The latest Texas Legislature news from The Texas Tribune.
State Rep. Norma Chavez, D-El Paso, announced today on a local radio show that she plans to run for reelection to the Texas House instead of making a go at the state Senate seat that Eliot Shapleigh is vacating. Full Story
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The number-crunchers among the Republicans and the Democrats in Texas use election results to get a feel for the political environment in each legislative district. They start with statewide races and then bake in some assumptions about what might happen if they put the right candidates in place. We and other political watchers need the same thing, without the partisan ingredients. So we cooked up the Texas Tribune Index. Full Story
Multi-part stories from Ramshaw and Grissom and Stiles on mental health services for detained immigrants and on payday lenders who provide exorbitantly priced credit to people with nowhere else to turn... Twitter, word clouds and the race for governor — a Stiles joint... Farouk Shami is in and Hu was there to watch... Philpott went to Bastrop for a gather of Republican governors... Rapoport finds a State Board of Education that's trying to control itself... and we have the skinny on legislative races that are likely to be competitive (only about 5 percent of the races on the ballot). It's the best of The Texas Tribune from November 14 to 20, 2009. Full Story
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Groups that offer high-interest, short-term consumer loans and want to avoid state regulation contributed more than $1.4 million to Texas politicians over the past nine years, Texas Ethics Commission records show. Full Story
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Speaker Joe Straus has given committees their assignments for the next year. Full Story
El Paso Republican businessman Dee Margo said today he will run for the Texas House again, taking on Democrat Joe Moody. The campaign will be Margo's third try for a seat in the Texas Legislature. Full Story
Desperate Texans who get crosswise with payday lenders quickly find they get no help from the state, which hasn't regulated the industry since 2005. Full Story
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With 198 legislators on the ballot next year, there ought to be more fear in the air. But only a few are in obvious political trouble. Who's on the list, and what makes them vulnerable? Full Story
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Guess which demographic group is calling dibs on new congressional seats? Full Story
Will there be enough money to cover the current state budget? "Fortunately, it's too early to tell," jokes House Speaker Joe Straus. He and other state leaders are well aware of the numbers, and although they think it's not yet time to act, they're focused on the big question. Full Story
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The latest addition to our elected officials directory: a listing of every staffer (we think) who works for a member of the Texas Legislature. Full Story
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Lobbyists spent a record $15 million on advertising during the 2005 session and another $12 million in 2007 — but less than $1 million this year. What happened? Full Story
The longtime El Paso state senator, who said last month that he would not run for reelection, hasn’t revealed his statewide ambitions, but his public and private remarks leave little doubt that he's seriously considering a gubernatorial bid. Full Story
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Plano City Councilwoman Mabrie Griffith Jackson is telling supporters she will resign that city job as early as Monday to put her name into the race to replace Rep. Brian McCall, R-Plano, who has decided he won't seek an 11th term next year. Full Story
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Brian McCall, a key member of House Speaker Joe Straus' leadership team, won't seek reelection next year Full Story
Should the Texas Forensic Science Commission meet in private? The new chairman, John Bradley, says there's a good argument for it. Full Story
"It’d be like someone standing at the Alamo going, ‘I’m not gonna survive this thing,’ and all of a sudden he jumps up and starts speaking Spanish!" says Rep. Mark Homer, D-Paris. Maybe so, but switching parties usually works out. Full Story
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State schools chief Robert Scott recently failed to get the Legislature to increase the cap on charter schools — then found a legal way to do it anyway, much to the dismay of state Democrats and teachers unions. Full Story
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Republican Brian Walker, who lost a close race to Democrat Chuck Hopson in 2008, endorsed Hopson's reelection bid next year — now that Hopson has switched to the GOP. Full Story
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John Bradley, the Williamson County District Attorney and the newly-appointed chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, spent his morning answering a steady stream of questions from Texas lawmakers. At issue, if and when his panel will re-open the investigation into whether faulty science led to the arson conviction of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed by the state in 2004. Full Story