On the road to 2020: I’m Patrick Svitek, and I cover politics for The Texas Tribune.
Texans need to know who’s vying to represent them and how their policies would affect people's daily lives. That's where we come in. Full Story
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House committee passes Senate property tax bill — after altering it to look more like the lower chamber's version
A House panel lowered the Senate's cap on how much school property taxes can grow without voter approval, a move billed as symbol more than substance. Full Story
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![Rep. Ryan Guillen, D-Rio Grande City, and Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, listen to testimony at the Ways and Means hearing on SB 2. Feb 27, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Oil or property rights: House panel clashes over which to favor as it weighs eminent domain reforms
Several bills meant to protect Texas landowners facing condemnation for oil pipeline construction and electric transmission projects generated heated debate on Thursday at a Capitol committee hearing. Full Story
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![A sign opposing the Trans-Pecos pipeline is shown outside the home of Suzanne Bailey and Tom Short in Alpine in June 2015. Their house sits a few feet from one of the first visible signs that the pipeline is coming: a 23-acre lot that's set to be a staging area for segments of the pipeline. The couple complained of frequent loud noise and shaking of their home as heavy machinery works to smooth the land.]()
Credit: Cooper Neill for The Texas Tribune -
TribCast: A legislative status report, and MJ Hegar throws in for U.S. Senate
On this week’s TribCast, Emily talks to Ross, Patrick and Jolie about the Legislature’s progress — or lack thereof — as we cruise into the last month of the session, former congressional candidate MJ Hegar’s bid for John Cornyn’s U.S. Senate seat and a Texas mental health program meant to help prisoners avoid solitary confinement. Full Story
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![MJ Hegar speaks to supporters and volunteers at an early vote rally at her field office in Austin on Oct. 25, 2018.]()
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Edinburg Mayor Richard Molina charged with orchestrating an illegal voting scheme
Molina has dismissed the investigation as politically motivated. Full Story
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![Edinburg Mayor Richard Molina surrendered to authorities on illegal voting charges on April 25, 2019.]()
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Democratic 2020 candidates pitch platforms to women of color, black mayors in early swing through Texas
Both Texans running for president were joined by their fellow Democratic candidates at forums hosted by She the People and the African American Mayors Association in Houston. Topics included voting rights, health care and criminal justice. Full Story
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![The audience listens at the She the People Presidential Forum at Texas Southern University in Houston on Wednesday April 24, 2019. Eight Democratic presidential candidates attended to answer questions.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Watch eight Democrats running for president speak at a forum in Texas
Eight Democrats running for the White House, including Julián Castro and Beto O'Rourke, are set to speak at a presidential forum in Texas focused on women of color. Tune in live here. Full Story
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![The 'She The People Presidential Forum' will focus on issues of importance to women of color.]()
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Missy Shorey, first woman elected Dallas County Republican Party chair, dies
Shorey, the first woman elected to lead the Dallas GOP, in 2017, was reportedly considering a bid for Congress next year. Full Story
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![Dallas County Republican Chairwoman Missy Shorey.]()
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Dallas to require employers to offer paid sick leave as Texas lawmakers debate banning such ordinances
The sick-leave ordinance was approved by a 10-4 vote despite efforts in the Texas Legislature and the courts to ban such rules. Full Story
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![Downtown Dallas on March 19, 2018.]()
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Officers at scene of Beto O’Rourke’s 1998 DWI crash say they believe he tried to flee
Until now, O’Rourke, who denies trying to flee the wreck, was the only person present at the scene of the collision to speak out publicly about what happened that night. “I believe we have contradicting stories here,” says the officer who arrested him. Full Story
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![Beto O'Rourke holds his first official 2020 presidential campaign rally on March 30, 2019 in El Paso.]()
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Texas House votes to legalize the farming of industrial hemp
Hemp is a cousin of the marijuana plant, but it contains low levels of the psychoactive element in marijuana known as THC. The House's bill will now go to the Senate. Full Story
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![State Rep. Tracy King, D-Batesville, on the House floor on April 23, 2019.]()
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Analysis: Why cable companies and Texas cities are duking it out at the Capitol
Texas cities have been debating state lawmakers over property taxes, sick leave, scooter regulation and now, over whether the cities can charge cable TV companies for using public property to connect their networks. Full Story
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![Austin City Council members and staff listen to testimony on paid sick leave on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018. After hearing from more than 200 people, council members passed the ordinance, the first of its kind in Texas, by a vote of 9-2.]()
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From "baseless" to "damning portrait": Texans in Congress react to the Mueller Report along party lines
The handful of Republican Texas officials who offered statements said the report definitively proved there was no obstruction. Some Democrats suggested Congress should launch its own inquiry. Full Story
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![President Donald Trump talks to reporters about an impending U.S. Government shutdown as he participates in a bill signing ceremony for the “First Step Act” and the “Juvenile Justice Reform Act” in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C. on December 21, 2018.]()
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Conservative group Empower Texans sues lawmaker to gain state House media credentials
The group, which was granted credentials in the Senate but denied them in the House, argues that the lower chamber's administration chairman engaged in "unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination." Full Story
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![Destin Sensky and Brandon Waltens, two employees of Texas Scorecard, a product of the influential political group Empower Texans, sit at the end of the Texas Senate press table on Jan. 16, 2019. Miguel Gutierrez Jr. / The Texas Tribune.]()
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Texas Senate says cities can’t ban employers from asking about criminal history
Austin previously passed a “ban the box” ordinance preventing private employers from asking potential job candidates’ criminal history before extending a conditional job offer. If state Sen. Brandon Creighton’s bill passes, local governments couldn’t implement such laws. Full Story
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![Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, speaks at a press conference on SB 6, 7, and 8. Mar. 6, 2019.]()
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With 10 months until Iowa, Castro sees "lower expectations" for him as an advantage
During a two-day swing through Iowa, the former San Antonio mayor downplayed concerns about his poor fundraising numbers while emphasizing all the time he had for his presidential bid to take off. Full Story
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![Former U.S. Housing and Urban Development Sec. Julian Castro tours the auto-painting shop of Central Campus, a technical high school in downtown Des Moines on April 15, 2019.]()
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Pierce Bush, grandson of George H.W. Bush, is considering running for Congress in his grandfather's old district
The nephew of former President George W. Bush and son of Neil Bush did not rule out a run for Congress in a statement to the Tribune. Full Story
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![Pierce Bush.]()
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Is Texas leading on disaster preparedness? Yes and no, experts say
During the first legislative session since Hurricane Harvey, state lawmakers are poised to make an investment in storm recovery and flood mitigation that some have described as unprecedented. But it's more complicated than that. Full Story
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![Debris covered a street corner in Rockport in December, more than three months after Hurricane Harvey made landfall in the tiny town that sustained extensive damage.]()
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Texas Senate gives local governments more breathing room for property tax revenue growth
After a key Republican holdout agreed to bring a priority bill to the floor, the upper chamber increased an election trigger on revenue increases from 2.5% to 3.5%. But now both chambers must reconcile how they want to tackle rising school district taxes. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick speaks from the dais in the Senate chamber on April 9, 2019.]()
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Long delays at border bridges bring anxiety for businesses as Holy Week begins
This week is one of the busiest shopping seasons on the border, but after hundreds of federal agents were diverted from international bridges to help with a surge of migrants, retailers and other businesses are fretting about how hours-long wait times will impact them. Full Story
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![A man waits outside his car as the CBP conducts a "operational readiness exercises" at the Paso del Norte Port of Entry on Friday, November 9, 2018, in El Paso, Texas. Photo by Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune