The proposal from House Ways and Means Chairman Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, to cut the state sales tax rate by 0.3 percent is nothing short of historic.
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Also getting our attention this week were a couple of size-ups on where lawmakers are on the competing tax relief packages and on comparing legislative productivity between this session and last session.
Full StoryAlso, the latest maneuverings on repealing the Dream Act as well as rejiggering the funding systems for schools and roads.
Full StoryFor this week’s nonscientific survey of insiders in government and politics, we asked about the dueling proposals for tax relief in the Lege and we included some handicapping of the prospects for some hot-button bills.
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Key meetings and events for the coming week.
Full StorySenate Finance gave its OK to a $211.4 billion two-year budget. The document now goes to the full Senate, where it is expected to be debated early next week.
A Senate committee this week passed out two bills — on sanctuary cities and ending in-state tuition for undocumented students — that are high on Republicans' immigration agenda. The legislation moves to the Senate floor for further consideration.
The Senate has acted to move the state's public integrity unit from the Travis County district attorney. Under the compromise plan, investigations of public officials would rest with the Texas Rangers.
The House this week approved legislation that would provide incentives for school districts to implement a free, "high quality" pre-kindergarten program. The early education initiative is a priority item in Gov. Greg Abbott's legislative agenda.
The University of Texas System Board of Regents will allow member Wallace Hall to see some data and documents compiled during an outside investigation into outside influence on UT-Austin admissions. The decision was made during a contentious regents' teleconference meeting on Wednesday. Hall didn't have the backing of a majority but only needed two votes to have his request granted.
Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.
Mickey Long and Debbie Montford have been elected chairman and vice chairwoman, respectively, of the Texas Tech University System Board of Regents. Long, appointed to the board in 2009 and recently reappointed, will serve a second consecutive term as board chairman. Montford was first appointed to the board in 2010 and was reappointed a year later.
University of Texas System Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Pedro Reyes announced that he is stepping down to work full-time as a teacher and researcher. Reyes held the system job since 2012.
Today is Speaker's Reunion Day in the Texas House. Six former speakers are expected to be on hand: Jimmy Turman, Ben Barnes, Gib Lewis, Pete Laney, Tom Craddick and Rayford Price.
The runoff special election between Ina Minjarez and Delicia Herrera for the Bexar County-based House District 124 has been set for April 21. Early voting in the contest will happen April 13-17.
Bo French announced this week that he will seek the Tarrant County-based House District 99 seat currently held by House Administration Chairman Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth. French is a former business partner and friend to Chris Kyle, the former Navy SEAL whose life was recently depicted on screen in American Sniper.
Disclosure: Ben and Melanie Barnes have been major donors to the Tribune. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.
