After more than 11 hours of debate, seven points of order, more than 60 amendments and nearly as many heated exchanges, a mentally vanquished and emotionally exhausted Texas House preliminarily approved the controversial voter ID bill late tonight.
Joe Straus
Posted in
Economy
Who’s Watching the Stimulus?
The House Select Committee on Federal Economic Stabilization Funding has expired, and its outspoken leader failed to get re-elected. So, amid all the state’s fiscal concerns, who is keeping an eye on the stimulus?
Posted in
Demographics
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Grissom on threats to re-entry programs for criminals, Hamilton on the tempest over the direction of UT, E. Smith’s interview with Joe Straus, Stiles and Chang’s new lobbying app, M. Smith and Weber on where state officeholders send their children to school, Aaronson on allowing new nuclear power plants, Aguilar on how Hispanic Republicans are handling immigration issues, Ramshaw talks abortion with Planned Parennthood’s Cecile Richards, Tan and Dehn on tapping the Rainy Day Fund and Galbraith on San Antonio and its water: The best of our best content from March 14 to 18, 2011.
Posted in
Guides
Texplainer: What’s the Select Committee on State Sovereignty?
The State Sovereignty Committee, which meets today to discuss bills related to federal health care reform, was likely formed for efficiency’s sake, and to create a kind of heat sink for contentious debate.
Posted in
State Government
Election Contest Committee Sides With Howard
The House Election Contest Committee unanimously voted today to uphold Rep. Will Hartnett’s determination that Donna Howard won the long-disputed HD-48 seat.
Posted in
Health care
TribLive: Straus on Taxes, Abortion, Campus Carry and Obama’s Citizenship
For our latest TribLive conversation, I sat down with the Speaker of the Texas House, Joe Straus, to talk about budget cuts, possible sources of revenue, hot-button social issues and more.
Posted in
State Government
VIDEO: A Conversation With Joe Straus
Full video of our TribLive conversation with Speaker Joe Straus on March 10, 2011.
Posted in
State Government
AUDIO: A Conversation with Joe Straus
Full audio of our TribLive conversation with Speaker Joe Straus on March 10, 2011.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TribLive: Joe Straus on Campus Carry
At our TribLive conversation last Thursday, Speaker Joe Straus talked about proposed legislation that would legalize concealed carry on college campuses in Texas.
Posted in
State Government
TribLive: Joe Straus on Taxes
At our TribLive conversation last Thursday, Speaker Joe Straus talked about whether the Texas House would consider raising taxes to pay down part of the budget shortfall.