Watch as Texas House committee debates anti-"sanctuary" bill
The Texas House State Affairs Committee is set to debate a bill that would gut funding from local and state entities that don’t enforce immigration laws. Full Story
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![Critics of Senate Bill 4, a bill banning sanctuary cities, protest at the Texas Capitol as the bill is scheduled to be debated before the Senate State Affairs committee on Feb. 2, 2017.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Patrick: Straus "out of touch with the voters" on bathroom bill
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Wednesday that House Speaker Joe Straus is "out of touch with the voters" for opposing the so-called bathroom bill that passed the Texas Senate a day earlier. Full Story
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![House Speaker Joe Straus and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick at a Texas Legislative Budget Board meeting on December 1, 2016.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for the Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate tentatively approves "bathroom bill"
After several hours of debate, the Texas Senate on Tuesday tentatively signed off on the “bathroom bill” on a 21-10 vote. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick confers with State Sens. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, Royce West, D-Dallas, on March 14, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune -
Legislator: Some Republican men tried to retaliate over “masturbation bill”
After state Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston, filed a bill that would fine men $100 for masturbating, some Republican men in the Texas House, she said, tried to derail a separate and unrelated bill of hers Tuesday. Full Story
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![State Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston, questions Health & Human Services chief Charles Smith regarding state contracts for health clinics during a State Affairs Committee interim hearing on Aug. 15, 2016.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Senators grill one another in tense hearing on property tax bill
State Sen. Paul Bettencourt's attempt to limit when cities and counties can increase property tax collections without an election drew bipartisan opposition Tuesday. But many supporters also came to the bill's defense. Full Story
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![State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, listens to testimony on SB2 at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on March 14, 2017.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Watch as Texas Senate debates "bathroom bill"
A week after a marathon hearing, the Texas Senate debated the "bathroom bill" on the floor Tuesday afternoon. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick looks around the Senate Chamber on Feb. 7, 2017 prior to bringing up SB 4 sanctuary city bill for debate.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Here’s what the revised Texas bathroom bill means in plain English
State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, the author of the so-called "bathroom bill," last week unveiled a revised version of Senate Bill 6. We've updated our plain English annotation of the bill to explain how it would impact communities across Texas. Full Story
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![An all-gender restroom at The University of Texas at Austin.]()
Credit: Qiling Wang / The Texas Tribune -
Advocates hope to end policy in Texas of jailing poor for unpaid fines
Thousands of Texans are at risk of being arrested at any given moment for not paying fines often related to traffic offenses or other city ordinance violations, according to a recent report. Full Story
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![Inmates in the Harris County Jail in 2011.]()
Credit: Todd Wiseman/The Texas Tribune -
Will Senate bill provide tax relief or hamstring local governments?
State Sen. Paul Bettencourt says Texans are tired of seeing their property tax bills increase dramatically year after year. But local government officials say his Senate Bill 2 would limit their abilities to raise necessary revenues. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
Proposed law would crowdfund donations to help with rape kit backlog
As Texas faces a backlog of thousands of untested rape kits, lawmakers appear unwilling to spend state dollars to address the problem — but they're considering crowdfunding. Full Story
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![Jenny Black, executive director/coordinator at Austin/Travis County Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners, shows a sexual assault evidence collection kit at St. David's Medical Center in Austin on July 29, 2013.]()
Credit: Todd Wiseman -
Texas lost a ruling over its congressional map. So what's next for the state?
Here's what you need to know about Friday night's huge — and incredibly complicated — ruling that effectively invalidated Texas' congressional map. Full Story
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Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman -
Unicycles and feral hogs: former lawmaker unveils his top bill descriptions
Having trouble classifying your electric unicycle? Want to identify your deer but don't want to get it tattooed? The 85th Texas Legislature is here to help. Full Story
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Credit: Tamir Kalifa -
Analysis: A week to test local powers in Texas
The Texas Legislature is going to be busy this week with issues that ordinarily belong to other governments, as it considers the wisdom of local ordinances on restrooms, ride-hailing, short-term rentals, sanctuary cities and plastic bags. Full Story
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![A large crowd of transgender advocates opposed to SB 6 the bathroom bill converge on the Capitol Extension Rotunda during the Senate State Affairs Committee hearing on the bill March 7, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Mayors say Texas, U.S. politics increasingly undermine city needs
A major source of division among cities and state officials is differing opinions on what local control means — and to whom it provides the power to govern. Full Story
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![Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings was among a group of Texas mayors at a Feb. 17, 2017, news conference discussing their unified agenda in working with the 85th Texas Legislature.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune -
With proposal to penalize men for masturbating, legislator aims to shake up health debate
State Rep. Jessica Farrar, a Houston Democrat, has filed House Bill 4260, which would fine men $100 for masturbating. Full Story
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![State Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston, questions representatives of the Texas Department of State Health Services about state contracts for specific health clinics during an interim hearing on Aug. 15, 2016.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
At Dallas County GOP event, Donald Trump Jr. says Texas “came through for this country”
Donald Trump Jr, the Dallas County Republican Party’s Reagan Day Dinner keynote speaker, said Texans’ fundraising efforts were key in helping his father secure a victory in the 2016 presidential election. Full Story
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![Donald Trump, Jr. speaks at the Dallas Republican Party Reagan Day Dinner on March 11, 2017.]()
Credit: Laura Buckman for The Texas Tribune -
Federal panel rules some of Texas' congressional districts illegal
Some of the state's 36 congressional districts violate either the U.S. Constitution or the federal Voting Rights Act, a panel of three federal judges ruled Friday. Full Story
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Tesla tries a new, ambitious approach at Texas Capitol
A pair of bills filed Friday would allow any vehicle manufacturer to sell directly to Texans — bypassing the middleman dealers — in the biggest challenge yet to a longstanding state ban on the practice. Full Story
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![Tesla vehicle on display outside the Texas Capitol on Jan. 15, 2015.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Lawmaker blasts Abbott appointee, health agency over contracting; agency fires back
State Rep. Giovanni Capriglione is demanding to know why dozens of large Texas Health and Human Services Commission contracts don't appear in the state's budget watchdog's database. The agency says it isn't responsible for the problem. Full Story
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Analysis: The party in power in Texas acts more like two parties at war
The leadership battles in the Texas Legislature are often attributed to personalities — or to traditional House-Senate rivalries. But there's another factor: The Republicans in power are from different factions of their party. Full Story
![House Speaker Joe Straus and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick at a Texas Legislative Budget Board meeting on December 1, 2016.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for the Texas Tribune
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