Texas lawmakers pass resolutions all the time. They can make the folks back home happy and commemorate people, places and things. And resolutions can serve — as one did for Senate Republicans this week — as a form of political advertising.
Texas Senate
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State Government
Texas high-speed rail developer doesn’t want state money. But the Senate’s state budget could still delay the project.
Although Texas Central isn’t planning on using state funds for its Dallas-Houston line, it says language in the spending plan could impede the project until a court definitively affirms the company’s ability to use eminent domain.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Analysis: A standard test for Texas lawmakers — fixing school finance
Texas lawmakers want to fix school finance, but they can’t avoid looking for voter-pleasing side dishes, like property taxes and teacher pay raises, that could undermine the public education fixes.
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Health care
Texas Senate moves to block local governments from partnering with abortion providers
Supporters say Senate Bill 22 would terminate “sweetheart rent deals,” but abortion rights advocates say the legislation is the latest attempt in the legislature’s years-long battle to reduce funding for abortion providers.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas Senate approves occupational licensing bill LGBTQ advocates call a “license to discriminate”
The bill passed on a 19–12 vote, with one Republican voting against it and one Democrat voting for it. It requires one more approval in the Senate before it heads to the Texas House.
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Politics
After helping defeat the “bathroom bill” in 2017, business groups are back to oppose “discriminatory and divisive measures”
The groups are targeting two priority bills in the Texas Senate.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Analysis: Texas lawmakers will obviously need a special session, right? Only if they screw things up.
Halfway through the session, the Capitol’s hallways are full of talk of a special session on school finance and property taxes. That won’t happen — unless the Legislature makes a mess of the time it’s got left.
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Politics
Texas Senate confirms Brett Busby for Supreme Court post
Busby, a Republican judge and former U.S. Supreme Court clerk, served on an appellate court in Houston until voters rejected him in November as part of a Democratic sweep.
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Texas Legislature 2019
With major policy differences emerging, state leaders continue to project unity
Halfway through the legislative session, lawmakers say they’re getting along. But they have a long way to go to achieve their goals this year.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Analysis: The Texas Legislature wasn’t built for harmony. It was built for debate.
As the Texas Legislature digs into the busiest half of the session, early harmony is giving way to difference and debate. The House and Senate are easing into their traditional roles — as rivals.
