Confused about the state’s budget process? Trust us — you’re not alone. Check our flow chart to help understand where we are in the process (highlighted in yellow) and what steps are next (highlighted in gray).
82nd Legislative Session
Posted in
State Government
House Gives Helmet Safety Bill Early Approval
With a football helmet in hand, Rep. Eddie Lucio III, D-San Benito, won preliminary approval from the House today for a bill to ensure school districts keep close tabs on how often helmets are checked and repaired.
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Guides
Texplainer: Are All Committee Meetings Televised?
Generally, committee meetings are open to the public and recorded — one way or another.
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State Government
Video: House Gives “Pork Chopper” Bill Early OK
The aptly nicknamed “pork chopper” bill — which authorizes hunters to shoot feral hogs and coyotes from helicopters — passed a preliminary vote in the Texas House today, 137-9.
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State Government
Senate OKs Renaming, Shrinking RR Commission
The Senate approved a bill today that would change the name of the Railroad Commission to the Texas Oil and Gas Commission and reduce the size of the commission from three elected members to one elected commissioner.
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State Government
House Gives “Pork Chopper” Bill Early OK
The aptly nicknamed “pork chopper” bill — which authorizes hunters to shoot feral hogs and coyotes from helicopters — passed a preliminary vote in the Texas House today, 137-9.
Posted in
Economy
House Budget Shrinks Spending, Slashes Services
The Texas House started with a $164.5 billion budget and ended with the same total. But lawmakers spent the better part of a weekend making changes inside the budget for 2012-13 before giving it their approval, 98 to 49.
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State Government
VIDEO: Lawmakers Debate “Western Civilization”
In an ugly debate late Friday night, Rep. Wayne Christian proposed requiring that colleges and universities getting state funds should make sure that at least 10 percent of their courses “provide instruction in Western Civilization.”
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Criminal Justice
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Tan’s wall-to-wall coverage of the budget (with more from the rest of the Trib crew, interviews with some of the freshmen seeing this up close for the first time and a map of how it works), Philpott on the similarities between budget worries in Texas and those elsewhere, M. Smith explains school finance, Ramshaw on the dwindling insurance options for orphans, Grissom on legal fights over the drugs used for state executions, Aguilar on the run-up to the debate over sanctuary cities, Stiles maps the diversity of Texas counties, Galbraith on efforts to recycle plastic bags and Hamilton on calls for “entrepreneurship” at the University of Texas: The best of our best content from March 28 to April 1, 2011.
Posted in
Public Education
The Week in Texas Politics Recap: March 28—April 1
No time to follow every twist and turn of the Texas Legislature? We’ve made it easier for you with our weekly recaps of the action under the dome.
