Gov. Rick Perry has added controversial immigration and homeland security measures to the agenda for the special legislative session that began last week.
82nd Legislative Session
Posted in
Higher Education
Redistricting: A Better Way? Many Think So
Tuesday’s contentious debate on the state Senate floor over a proposed congressional redistricting map, which passed on a party line vote, was just a hint of why graduate students at Texas A&M University — and even some lawmakers — are studying alternative ways to handle the process.
Posted in
Demographics
This Session, One Immigration Bill May Have Bucked the Trend
A bill recently signed into law gives law enforcement agencies and lawyers more power to fight wage theft, to which illegal immigrants often fall victim. As Erika Aguilar of KUT News reports, even in a session dominated by efforts to enact strict immigration legislation, the bill met little resistance.
Posted in
Public Education
Special Session Revives Class-Size Debate
Talk of lifting the state’s student-teacher class-size ratio has returned after a bill on the matter died in May. As Mose Buchele of KUT News reports, though some say debate on the issue has downplayed the potential harm for students, others call the worries overblown.
Posted in
Energy
82nd Lege Session a Good One for Energy Efficiency
The Legislature passed a handful of energy-saving measures this session, ranging from allowing churches access to an energy-efficiency loan program to recalibrating a statewide efficiency program.
Posted in
State Government
GOP-Drawn Congressional Map Sails Out of Senate
A new redistricting map, drawn to promote and protect Republican interests in the U.S. Congress, sailed out of the GOP-led state Senate Monday. The map, approved along strict party lines, would give Republicans a decent chance of retaining every congressional seat they now hold plus a new one they don’t.
Posted in
Public Education
Video: Teachers, Parents Protest Education Cuts
Teachers and parents gathered today at the state Capitol to protest budget cuts to education funding.
Posted in
State Government
For Big Three, Session Ends as It Started: It’s Complicated
If you wanted to know where the governor, the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the House would stand at the end of the legislative session, you could have seen it all months ago.
Posted in
Health care
World’s Shortest Effective Filibuster
The Legislature finished on Monday and came back on Tuesday to do in a few days what they could not accomplish in 140
Posted in
Economy
With Filibuster, Wendy Davis Talks Herself Into Political Spotlight
State Sen. Wendy Davis’ controversial decision to torpedo the 82nd Legislative session with a filibuster has catapulted the Fort Worth Democrat into the spotlight, which she has seized to try to mobilize the state’s downtrodden and outnumbered Democrats.
