The latest Texas Senate news from The Texas Tribune.
The Texas Senate on Friday voted to beef up the state’s underfunded retirement system for state employees by adding about $440 million to the program, a plan that has received mixed reviews from state employee advocacy groups. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/05/12/BDB_8568.jpg)
A Senate bill that arrived in the House less than two weeks ago would let Republicans put the hurt on unions and on Democrats, if it can move through the legislative gauntlet this late in the legislative session. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/05/08/IMG_0095.jpg)
The House and Senate negotiations over a tax cut deal have narrowed to a single sticking point: when a proposed property tax cut should go into effect. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/02/24/PropertyTax-DollarSigns.jpg)
Legislation that would keep the names of execution drug providers secret is headed to the governor’s office after the Texas House gave final approval on Tuesday to a Senate measure. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Lethal-Injection_Split.jpg)
When the Texas Senate changed requirements on bringing legislation up for debate, Democrats said a process intended to encourage compromise would suffer. Several bills have been unblocked, but the conservative steamroller that Democrats feared hasn't emerged. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/01/21/_S3R9444GAVELCMS.jpg)
In February, Gov. Greg Abbott asked lawmakers to dedicate this legislative session to ethics reform. With only two weeks left, he's still waiting. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/02/17/BDS_4051CMS.jpg)
Top state leaders were negotiating intensely — and optimistically — Thursday afternoon on a master settlement on tax cuts, restraints on local property tax increases, border security, prosecutions of state ethics cases and open carry of handguns. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/05/14/IMG_9754.jpg)
As they try to agree on tax cuts that are the major obstacle to a state budget, lawmakers could find themselves wishing the cuts they deliver are as big as they sounded to the public. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/02/01/Money-Capitol-3d-Budget.jpg)
The so-called Pastor Protection Act — a bill that clarifies clergy members' right to refuse to marry same-sex couples — tentatively passed the Texas Senate on Monday. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/03/16/7C2A4061.jpg)
Without showing their hand, conservatives outside of government have captured the attention of every nervous conservative in the Legislature at exactly the right time. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/02/10/IMG_9756.jpg)
The so-called Denton fracking bill is headed to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk. The Senate on Monday approved a bill to pre-empt local efforts to regulate a wide variety of oil and gas activities. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/10/17/TxTrib-UrbanDrilling005.jpg)
May is the final full month of the 140-day regular legislative session, which concludes June 1. And the deadlines that start in a week form a bottleneck that will ultimately block most proposed legislation. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/02/10/IMG_9713.jpg)
You can slow down or even kill a piece of legislation with a single word or phrase, if it's poisonous enough. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/06/11/STAAR_Classroom.jpg)
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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/07/13/TXTAbortionVote-Richmond011.jpg)
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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/04/28/HouseSenateBudget-Heads.jpg)
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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/07/23/D54H8962.jpg)
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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/03/20/StrausPatrick.jpg)
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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/04/23/7C2A8734.jpg)
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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/01/27/UP9A9547.JPG)
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
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/04/13/house-senatebudget.jpg)