With gasoline costing $1 more than a year ago, budget planners can add fuel expenditures to their list of worries. However, it’s also true that oil companies will also pay more in taxes to the state as they beef up their drilling operations.
Guides
Looking for information on how to prepare for a weather emergency? Or do you have questions about Texas politics? The Tribune offers several resources, such as explainers, guides, and articles to provide answers and equip Texans with the right context. You can browse our collection of articles to understand how Texas politics and policies affect you.
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Guides
Texplainer: Why Are There Two Calendars Committees?
With more than 3,000 bills and only 140 days to pass them, somebody’s got to set priorities and make a schedule. Those somebodies are on the calendars committees.
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Guides
Texplainer: What Happens To Texas If The Feds Shut Down?
Not much, unless you’re one of the state’s 130,000 civilian federal employees — or you’re scrambling to get your taxes done.
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Guides
Texplainer: Are All Committee Meetings Televised?
Generally, committee meetings are open to the public and recorded — one way or another.
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Texplainer: How Real Is the Feral Hog Menace?
Feral hogs are a fast-growing — and destructive — problem. Does that mean recreational hunters in helicopters should shoot them?
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Guides
Texplainer: What Is a “Point of Order”?
Calling a point of order is a parliamentary delay tactic, but it can be a deadly one.
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Guides
Texplainer: Who Would Be Allowed to Carry on Campus?
Those with a concealed handgun license, which currently means they must be 21 years old. Though it won’t necessarily be that way forever, which raises another question: When it comes to gun safety, does age matter?
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Guides
Texplainer: Why Is the Capitol’s Pink Dome So Shiny?
That’s what 1,200 gallons of fresh paint will do for a dome.
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Guides
Texplainer: Do Capitol Offices Select Their Own Hold Music?
Anyone in the habit of calling state legislators has probably had the pleasure and/or pain of the hold music to which staffers must occasionally subject them. Is the music the lawmakers’ choice, or is it out of their hands?
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Guides
Texplainer: What’s the Select Committee on State Sovereignty?
The State Sovereignty Committee, which meets today to discuss bills related to federal health care reform, was likely formed for efficiency’s sake, and to create a kind of heat sink for contentious debate.