The latest politics news from The Texas Tribune.
The Lawmaker Explorer is a first-of-its-kind interactive tool that gives Texans a window into the personal interests of their state legislators. It is the linchpin of the Tribune's Bidness as Usual project, a session-long look at ethics and transparency in the Texas Legislature. Full Story
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With a lacking conflict disclosure system, virtually toothless ethics laws and a Legislature historically unwilling to make itself more transparent, Texans know little about who or what influences the people elected to represent them. Full Story
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After successfully fending off another challenge to his speakership, Joe Straus faces a tough task in the session. He will have to tackle issues that have been thorny for Republicans in the past, without further alienating the far right. Full Story
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The latest churn of the rumor mill has stoked speculation about the political futures of two prominent Texans. Full Story
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Evan, Ross, Reeve and Ben talk about the opening days of the new legislative session, including the comptroller's revenue estimate, the re-election of Speaker Joe Straus and the priorities of the leadership. Full Story
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Here's a list of the Twitter handles of the 120 state lawmakers who do the communications thing 140 characters at a time. Full Story
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Two legislative committees are set to hold hearings on state programs designed to encourage businesses to invest here, about a week after a New York Times series brought increased attention to Texas' approach to such incentives. Full Story
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At the 2012 Texas Tribune Festival, I talked 2012 presidential politics with Hendrik Hertzberg of The New Yorker, Gwen Ifill of Washington Week and Julie Mason of Sirius/XM's The Press Pool. Full Story
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Tuition will go up next year for most students in the University of Texas System, after a Board of Regents vote today. Regents also committed to developing medical schools in Austin and South Texas. Full Story
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Texas has scored a 68 out of 100, placing 27th in a national state integrity study. The state got high marks for auditing and for monitoring pension funds, but not as high for accountability of the governor and legislators. Full Story
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A new report says the number of Texas children living in areas of high poverty has increased about 40 percent over the past decade. And as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, advocacy groups hope the data will bolster anti-poverty programs. Full Story
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A report released Monday by the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation renewed its criticism of the Environmental Protection Agency. Environmentalists say the group's concerns are misplaced. Full Story
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A teachers group has urged Gov. Rick Perry to call a special session to address education funding. But as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, there's still plenty of disagreement on what fixing the school funding system would actually mean. Full Story
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Every Texas Democrat who has run for statewide office in the last 18 years has been defeated. Every Democrat on the ballot this year hopes to bust that slump. But Republicans in Texas have suffered a longer drought than what Democrats are currently facing. Full Story
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The state Legislature heads back to work in less than a year. And as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, the state’s improving economy won't likely save legislators from the protracted budget battle that awaits them. Full Story
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Hot on the heels of his fellow GOP Senate candidates Craig James and David Dewhurst releasing their tax returns, Ted Cruz has provided the Tribune with the last five years of his tax filings. Full Story
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For members of Houston's aerospace industry, GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich's vow to put a permanent base on the moon by 2020 is a plan unlikely to take off. Full Story
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Following the lead of fellow Republican U.S. Senate candidate Craig James, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has released his tax returns from 2009 and 2010. James on Thursday urged his fellow candidates to release their returns from the last five years. Full Story
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Up and down the Texas ballot, candidates are waiting to see whether the redrawn political maps give them any chance of winning. Careers, plans and schemes are in the balance. Full Story
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Nobody said running for a U.S. Senate seat in Texas was cheap. A (partial) release of Ted Cruz's finances, and other political news from around the state. Full Story
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