Lawmakers are talking seriously about a 21.5 percent pay raise for state district judges, which would increase the pensions of those same lawmakers by that same amount.
Texas Ethics Commission
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Bidness As Usual
Disclosure Bills Get Little Love From Top Leaders
With just four weeks remaining in the legislative session, there has been little to no pressure from the top — including key committee chairs — to pass measures that would force greater transparency upon Texas’ elected officials.
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Bidness As Usual
Interactive: Tracking Texas’ Ethics Legislation
State lawmakers have talked a big game this year on transparency and ethics, but with less than a month to go in the 83rd legislative session, the bills they’ve filed haven’t made much progress. Use our interactive to see where they stand.
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Bidness As Usual
Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggar Man, Lawmaker
Giving up 20 weeks of every other year to serve in the Texas Legislature is a lot easier if you don’t have to worry about the paycheck you’re missing at home. It is easier, in other words, if you’re rich.
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State Government
The Love-Hate Relationship With Transparency
One Texan’s transparency is another’s right to privacy, and people in politics generally find it easier to demand openness than to provide it.
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Bidness As Usual
Instead of New Ethics Laws, a Study — Again
Lawmakers started the legislative session talking about changes they would like to make in the state’s ethics laws. Now — and it is not the first time — they’re sending some of the most delicate items back for more study.
Posted inState Government
Agenda Texas: Ethics, Guns and Taxes Lead the Week
On the latest Agenda Texas, from KUT News and the Tribune: A guide to the week ahead in the Legislature, which is set to debate bills on guns in schools and the Texas Ethics Commission.
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Bidness As Usual
Lawmakers in No Rush to Regulate Themselves
Lawmakers, like professional athletes, want to play fair and also want to win. That’s why it’s hard to get them to write their own rules.
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Bidness As Usual
Exotic Trips, Luxury Gifts Are Perks of Office
Many lawmakers are quick to name the sacrifices they make to serve. But life in the Lege is not half bad. The perks associated with the job — from exotic trips to luxury gifts — can dramatically augment their lifestyles.
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Bidness As Usual
Freshman Lawmaker Gets a Lesson in Pack Behavior
The general rule is that new legislators are supposed to be seen and not heard — especially, as it turns out, when the subject is legislative ethics.
