State government

"This is Harris County" declared a bevy of colorful signs at a campaign rally Saturday for the California Democrat. Harris has made clear she plans to cede no ground to Democratic rivals who hail from the Lone Star State.

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In the latest episode of our podcast about the 86th Legislature, Evan Smith talks to House members Mary Gonzalez, Sarah Davis and Toni Rose about gender, politics and public policy in a state where the population is majority female but elected officials are overwhelmingly male.

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Issues like city-mandated paid sick leave and "red flag" gun laws are popular among Texas voters, polls suggest. Will opposing them have consequences in 2020?

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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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At a meet-and-greet with Democrats in Dallas Tuesday night, Castro dismissed suggestions that his bid for president was being overshadowed by Beto O'Rourke and said he was working hard "to make sure that at the right time I’m the frontrunner of this race."

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Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's wariness of proposals to expand the state's narrow medical cannabis program may block any such bills from reaching the governor's desk this session.

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After passing through the House Appropriations Committee, House Bill 1 now goes to the full Texas House.

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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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Hall led a heated battle to reform the school's admissions procedures, which led to reforms in 2015. But after a UT tennis coach was accused of taking a bribe to help a student gain admission, Hall says more needs to be done.

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Hospital leaders say restrictions on their property tax revenue growth could force them to scale back services.

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After shrinking the population at state-run juvenile lockups, state Sen. John Whitmire wants to move the remaining youth at five facilities to one recently closed adult jail.

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The announcement, made in an internal email, is part of a new but expected wave of cuts aimed at trimming the system's overhead.

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A now-erased provision in Senate Bill 15 explicitly said a potential new state law would not supersede local nondiscrimination ordinances. Without that language, many LGBTQ advocates fear Texans could be exposed to some discriminatory employment practices.

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If the U.S. Senate confirms Brown, the state's highest civil court would see its second vacancy in a period of months.

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In the first session since Hurricane Harvey, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and three top senators are pushing a legislative package aimed at preparing the state for natural disasters.

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The proposals that earned the support of lawmakers of all political stripes included ones that strengthen security and beef up mental health initiatives in schools.

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It’s unclear how much it would cost to implement all of Sen. Larry Taylor’s proposals. Senate Bill 11 appears to take an unspecified amount from the rainy day fund to help cover the costs.

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The repercussions Texans face for possessing small amounts of pot — something several states no longer consider criminal — can all depend on where in the state they live. Some lawmakers want an across-the-board relaxation of criminal charges. But stigma fuels lingering opposition.

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State Rep. Dustin Burrows, author of the House bill, said the House Ways and Means Committee is "not just trying to get something across the finish line as quick as we can."

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The bill would also nullify mandates some local city councils in major Texas cities have already tried to put in place. The measure is now eligible to be taken up by the full Senate.

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