Texas lawmakers pass resolutions all the time. They can make the folks back home happy and commemorate people, places and things. And resolutions can serve — as one did for Senate Republicans this week — as a form of political advertising.
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
After 20 years of agitating for property tax reform, can Paul Bettencourt pull it off?
The “Tax Man,” a Republican senator from Houston, has his best chance yet to shake up Texas’ property tax system. But it’s going to be an uphill battle.
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Texas Legislature 2019
With lack of movement on “constitutional carry” bill, gun rights advocate visits homes of House Speaker Dennis Bonnen, other members
Bonnen called the man’s move “gutless,” according to media reports. The Angleton Republican was in Austin when the man visited his home.
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Texas Legislature 2019
“That bill has now been poisoned”: Business groups worry priority sick-leave legislation faces uphill battle
Some business groups who thought they had a slam dunk bill on employment benefits are now worried that LGBTQ opposition they tried to prevent could kill one of their priorities.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas environmental chief: There’s still a fire risk at Deer Park facility
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Executive Director Toby Baker told a special panel of state senators on Thursday that first responders are still actively managing an incident at a Houston-area petrochemical facility that began last month.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Point of Order: The news about the news
In the latest episode of our podcast about the 86th Legislature, Evan Smith talks to Mike Wilson, editor of The Dallas Morning News, and Debbie Hiott, general manager of Austin public radio station KUT, about the romantic ideal and precarious reality of the Capitol press corps.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas Senate passes bill allowing school marshals to carry, not lock up, their guns
Eliminating the lockbox requirement for school marshals was one of many suggestions Gov. Greg Abbott outlined for the Legislature in a 43-page plan released weeks after last year’s deadly shooting at Santa Fe High School.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas Senate panel advances budget bill that mirrors House plan on education, property tax reform spending
The two-year plan, which must still pass the full Senate, includes a $9 billion infusion for public schools and property tax relief and up to $900 million in cuts to Medicaid.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Many Texas teachers have second jobs or live paycheck to paycheck. They’re anxiously watching the teacher pay debate.
“I never anticipated that I would take a summer job at Wendy’s just so that I could replace a broken dishwasher,” said one high school English teacher who makes $45,000 per year.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Analysis: A standard test for Texas lawmakers — fixing school finance
Texas lawmakers want to fix school finance, but they can’t avoid looking for voter-pleasing side dishes, like property taxes and teacher pay raises, that could undermine the public education fixes.