evan Smith talks to House Speaker Pro Tem Joe Moody and Senate President Pro Tem Kirk Watson about what state lawmakers did for us and to us this session — and what they’ll do next.

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The Texas Legislature did a lot in the 86th regular session, especially if you judge by their spending.

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He championed staff pay raises in the three years he spent at the helm of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

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Advocates have pushed for years to put a constitutional amendment before voters to ensure Texas parks and historic sites get the maximum funding authorized from a sales tax on sporting goods. They have finally succeeded.

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The 86th legislative session is in the history books. Who's up and who's down after the 140-day marathon in Austin?

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Despite hundreds of hours of negotiations between Texas landowners and industry groups, legislation to address concerns over the eminent domain process could not be finalized, with lawmakers pledging to make it a top priority for future sessions.

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While lawmakers in the 86th Texas Legislature advanced measures on some controversial issues, they know it often takes several sessions to pass bills and say they intend to refile them next time.

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Behind closed doors, a joint Senate and House committee killed a measure that would require police officers to explain why they arrest someone for fine-only offenses, otherwise the case would be dismissed. Criminal justice reform advocates considered the issue a priority following the arrest of Sandra Bland.

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Lawmakers delivered on their promises of school finance and property tax reforms, agreeing to spend $11.6 billion on a combination of education changes and tax cuts. It's big, but is it really "transformative"?

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The House initially exempted churches and nonprofits from the extended statute of limitations, but the chamber agreed to include them Friday after sex assault victims pushed back.

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State Rep. Garnet Coleman suggested that the newly released video showing some of Bland's confrontation with a state trooper before her death may have been buried in a “data dump” of information given to lawyers and lawmakers.

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The $11.6 billion legislation is on a path to the governor's desk and includes property tax cuts, a hike in per-student funding and money to ease the state's reliance on the "Robin Hood" program.

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Angry that the Legislature failed to overrule local ordinances requiring private employers to offer paid sick leave, many business groups are hoping the courts will finish the job for them.

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On this week's TribCast, Emily talks to Ross, Emma and Patrick about the Texas House's resident bomb-thrower, the most controversial bills still moving in the Legislature and Beto O'Rourke's attempted presidential reboot.

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School finance, property taxes and the other priorities of the state's top officials are still in play, but some issues are in peril as the Texas Legislature enters the final week of its 86th regular session.

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