Texas tries to track the number of students with vaccine exemptions every year, but the data is incomplete and doesn’t include the opt-out rates for individual public schools. Amid a recent rise in measles cases across the country, some in the Legislature are calling for more detailed reporting.
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
Oil or property rights: House panel clashes over which to favor as it weighs eminent domain reforms
Several bills meant to protect Texas landowners facing condemnation for oil pipeline construction and electric transmission projects generated heated debate on Thursday at a Capitol committee hearing.
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Texas Legislature 2019
“This is freedom”: Texas House moves to expand alcohol sales on Sundays and at breweries
The House approved the changes in amendments to a broader bill about the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission’s operations. The Senate still could strip the changes from the bill.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas Sen. Larry Taylor unveils new school finance bill, adding $5,000 teacher pay raise
The bill differs in significant ways from the version the House approved this month.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas lawmakers promised to rein in school district property taxes. What do their plans actually do?
Three quarters of the way into the legislative session, lawmakers are still juggling several proposals related to school district taxes, including some that would not provide any tax relief.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Analysis: Teacher pay raises and Robin Hood stall Texas lawmakers
The end of the legislative session — deal-making time — is looming, and the priorities set out by the state’s top leaders three months ago remain undone. In fact, those centerpiece school finance and property tax measures aren’t even teed up for the final negotiations.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Gun rights activist Chris McNutt says Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen lied about confrontation
The executive director of Texas Gun Rights said Bonnen should apologize for how he characterized McNutt’s lobbying efforts for “constitutional carry” legislation that has since been declared dead in the lower chamber.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas House votes to legalize the farming of industrial hemp
Hemp is a cousin of the marijuana plant, but it contains low levels of the psychoactive element in marijuana known as THC. The House’s bill will now go to the Senate.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas removes thousands of children from Medicaid each month due to red tape, records show
Most states check once a year whether children on Medicaid still qualify for the program. Texas checks more often, using an automated system that critics say leads to kids losing coverage even though they’re still eligible.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Analysis: Why cable companies and Texas cities are duking it out at the Capitol
Texas cities have been debating state lawmakers over property taxes, sick leave, scooter regulation and now, over whether the cities can charge cable TV companies for using public property to connect their networks.