The latest Texas Legislature news from The Texas Tribune.
A state representative who has passed legislation aimed at reeling in Texas’ standardized testing regime is calling on the state to ditch required STAAR exams while it “tries to iron out STAAR’s many kinks.” Full Story
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Eight title service companies filed a lawsuit against the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, saying the department’s service fee limits could put them out of the business. Full Story
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State lawmakers on Monday considered a host of recommendations to reshape and rename the Texas Railroad Commission, a powerful agency that oversees a host of oil and gas activities but not railroads. Full Story
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Advocates for the uninsured are hoping the threat of Zika will spur Republican leaders to consider a massive expansion of subsidized health care to the low-income Texans they say are most vulnerable to the disease. Full Story
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On Thursday, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice presented a legislative appropriations request to its governing board that offered $28 million in cuts. Officials added that they would seek an exemption from further cuts. Full Story
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State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, a staunch conservative, is trying to stop the upcoming execution of Jeff Wood, who was sentenced to death even though he killed no one. Full Story
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Texas health regulators are starting from scratch in designing a project to store massive amounts of data — after spending millions of dollars trying to roll out a version that’s now been scrapped. Full Story
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State Rep. James Frank, R-Wichita Falls, wrote to his constituents about school finance and used these phrases along the way: statewide commercial property tax, consolidated funding districts, and statewide property tax. Yikes. Full Story
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A group led by an anti-abortion advocate received $1.6 million in state funding from a program recently created to help women find health care services paid for by the state. Full Story
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The University of Houston has been burned before when it comes to the politics of college sports realignment. This time, its supporters are lobbying the state's top politicians for some help winning an invitation to the Big 12. Full Story
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Attorney Shawn Thierry on Saturday clinched the Democratic nomination to replace state Rep. Borris Miles, D-Houston. Full Story
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Lawmakers are trying to find a way to prevent surprise medical bills, while doctors, insurance companies and patients argue over who is responsible for them. Now, some lawmakers are pointing fingers at the state's insurance department. Full Story
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McAllen taxpayers cannot find out how much their city paid Enrique Iglesias to sing at a holiday concert, and that's just one example of the fallout from a Texas Supreme Court decision that is shielding many business secrets from the public. Full Story
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With the 2017 state budget dance approaching, the Texas prison system is following instructions to cut 4 percent from its spending. Will that mean closing prisons and releasing more nonviolent inmates? Full Story
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Independent Laura Thompson has won the special election runoff to temporarily fill the seat of former state Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon, D-San Antonio. Full Story
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Starting Monday, licensed college students, faculty and visitors across Texas will be allowed to carry their concealed guns into campus buildings thanks to a new state law. But that right will be mostly limited to public schools. Full Story
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the city of Austin in Travis County district court, trying to force the city to comply with his reading of the state's open carry law and let license holders openly carry handguns in city hall. Full Story
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Two years ago, Texas had made no progress archiving its electronic records. With the launch this year of the Texas Digital Archive — and the release of seven terabytes of Rick Perry's digital legacy — Texas has become a national leader. Full Story
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A special panel recommending changes to the state’s public school testing and accountability system has stopped short of proposing that Texas scrap the controversial assessment regime known as STAAR. Full Story
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Amid a turf battle between the state's Department of Motor Vehicles and some Texas counties over who should handle vehicle registration renewals, a state lawmaker has asked Attorney General Ken Paxton to weigh in. Full Story
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