The latest Texas Legislature news from The Texas Tribune.
It's hard to argue that Texas lawmakers do as much as they could to protect the victims of sexual harassment in the state Capitol — staffers, lobbyists and even some female lawmakers. It's been a boys club for a long, long time. Full Story
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Lawmakers in the Texas House and Senate called for a review of sexual harassment policies Tuesday following a Texas Tribune story detailing how current procedures offered little protection for victims. Full Story
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Interviews with more than two dozen current and former lawmakers and legislative aides indicate sexual harassment regularly goes unchecked at the Texas Capitol. And sexual harassment policies rely on officials with little incentive or authority to enforce them, particularly in cases of harassment by lawmakers. Full Story
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For the first time since 1993, there will be an open race for Texas House speaker. With current Speaker Joe Straus announcing his exit, expect a clear turn in the fight between the state's business and movement conservatives. Full Story
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Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is asking Texas senators to study whether free speech rights are being infringed on college campuses. Full Story
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In the Texas Senate’s first public hearing since Hurricane Harvey, members of the Committee on Agriculture, Water and Rural Affairs talked for hours about a host of ways to mitigate flooding related to stressed reservoirs in the Houston region. Full Story
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Doug Killian, the current superintendent of Pflugerville ISD, was recently named to the Texas Legislature's interim commission to study school finance. Read what he had to say about the challenges facing the commission. Full Story
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After campus officials at Texas Southern University halted his planned speech Monday, state Rep. Briscoe Cain said later that evening that he would be "very open to revisiting the issue" of returning to campus to speak. Full Story
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It could be months, if not years, before southeast Texans receive federal funds to pay for the long-term rebuilding and recovery of homes and communities battered by Hurricane Harvey’s epic rains, officials told legislators Monday. Full Story
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As recovery efforts in southeast Texas continue after Hurricane Harvey, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Thursday released a list of Harvey-related topics for Texas Senate committees to look into ahead of the next legislative session. Full Story
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The physical damage from Hurricane Harvey is relatively easy to spot, assess and catalog. But it’s becoming more evident that the storm also seeped into every corner of government policy and politics. Full Story
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Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo called on state leaders to help the city rebuild after Hurricane Harvey, proposing a sales tax increase and saying infrastructure should be built to prevent the storm's destruction from recurring. Full Story
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A new state law eliminates the category of "illegal knives," effectively expanding knife owners' freedom to carry blades almost anywhere in the state. Full Story
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Angela Paxton, the wife of Attorney General Ken Paxton, is seeking the seat in Senate District 8 that Van Taylor, R-Plano, is vacating to run for Congress. Full Story
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Hundreds of new state laws go into effect Friday including a statewide texting-while-driving ban. But two other high-profile measures – one dealing with abortion, the other immigration – are currently blocked by federal injunctions. Full Story
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The day before the end of the special legislative session, the Tribune's Emily Ramshaw, Evan Smith, Ross Ramsey and Patrick Svitek talk to state Reps. Nicole Collier and Kevin Roberts about what got finished — and what didn't. Full Story
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The white nationalist rally planned on the campus of Texas A&M University has been canceled, officials confirmed Monday. Full Story
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Texas legislators would love to lower your property taxes, but none of the proposals they're considering in the special session would do that. Full Story
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Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick marked the halfway point of the special session Tuesday by calling for "better communications" with the House, which has moved much slower on Gov. Greg Abbott's agenda than Patrick's Senate has. Full Story
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The Travis County District Attorney's office on Tuesday said its offer to drop all corruption charges against state Rep. Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin, in exchange for her agreeing to resign immediately had expired. Full Story
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