Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said leaders in the House and Senate had agreed on a school finance plan as he left a meeting with education and budget chiefs from both chambers.
82nd Legislative Session
Posted in
State Government
Southbound Checkpoints Face Uphill Battle
A measure eyed by some lawmakers as a means to stop the flow of illicit cash and weapons into Mexico via the Texas border is on life support.
Posted in
State Government
Updated: House Passes Bill to Save Car Theft Agency
Police across the state are watching the House anxiously today, hoping for the passage of HB 1541. It’s a last-ditch effort to keep alive a small state agency lawmakers created in 1991 that awards grants to police agencies to help prevent and investigate auto theft and burglary.
Posted in
Health care
Guest Column: The Case Against Family Planning Funding
At a time when we are scouring the budget and questioning every expenditure, when funding for essential services like public education must be reduced, it is time to stop subsidizing abortion providers under the guise of “family planning.”
Posted in
Economy
A Businesslike Budget, After a Fashion
When Texas lawmakers said they wanted to run government like a business, they left out the part about using Enron and Countrywide as their models.
Posted in
State Government
What Makes a Man (or Woman) on a Marriage License?
In a state that bans same-sex marriage, it would seem to be easy to know who can legally marry. Texas county clerks will tell you it is not — at least when it comes to the issue of transgendered applicants.
Posted in
Politics
Conservative “Outsiders” Have Inside Track in Legislative Session
His nickname around the Texas Capitol is “mucus.” It’s a play on Michael Quinn Sullivan’s initials — MQS — but the moniker underscores how much of an irritant the conservative activist has become to politicians who dare buck his Tea Party orthodoxy. It also says something about his staying power.
Posted in
Demographics
TribLive: Three GOP Veterans on the 82nd Session
At this morning’s TribLive conversation, I interviewed three veteran lawmakers — state Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Lake Dallas, state Rep. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, and state Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands — about how they and their GOP colleagues fared this session.
Posted in
State Government
TribLive: Three GOP Lawmakers on the “Outside Groups”
At this morning’s TribLive conversation, I interviewed three veteran lawmakers — state Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Lake Dallas, state Rep. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, and state Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands — about the influence of so-called outside groups on the 82nd Legislative Session.
Posted in
Demographics
TribLive: Williams on Sanctuary Cities
At this morning’s TribLive conversation, I asked Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, if sanctuary cities legislation could still be approved in the 82nd Legislative Session.
