TribLive: A Conversation About the Tea Party
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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Bill Would Curb Access to Photos of Murder Victims
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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![Victim Advocate for the City of Houston Andy Kahan, with crime scene photos printed off websites showing dead bodies, many unclothed, in his office at the Houston Police Department in Houston, Monday May 6, 2013.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato -
Judicial Pay Raises Bring a Little Something Extra
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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Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman -
News App: Updated House Bill Tracker
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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Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman -
TribLive: Tea Party Freshmen on 2014 and 2016
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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TribLive: Tea Party Freshmen on the Rainy Day Fund
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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Lobbyist Transparency Bill Heads to Perry's Desk
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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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman / Guillermo Esteves -
Abbott: Spending Limit Includes Rainy Day Fund
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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Drone Surveillance Measure Soars Through House
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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![Micheal Cincienne of Absolute Aerospace and Texas A&M Corpus Christi, engineering student Adam Ersepke, and lab coordinator Jack Edward Esparza carry the University’s RS-16 unmanned aerial vehicle, otherwise known as a drone, back to the command center after a test flight over the Kennedy Ranch near Sarita, Texas on January 18, 2013.]()
Credit: Eddie Seal -
Can They Put Humpty Together Again?
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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Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman / Guillermo Esteves -
House Disclosure Bill Won't Get a Vote
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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News App: Tracking the Status of House Bills
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
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Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman -
A Waiting Game for UT's Regents
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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King Pulls Measure on Public Integrity Unit Oversight
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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Bill Would End Environmental Compliance History Program
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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Agenda Texas: Deadline Week in the House
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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![The Texas Capitol on the opening day of the 83rd legislative session, Jan. 8, 2013.]()
Credit: Todd Wiseman -
Big Tobacco Beats Small Tobacco on Tax Vote
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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TribuneFest: Is Cost Containment Possible?
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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If the Legislature's in Town, Bills Aren't Dead
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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Credit: Tamir Kalifa -
Interactive: Tracking Abortion Legislation
Abortion is usually a contentious issue in the Texas Legislature, but this session, lawmakers have had relatively few public debates on it. Use this Tribune interactive to track the progress of bills related to abortion. Full Story
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Credit: Graphic by Ben Philpott / Todd Wiseman
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