House members have proposed more than 300 amendments to the chamber’s spending plan. The proposals that pass could have major implications for hundreds of other issues regulated by the state.
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
Analysis: Property tax relief — but not for all Texas taxpayers
Giving every property owner in Texas a significant tax cut is expensive, but there are less ambitious plans under consideration along with the big ones.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Everyone wants a piece of the Texas budget. It’s hard to succeed when most of the money is accounted for.
Disability advocates want the Texas Legislature to invest in pay raises for home care workers. Even in a year of surplus, it’s a difficult battle.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas investigating highly contagious whooping cough at state Capitol
Lawmakers were alerted that a page on the House floor had the infection, triggering discussions about vaccine policies in the state.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas Senate advances bill to shore up teacher pension fund
The bill would increase state, school district and teacher contributions to the fund, and provide a one-time additional check for retirees.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Analysis: Some of the secrets of Texas government aren’t supposed to be secrets
The Texas Legislature, full of people who believe in open government and who also like to settle things quietly and outside of public view, is diving into open-government legislation.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Analysis: Texas lawmakers will obviously need a special session, right? Only if they screw things up.
Halfway through the session, the Capitol’s hallways are full of talk of a special session on school finance and property taxes. That won’t happen — unless the Legislature makes a mess of the time it’s got left.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas officials say it would cost $1 billion to cool prisons – but they’ve grossly overestimated AC costs before
An estimate to put air conditioning into one prison changed from more than $20 million to $4 million last year.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Tribcast: Dan Patrick’s stance on medical cannabis, Castro’s struggles, O’Rourke’s first week
On this week’s TribCast, Aman talks to Alex, Aliyya and Ross about the mood in the Texas Capitol halfway through the session, why Dan Patrick has some pot advocates feeling paranoid and how the two Texans running for president are doing — and yes, there are still two.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Point of Order: Texas and the sexes
In the latest episode of our podcast about the 86th Legislature, Evan Smith talks to House members Mary Gonzalez, Sarah Davis and Toni Rose about gender, politics and public policy in a state where the population is majority female but elected officials are overwhelmingly male.