The latest Texas Legislature news from The Texas Tribune.
A political scientist's analysis of Texas legislators' votes through April, and where those votes locate lawmakers on the partisan scale. Spoiler alert: The Republicans and the Democrats don't overlap much. Full Story
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Full video of my 5/9 TribLive conversation with first-term state Reps. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth, Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, and Steve Toth, R-The Woodlands. Full Story
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UPDATED: The legislation authored by Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, that would require court approval for most requests to view or copy crime scene photos that show murder victims passed the Senate Monday without debate. Full Story
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Lawmakers are talking seriously about a 21.5 percent pay raise for state district judges, which would increase the pensions of those same lawmakers by that same amount. Full Story
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Another major House deadline has gone by, ending that chamber's consideration of major legislation filed by its own members. We've updated our House Bill tracker, showing which bills stalled in committee and which ones stalled in the full House. Full Story
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At Thursday's TribLive conversation, state Reps. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth; Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford; and Steve Toth, R-The Woodlands, talked about the coming race for lieutenant governor and whom they'd back in a Cruz-Perry presidential primary showdown. Full Story
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At Thursday's TribLive conversation, state Reps. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth; Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford; and Steve Toth, R-The Woodlands, explained their objection to dipping into the Rainy Day Fund to jump-start the state water plan. Full Story
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A transparency bill that would require lobbyists to disclose the names of lawmakers who pay them using campaign funds for services, including political consulting, is headed to Gov. Rick Perry's desk. Full Story
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Spending from the state's Rainy Day Fund does, in fact, count against a constitutional limit on growth in the state budget, Attorney General Greg Abbott advised on Thursday. Full Story
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UPDATED: State Rep. Lance Gooden’s bill to prevent unmanned drones from capturing indiscriminate surveillance won approval in the lower chamber on Friday. Full Story
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The betting here is that state finance is the closing drama of the session and that in spite of the sharper debates here at the end, that everybody goes home singing Kumbaya. Full Story
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UPDATED: Rep. Giovanni Capriglione's bill to require legislators to disclose their business contracts with government entities won't get a vote in the House — unless he can tack it onto an Ethics Commission reform bill. Full Story
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Most of the legislation filed this session by members of the Texas House never made it out of committee. This new app tells you the number of bills filed, referred to committee and left, forever, in committee after the deadline passed. Full Story
As time runs out on the legislative session, little action has occurred regarding the much-hyped "micromanagement" by University of Texas System regents. Meanwhile, other regent-watching groups are dealing with internal troubles. Full Story
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State Rep. Phil King on Tuesday pulled an amendment that would transfer power over the state’s public integrity away from Travis County DA Rosemary Lehmberg. But King said he has the support to attach it to future bills. Full Story
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A program that gives the public information about the compliance history of facilities overseen by the state's environmental agency would end under a bill House lawmakers will consider this week. Full Story
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On the latest Agenda Texas, from KUT News and the Tribune: Only about 20 percent of bills filed during a legislative session make it to the governor's desk — and the deadlines that kill off many of those bills are coming this week. Full Story
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Small cigarette manufacturers would face new state fees on their sales under a measure that passed the Texas House in a preliminary vote on Monday — a big win for Big Tobacco. Full Story
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At the Trib's April 25 symposium on health care at the University of Texas at Austin, Dr. David Warner of the LBJ School of Public Affairs talked about the escalating cost of health care with Michelle Berger, president of the Travis County Medical Society; Jesus Garza, president and CEO of the Seton Healthcare Family; Dan McCoy, chief medical officer of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas; and Tom Suehs, former executive commissioner of Texas Health and Human Services. Full Story
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The legislative session is in its last month and most bills will die. But setbacks for the big stuff — water, transportation and the like — are usually temporary. Full Story
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