Senate Committee Moves $211.4 Billion Budget Forward
Senate Finance Chairwoman Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, said she expected the Senate version of the budget to be debated by the full Senate next week, “probably Tuesday.” Full Story
The latest Jane Nelson news from The Texas Tribune.
Senate Finance Chairwoman Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, said she expected the Senate version of the budget to be debated by the full Senate next week, “probably Tuesday.” Full Story
State regulations are unnecessarily holding up funds for shelters and programs that help victims of family violence, state Sen. Jane Nelson says. She wants to loosen the rules, even as she leads the charge to tighten other state contracting procedures. Full Story
It took more than 17 hours, but the House gave preliminary OK to a budget. Anticipated fights over vouchers and in-state tuition for undocumented students failed to materialize. Full Story
Amid an ongoing scandal over how the state awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to a private company, the Texas Senate on Tuesday unanimously approved a bill that would overhaul the state’s contracting processes. 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 Texas Senate on Wednesday approved Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s multibillion-dollar tax relief package to cut property and business margins taxes, tossing the ball into the House's court. Full Story
As you read these words over your morning coffee, Ted Cruz is already a candidate for president. He announced about 11 p.m. Texas time via Twitter. Full Story
Senate legislation that cuts property and business margins taxes also includes a clause that would outlaw taxes on real estate transactions. Texas has no such tax. Full Story
Lawmakers late Wednesday afternoon signaled that they will tap the brakes on plans to consolidate the state's health and human services agencies. Full Story
As the state’s largest health agency reels from a scandal over how it awarded contracts to private vendors, lawmakers on Wednesday said they are slowing down on their ambitious — and controversial — plan to restructure it. Full Story
The Senate Finance Committee voted Tuesday to send proposals cutting property taxes and business taxes to the full Senate, though some senators questioned whether the property tax cuts could be better spent in other ways. Full Story
Senators learned at a hearing Wednesday that the current state contracting system is so fragmented that no one knows the total value of the state's current contracts. Full Story
State contracting has become one of the signature issues of the legislative session, but finding a fix won't be easy. Full Story
Texas lawmakers consider different approaches to transforming the state's unwieldy, loophole-ridden system of contract oversight into something that can be properly tracked, analyzed and, when needed, restrained. Full Story
There's a lot of ways you can spend $4.6 billion in tax cuts, and the Senate Finance Committee learned Wednesday that a wide range of special interest groups think the current proposal could use some work. Full Story
Senate leaders joined Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to announce a plan to allow lawmakers to cut property taxes and pay down the state's debt without busting the state’s politically charged spending cap. Full Story
Senate budget writers in the middle of what they are describing as "Tax Relief Week" expressed remorse en masse at having created the business margins tax in 2006. Full Story
As a key Senate committee prepares to hear public testimony on tax cut proposals Wednesday, senators expressed strong interest in repealing the state's unpopular margins tax on businesses, which has raised $4.7 billion annually. Full Story
As state officials rush to announce tax cuts, a former mayor now in the Senate is pleading for a little restraint and a return to pay-as-you-go government. Full Story
The Tribune's Jay Root and Neena Satija filed a story over the weekend on the problem of deferred maintenance at state government buildings in multiple agencies. It makes for some grim reading. Full Story