The House approved the bill designed to slow local property tax revenue growth, but made the bill contingent on the passage of a school finance bill, which is still pending in the Senate.
86th Legislative Session
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says Senate won’t pass bill to lower penalties for marijuana
His comment comes the day after the Texas House gave preliminary approval to the bill in a 98-43 vote.
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Texas Legislature 2019
It’s crunch time: Texas bills are going to start dying
Is paid sick leave on life support? Did “constitutional carry” advocates shoot themselves in the foot? With just weeks to go in the session, lawmakers are handling the pressure to get their bills across the finish line in different ways.
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Texas Legislature 2019
In wake of Houston-area chemical fires, Texas Senate panel weighs input on stronger storage tank regulations
The Senate Committee on Water and Rural Affairs took public testimony on a bill that would strengthen state oversight of above-ground tanks that hold hazardous hydrocarbons.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas House offers a new way to determine whether a defendant has intellectual disabilities — and is ineligible for execution
The lower chamber gave initial approval to a bill creating a pretrial process to determine if a capital murder defendant is intellectually disabled — more than 15 years after the U.S. Supreme Court said executing such prisoners is cruel and unusual punishment.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas House passes bill that reduces penalties for Texans caught with small amounts of marijuana
The House vote Monday is the first time the lower chamber approved such a measure, marking significant progress. But the opposition of the lieutenant governor remains a major hurdle.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas Senate passes school safety bill intended to prevent mass shootings
Senate Bill 11 is authored by state Sen. Larry Taylor, whose district includes Santa Fe High School.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Analysis: The Texas House is handcuffing property tax relief to education reforms
An amendment added to a Senate property tax bill ties it to school finance — a signal the Texas House doesn’t want to leave the harder-to-pass education bill behind.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Some lawmakers want Texas to release vaccine opt-out rates for each school, not just for districts
Texas tries to track the number of students with vaccine exemptions every year, but the data is incomplete and doesn’t include the opt-out rates for individual public schools. Amid a recent rise in measles cases across the country, some in the Legislature are calling for more detailed reporting.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Oil or property rights: House panel clashes over which to favor as it weighs eminent domain reforms
Several bills meant to protect Texas landowners facing condemnation for oil pipeline construction and electric transmission projects generated heated debate on Thursday at a Capitol committee hearing.
