Analysis: How Private Opinions Can Diverge From Public Votes
Tax cuts and politics ethics legislation have this in common: When lawmakers have to vote in public view, they're often forced to set aside their private opinions. Full Story
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Budget Panel Breakdown: Democrats Short on Slots, Long on Experience
The budget conference committee will hash out a compromise of the chamber’s respective 2016-17 budget plans. Committee members include two Democrats who rank as the most experienced budget negotiators on the panel. Full Story
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![Sens. Lois Kolkhorst, Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, Jane Nelson, Charles Schwertner, Joan Huffman and Reps. Larry Gonzales, Sarah Davis, Sylvester Turner, John Otto and Trent Ashby make up the 2015 budget conference committee.]()
Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman -
Running for Office? Urine for a Surprise
Any candidate seeking elected office in Texas would be required to take a drug test when he or she files to run, under a proposal that the state Senate approved Tuesday. Full Story
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Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
A Look at the Priority Bills for Straus and Patrick
Here's an updated breakdown of House Bills 1-20 and Senate Bills 1-20, showing where House Speaker Joe Straus and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick are placing their priorities for the 84th legislative session. Full Story
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![House Speaker Joe Straus (left) and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.]()
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Watchdogs Question Fraser's Energy Holdings
As the Texas Legislature ponders ethics reforms to increase transparency and reduce conflicts of interests among its members, a key state lawmaker is facing new questions about whether his private business affairs are impacting his public duties. Full Story
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![State Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, on the Senate floor on April 23, 2015.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Analysis: Tax Cuts an Easy Way to Grade State Lawmakers' Work
The Texas Legislature has fewer than six weeks left in this session and thousands of bills to consider. But you can get a pretty good feel for how things are going by watching their efforts to cut taxes. Full Story
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![State Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick at a budget press conference on Jan. 27, 2015.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
A Look at How House, Senate Budgets Compare
This week, the House and the Senate named the members of a conference committee that will resolve the differences between the two chambers' budget plans. Here’s a look at how the two proposals compare, with details on some areas where the plans diverge. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Emily Albracht and Todd Wiseman -
Grassroots Advisory Panel Creates Drama for Patrick
The panel of conservative activists that is advising Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is putting him in a tricky spot as he navigates leadership politics under the dome. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick during inaugural parade up Congress Ave. on January 20th, 2015]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Senate Announces Budget Negotiation Team
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has named the Senate lineup of budget negotiators who will meet with House counterparts and hash out a final version of the two-year state budget. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick after votes on first reading of SB #11 March 18th, 2015]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Legislative Tensions Peak at Leadership Breakfast
A weekly leadership breakfast went sour Wednesday as the state's top three officials complained to one another about legislative packages and the tensions between a House and Senate that have just weeks left to complete their work. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during Texas Public Policy Foundation's grand opening of new building on April 21st, 2015]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Senate Committee Backs Hazlewood Program Changes
Amid concerns raised about the rising costs of a college tuition program for military veterans, a Texas Senate panel on Wednesday backed a plan that would tighten eligibility rules. Full Story
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Analysis: Legislative Dance Partners Stepping on Each Other's Toes
The Texas House and Senate are ignoring each other's work, slowing progress on bills like open carry and border security legislation. They're ruffling feathers, too. Full Story
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![Texas House Ways and Means Chairman Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, talks over amendments to border security legislation on March 1, 2015.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
House Backs Bill Pushing "Right to Try" Experimental Drugs
The Texas House on Tuesday tentatively passed House Bill 21, the “right to try” bill that would allow terminally ill patients to try experimental drugs that have passed at least the first of three FDA trial phases. Full Story
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Credit: Todd Wiseman -
Ethics Legislation Headed to Senate Floor
A heavily watered-down ethics reform bill will soon be taken up by the full Senate. Lawmakers on Monday rejected an amendment that would have required legislators to publicly disclose their tax returns each year. Full Story
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Analysis: Abbott's Caution on Display in Tax Fight
Texans grew accustomed to the swagger and bombast of Rick Perry, a governor who didn’t shy from confrontation with the Legislature and upended the notion that his office was inherently weak. Newly elected Gov. Greg Abbott, ever cautious and lawyerly, is cutting a different path. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott at a Tax Day press conference on April 15, 2015.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Analysis: A Senate Trying to Regulate Its Own Spending Habits
The Texas Senate wants to limit growth in the state budget — by adding a fifth spending limit to state law. Full Story
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![State Sen. Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills, speaking at the Texas Public Policy Foundation legislative orientation session on Jan. 7, 2015.]()
Credit: Robin Daemmrich -
Senators Approve Partial Consolidation of Health Agencies
The Texas Senate on Wednesday tentatively approved a measure to partially consolidate the state’s massive health and human services system. Full Story
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Shark Fin Ban Back on the House Menu
A proposal to ban the trade of shark fins in Texas sailed through the Texas House on Wednesday, but it faces choppier waters ahead: the Texas Senate, where similar legislation foundered in 2013. Full Story
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![A bowl of shark fin soup with crab meat at Ho Ho Chinese BBQ in Austin.]()
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Senate Votes to End Renewable Energy Programs
The Senate on Tuesday approved legislation that would close the book on two programs that helped fuel the state’s years-long surge in wind energy production. Full Story
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Texas Senate Approves $211 Billion Budget
Senators on Tuesday voted 30-1 to approve the state's two-year budget. It will now go to conference committee to be reconciled with the House version. Full Story
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![Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, lays out the property tax relief portion of Senate Bill 1 for final passage in the Senate on March 25, 2015.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich
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