Legislation swapping higher sales taxes for lower property taxes flopped this week, and for lawmakers, it flopped in the best way possible: They never had to cast a vote.
Texas Legislature 2019
The 86th Legislature runs from Jan. 8 to May 27. From the state budget to health care to education policy — and the politics behind it all — we focus on what Texans need to know about the biennial legislative session.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Why Texas abortion opponents aren’t leading the charge to overturn Roe v. Wade
States across the country are advancing “heartbeat bills” that aim to overturn the landmark Supreme Court decision, but major Texas anti-abortion groups are worried that such an approach could backfire.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas LGBTQ Caucus marks major victory, killing bill they feared would hurt gay people
The LGBTQ Caucus, formed this year, notched a major victory Thursday evening, defeating a controversial measure as the Texas House raced toward a midnight deadline.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas House passes bill to prohibit telemarketers from falsifying caller ID
The measure aims to prohibit caller ID spoofing — when callers tamper with information transmitted to people’s phones to disguise their identities.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas narrows law barring contractors from boycotting Israel
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed the bill weeks after a federal judge blocked the existing state law in response to a lawsuit.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Renewable energy proponents brace for last-minute attack on tax breaks for wind and solar
For the past year, an influential conservative think tank has lobbied to make wind and solar projects ineligible for a popular local property tax abatement program. A measure to do that has stalled, but renewable advocates are watching for last-minute changes to other legislation.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas House OKs bill to ban death penalty for those with severe mental illness
Under the measure, defendants who have active psychotic symptoms of certain mental illnesses at the time of the crime would be ineligible for capital punishment. The bill now heads to the more conservative Senate.
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Texas Legislature 2019
TribCast: How did that tax swap fall apart?
On this week’s TribCast, Aman talks to Ross, Matthew and Shannon about how Texas lawmakers’ plan to raise the sales tax collapsed, why the 2019 session is like the 1997 one and what we’ll be watching out for in the session’s final three weeks.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Analysis: No bills are finally dead yet, but some are starting to smell funny
One of the big bills of the session — a sales- for property-tax swap — was put on ice this week. Lots of other bills are ready for their post-session burials, too, but keep your eyes open. In the Texas Legislature, dead legislation has a way of coming back to life.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Red-light cameras could be removed from Texas intersections after House vote
But an amendment to the bill could keep the devices in place until cities’ contracts with vendors expire. Camera proponents say they make intersections safer, but critics say they undermine due process.