The latest Texas Legislature news from The Texas Tribune.
Governors across the country have been delivering their state report cards in January — but not in Texas, where the State of the State address is only given during odd-numbered years, when the Legislature is in session. Ben Philpott, reporting on politics for KUT News and the Tribune, asked people from different sectors of the economy to offer their own outlook for Texas in 2010. Full Story
Thanks to sites like Facebook and Twitter, we know the elected officials who represent us better than ever — sometimes in weirdly intimate ways. You can find out that Dan Patrick had to put his dog down, that Wayne Christian is a fan of real estate wunderkind and reality TV star Chad Rogers, and that Bill White just finished listening to a book on tape. But woe to the pol who hasn't updated her status in a year. Full Story
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More than a week after they surfaced in the Republican gubernatorial primary debate, the politics of abortion are again heating up. Full Story
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... against Washington, of course, and the less-than-resolute wing of his party: An interview with the Texas Railroad Commissioner, who'd like very much, thank you, to be the next Marco Rubio. Full Story
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Hu explores on the schism between Bushworld and Perrywold and the increasingly curious question of what Debra Medina wants; Stiles goes all Shark Week on gubernatorial campaign finance, with searchable databases, bubble maps and word clouds; M. Smith on what happens if there's a GOP runoff; Rapoport on the sniping between Perry and KBH on transparency; Hamilton on KBH's abortion issue odyssey; Ramshaw exposes the disgracefully low percentage of state school employees who abuse or kill profoundly disabled Texans and are then prosecuted for their acts; Thevenot on higher ed's tuition time bomb; Aguilar on the Latino pay gap; Ramsey on Farouk Shami's "gift" to Hank Gilbert; Ramsey and Philpott on the the Supreme's Court's corporate campaign cash fallout; and E. Smith's interviews with House Speaker Joe Straus with retiring Republican state representative — and future Texas State chancellor? — Brian McCall. The best of our best from January 18 to 22, 2010. Full Story
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As she demonstrated in last week's debate, Kay Bailey Hutchison still struggles with how to describe her position on an issue that many Republicans consider sacrosanct. Full Story
State Rep. Brian McCall, R-Plano, on the leadership of Speaker Joe Straus, the modern Republican party and his decision to leave the Texas House after two decades. Full Story
No surprise here, but still: State leaders want state agencies to cut five percent from their current budgets "due to the uncertainty of the state's short-term economic future, as well as potentially substantial long-term costs associated with the passage of federal legislation currently being debated in Washington, D.C." Full Story
The Waco senator's exit could open the door for the Democrats, who don't have a candidate in the race but might get a chance to add one. Full Story
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You cannot win if you do not play: Poker players know it, and the Ds, if they mean to make this a two-party state again, need to know it too. Full Story
A Burleson insurance agent who was challenging him in the primary is the beneficiary of his unexpected decision, as no Democrat filed to run in the race. Full Story
If ESPN analyst and Mike Leach antagonist Craig James decides to run for the U.S. Senate, he'd be simply the latest ex-athlete to assume his skills on the field translate to politics. Full Story
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House Speaker Joe Straus named Denise Davis his new chief of staff and said former Rep. Clyde Alexander, who had held that post, will become a senior advisor. Full Story
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What does the 2010 census mean for 2011 redistricting? Ben Philpott filed this report for KUT News and the Tribune. Full Story
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Should reporters wear muzzles when they're around politicians? Some states seem to think so, but not, thankfully, Texas. Full Story
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If you were interviewing Speaker Joe Straus on Wednesday morning, what would you ask him? Full Story
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It's going to be a noisy start to the year for Republicans, who have an unusual number of primary challengers to incumbents. Democrats, meanwhile, are making a weak play for political control in the next decade. Full Story
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She was born into a family of eight children near Lubbock, worked on cotton fields in her teens and later became a Hispanic labor leader. Now she's running for lieutenant governor. We've packaged resources (in various media platforms) on the latest entrant to the race. Full Story
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If you've heard the rumor about state Rep. Mark Strama, D-Austin, getting a federal appointment and not seeking re-election to the Texas House seat he's held since 2005... it's not true. Full Story
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The political window is about to close: Today's the last day to become a candidate in the 2010 state elections. What we know so far is that the ballot will have a fireworks show at the top, with contested and well-financed gubernatorial primaries on both sides. A couple of statewide Democratic races will be competitive, but with incumbents seeking reelection on the Republican side, there's little action there. Full Story
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