The Senate voted 18-12 in favor of bill that would require an election if a local government entity wanted to increase some of its tax collections by 5 percent or more.
85th Legislative Session
Posted inState Government
Texas’ next religious liberty fight could be over foster care
Texas legislators are considering sharpening religious protections for faith-based groups the state hires to place children in foster homes. Critics say that could give religious groups license to discriminate.
Posted in
Public Education
Watch Senate Education Committee discuss school choice legislation
The Senate’s public education committee will hear testimony on the leading “private school choice bill” for the first time this session, Tuesday at 9 a.m.
Posted inState Government
Texas Senate passes two anti-abortion bills
Texas senators advanced two anti-abortion bills, one that would prevent parents from suing doctors if their baby is born with a birth defect and another that would require doctors to make sure a fetus is deceased before performing a certain type of abortion.
Posted in
State Government
Bill that would reduce handgun license fee headed to full Senate
A measure approved by a Senate committee would reduce the first-time fee for a license to carry a handgun from $140 to $40 and the annual renewal fee from $70 to $40.
Posted in
Economy
House Democrats try again for a minimum wage hike
Though the proposals are unlikely to get very far, House Democrats are again pushing for a minimum wage increase in Texas.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Proposed bill would speed up the process of bonding out of jail
A bill aimed granting more defendants release from jail without paying bail would require judges to use a risk assessment system before making bail decisions — and to make those decisions within 48 hours of an arrest.
Posted in
State Government
Analysis: Cutting the Texas budget, even with money on hand
If Texas legislators cut the state budget this year, it won’t be because they didn’t have the money. It’ll be because they didn’t want to spend the money they have.
Posted in
Politics
In Texas House, uncertain fate of bathroom bill could reverberate
The Texas “bathroom bill” has made it to the House but chamber leaders are hinting that the controversial legislation may never reach the chamber’s floor for a vote.
Posted in
Higher Education
As Texas higher ed tuition rises, financial aid is covering less and less
Sixty percent of Texas schoolchildren are poor, and the state wants more of them to go to college. But the aid it offers them doesn’t go nearly as far as it used to.
