The latest politics news from The Texas Tribune.
House Ways and Means Chairman Dennis Bonnen filed the Texas House's property tax reform bill, a measure he said will help Texans keep local governments accountable in setting property tax rates. Full Story
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The proposal from state Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond, would pay down bills coming due for several of the state's health and human services programs. Full Story
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Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is getting a Democratic challenger for re-election in 2018. Full Story
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The U.S. Senate approved the confirmation of former Texas Gov. Rick Perry as the next secretary of the Department of Energy on Thursday. Full Story
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In a television interview on Thursday, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz said the uproar over Attorney General Jeff Sessions' previous meetings with the Russian ambassador is nothing more than "political theater." Full Story
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Facing a shortage of cash, will Texas lawmakers tap the $10 billion piggybank known as the Rainy Day Fund? Full Story
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Hillary Clinton is coming to Texas for one of her first political appearances since her devastating defeat in the presidential election last year. Full Story
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Barbara Pierce Bush, the daughter of former President George W. Bush, insisted that the work Planned Parenthood is doing is especially important after a changing of the guard in Washington. Full Story
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Same-sex couples are entitled to the same treatment as opposite-sex couples, a lawyer for the city of Houston argued before the Texas Supreme Court on Wednesday in a case challenging the city's benefits policy for married same-sex couples. Full Story
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Lawmakers rarely get blamed for votes that never take place, and that's the basis for one of the oldest protection rackets in the legislative toolkit: Killing a controversial bill before it comes to the full House or Senate. Full Story
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A Texas Tribune analysis of how much Texas candidates spent per vote ahead of the November elections reveals campaigns that won or lost on the cheap, as well as those that paid heavily for their outcome. Full Story
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We've updated our Ethics Explorer, an interactive tool that lets you review the financial interests, property holdings and potential conflicts of interest of more than 260 Texas elected officials. Full Story
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The director of the Texas Department of Public Safety told lawmakers on Tuesday the agency can't predict when it will be able to scale back its border security operations in the Rio Grande Valley. Full Story
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Some see U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee as a publicity hound, but according to dozens of interviews with members of Congress, House staffers and political players back home in Houston, there is a method to her madness. Full Story
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Same-sex marriage has been legal for almost two years, but opponents are looking to fight a U.S. Supreme Court ruling through a lawsuit challenging Houston's benefits for same-sex couples. Full Story
State Sen. Don Huffines, R-Dallas, is expressing regret over a heated exchange he had Monday with a student about school choice. Full Story
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The U.S. Department of Justice confirmed Monday it plans to ditch its longstanding position that Texas lawmakers purposefully discriminated against minority voters by passing the nation’s strictest voter identification law in 2011. Full Story
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As policy, the proposed regulations for transgender Texan's restroom choices have some gaping holes. The politics, however, are easy to understand. Full Story
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U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso, is sailing toward a 2018 Senate campaign, an uphill battle that would pit the little-known congressman against one of the state's most prominent Republicans in the unpredictable era of President Donald Trump. Full Story
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Barbara Pierce Bush, the daughter of former President George W. Bush, will be the keynote speaker at Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas' annual Fort Worth luncheon. Full Story