Discussion in a House committee Tuesday on a proposed change to the name of a state holiday honoring soldiers who fought for the Confederacy took on an extra dose of notoriety because of the identity of the main proponent of the change. Full Story
Republicans leery of granting more eminent domain authority acted to fast-track to nowhere a proposed high-speed rail line between Houston and Dallas. Full Story
House Ways and Means Chairman Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, laid out a $4.9 billion tax cut plan Wednesday featuring cuts in sales taxes and business taxes. The Senate's plan cuts business taxes and property taxes. Full Story
The House's chief tax writer is dropping some clues on how his chamber's approach to tax relief this session will differ from their counterparts in the Senate. Full Story
The Texas Senate's notion of lowering property taxes for homeowners may lose steam when it reaches the House, where leaders appear more inclined to lower state sales taxes and avoid a collision with the spending cap. Full Story
The full Senate is set to vote this week on a package of tax cut bills Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has championed, yet the measures have drawn opposition from some big business groups who argue that senators are cutting the wrong taxes. Full Story
A little-noticed bill filed on deadline by the chairman of the House's tax-writing committee could hold the session's biggest tax cut, but only if the House and Senate decide to cut taxes on sales instead of property. Full Story
After several reassurances from House members about what a border security bill is not intended to do, the House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety voted out the sweeping measure on Wednesday. Full Story
Voters in Senate District 18 go to the polls on Saturday to choose who will serve out the remainder of the term of Glenn Hegar, the state's next comptroller. Full Story
State leaders seem reluctant to break out the "Mission Accomplished" banner on the border surge even though apprehensions of illegal immigrants have hit a target goal laid out in July. Full Story
This week's House committee hearing in which leading officials in charge of executing the plan said they never asked for Guard troops revealed another aspect of Rick Perry's border action, according to the Houston Chronicle's Patrick Svitek. Full Story
Top officials at the Texas National Guard and the Department of Public Safety on Tuesday told a select House committee looking at the costs of the ongoing border operation that they did not request Guard troops. Full Story
Top Republicans say Texas Comptroller Susan Combs has teamed up with major oil company interests to fight reforms of species protection programs. Full Story
A bill from state Rep. Rob Eissler modifying how end-of-course exams factor into graduation led House Republicans into a debate over how best to handle student testing during what one called "extraordinary times" in public education. Full Story
Among the most controversial issues in House Bill 1, the base budget, is its denial of state funding to four community colleges. While the bill does not represent a final decision, critics say presenting the proposed budget executions this way is as dangerous as the methodology behind the decision is misleading. Full Story
Nobody's openly campaigning right now, but there's talk of who might succeed Joe Straus if he stumbles before January. Attribute the speculation to inertia: The House's top job was in play for at least four years before Straus won it 17 months ago, and members and the lobby and the press and other gawkers have been trained to study every new complaint, slight, reward and compliment for signs of a coup. While he appears to be on solid ground going into his second session behind the podium, don't erase the possibility of a contest. It's an uncertain environment: It's an election year, Straus is green and the Capitol is full of people who are constantly looking for a better deal than the one they've got. Full Story
If Williamson County DA John Bradley is sick of the spotlight, then he got appointed to the wrong commission. Of course, many people would argue that regardless. Full Story
House Speaker Joe Straus' picks for the legislative committee that says whether the state should kill or keep state agencies: Reps. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, and Byron Cook, R-Corsicana. San Antonio attorney Lamont Jefferson, who's with the Haynes and Boone law firm, will serve as the House's public member. Full Story