Full video of my 6/9 conversation with state Rep. Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, the speaker of the Texas House of Representatives.
Joe Straus
Posted in
Economy
Despite Early Momentum, Energy Legislation Flames Out at End of Session
Who killed the House and Senate’s top energy bills? Their autopsy evokes the names of T. Boone Pickens and Koch Industries and involves plenty of squabbling between the chambers.
Posted inState Government
The Brief: June 4, 2015
Later this morning in Addison, Rick Perry is expected to announce that he plans to run again for the White House, testing whether GOP voters across the country believe in extending him a second act in presidential politics.
Posted in
Politics
Straus Files for Another Term as Speaker
Texas House Speaker Joe Straus has filed the paperwork to officially seek another term presiding over the lower chamber. If he wins, it will be his fifth.
Posted inState Government
Analysis: A Conservative but Complicated 84th Texas Legislature
Voters sent a conservative pack of lawmakers to Austin and got conservative results. But it’s more complicated than that.
Posted in
State Government
Analysis: Small Visions, Small Results in Session
Texas lawmakers started the legislative session without a list of big problems to solve or election mandates to fulfill. And they are ending it without the kinds of results that fill the history books.
Posted in
Economy
Effort to Tighten Spending Cap Dies With House, Senate Far Apart
The state’s constitutional spending cap will remain untouched this session, and House and Senate leaders are blaming each other for the lack of action on the arcane but politically important measure.
Posted inState Government
On Most Visible Budget Disputes, Senate Fared Better Than House
The $209.4 billion budget sent to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk includes hundreds of concessions made by the House and Senate. Yet on most of the high-profile disputes, the Senate won out.
Posted inState Government
The Brief: May 29, 2015
The Dallas Morning News takes a detailed look at the evolution of the deal on tax cuts this session and finds that at a few critical junctures, the deal almost derailed entirely.
Posted inState Government
The Brief: May 27, 2015
Campus carry legislation lived to fight another day as a last-minute deal saved Senate Bill 11 just before a midnight deadline in the House to take initial votes on bills originating in the Senate.