Texas Legislature 2019

Property taxes and school finance — the top two priorities of state leaders this legislative session — aren't the sorts of issues that fire up political partisans. Sometimes, lawmakers are just trying to do some work. Full Story 

Paxton's office has asked lawmakers for millions more in funding and expanded jurisdiction to go after certain crimes. Critics say the requests are aimed at political gains. Full Story 

Nearly two decades after the U.S. Supreme Court said it was unconstitutional to execute those with intellectual disabilities, Texas still has no process on determining the condition — leaving life-and-death decisions in the hands of courts with very different methods. Full Story 

The property tax legislation unveiled by state leaders this week carries an implicit promise — that local school districts will get more state money — but doesn't say where that money might come from. Full Story 

The leaders of both legislative chambers say they will be united this year — even if cities and counties push back — and that local officials should come to Austin with solutions in hand if they don't like new proposals. Full Story 

Even outspoken critics of the controversial program that redistributes money among school districts, acknowledge that they need it to avoid future school-finance lawsuits. Full Story 

Members of both parties have filed bills ending the practice of revoking occupational licenses for people behind on their student loans. Full Story 

In 1993, the Legislature passed a law that said state parks and historic sites could receive all of the money generated by a tax on the sale of sporting goods. Since then, state lawmakers have given the parks department only about 40 percent of those collections. Full Story 

Bonnen, who married into a beer distributing family, says he doesn't need to recuse himself on alcohol issues and won't name the lobbyists who own a piece of his bank — a list that is much longer than previously reported. Full Story 

There are special elections Tuesday in House District 145 and House District 79. Full Story 

In this episode of our documentary series "Under the Dome," House and Senate leaders make their highly anticipated committee assignments — and one longtime lawmaker ends up in the doghouse. Full Story 

Two employees of the influential conservative group Empower Texans have been granted media credentials in the upper chamber. In the past — and in the House — they were rejected. Full Story 

The Texas House wants to pump $200 million into the state's driver's license program — and possibly move it to a new agency — to alleviate what have become all-day waits for some Texans at Department of Public Safety offices. Full Story 

What began as a lieutenant governor's unusual admonishment of a state senator has turned into something else: a smear campaign. Full Story 

In a new report, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar says the state should cover 40 percent of the cost of public education — and should cover the costs of inflation, too. Full Story 

State Sen. Charles Perry, chairman of the Senate Committee on Water and Rural Affairs, has a package of bills that could create Texas' first statewide flood plan. He says coastal Texans aren't the only ones at risk of property loss. Full Story 

Four out of every five committee chairs this session are men, and 72 percent of chairs are white. Full Story 

A Republican senator criticized by an aide to the lieutenant governor came back with a rebuke — a jab that cost him his best committee assignment. There's a lesson in that for the other 30 senators, and a new landscape in the Senate. Full Story 

Patrick cited a "lewd comment" by Seliger in explaining the move. The two have been tussling over committee assignments in recent days. Full Story 

Gov. Greg Abbott and his partners in office want to impose limits on the size of local property tax increases, and the governor has added a twist those local governments might like: He has targeted unfunded state mandates. Full Story