State government

State Rep. Cecil Bell is a member of a committee that oversees utility districts in Texas. Many of those districts give his construction companies big contracts, while some of their lawyers contribute to his campaign.

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Three dispensaries expect to get final approval from Texas soon to start growing and cultivating marijuana. It’ll take another several months before they can begin distributing the kind of cannabis oil that lawmakers legalized in 2015.

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Since 2016, public entities have had to reveal the businesses they have large contracts with. These "1295 disclosures" reveal numerous legislators among the contractors — and some of those lawmakers have sponsored or voted on bills that help those same public entities.

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Not a single measure has made it to the governor’s desk despite a steady drumbeat from his office urging lawmakers to go "20 for 20." A "bathroom bill" is on life support, but a property tax measure still has momentum, supporters say.

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Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Speaker Joe Straus had their first one-on-one meeting in months Monday afternoon. 

 

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It would be unconstitutional to impose a statewide property tax. Even if one was enacted, however, that wouldn’t solve the structural issues with the state’s school finance system.

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Texas submitted a court-ordered proposal Thursday to move about 1,000 medically sensitive inmates from an uncooled prison southeast of College Station to air-conditioned units elsewhere in the state.

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The Texas House gave tentative and unanimous approval Thursday to a measure that would partially reverse a controversial cut to disabled children’s therapy services that was ordered by the 2015 Legislature. 

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After a proposal to give a property tax exemption to Purple Heart recipients hit a snag on the House floor Monday, a committee considered a more radical idea: eliminating school district property taxes altogether.

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A bipartisan group of lawmakers called on Gov. Greg Abbott Wednesday to add ethics reform to the agenda of the special session. The governor’s office, in a rare rapid response, quickly attacked the effort as “showboating.”

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Texas legislators would love to lower your property taxes, but none of the proposals they're considering in the special session would do that. 

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Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick marked the halfway point of the special session Tuesday by calling for "better communications" with the House, which has moved much slower on Gov. Greg Abbott's agenda than Patrick's Senate has.

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The Travis County District Attorney's office on Tuesday said its offer to drop all corruption charges against state Rep. Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin, in exchange for her agreeing to resign immediately had expired.

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Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price talked about their Tuesday meeting with Gov. Greg Abbott about several local control issues he put on the agenda for the special legislative session.

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The Texas Tribune wants to know more about how rising property tax rates are affecting people across Texas — and who should have the final say.

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Starting Tuesday, community colleges across the state will permit licensed gun owners to carry concealed firearms in certain campus buildings. They've had a year to learn from the example of four-year schools — but they still face challenges all their own.

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At the likely halfway point of a 30-day special session, the Texas House and Senate are taking very different approaches to the governor's sprawling agenda, and they could be headed for another standoff on a so-called "bathroom bill."

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The Travis County District Attorney's office has told state Rep. Dawnna Dukes it would drop corruption charges against her if she agrees to resign from office and agree to a drug and alcohol assessment by the end of business Tuesday.

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Gov. Greg Abbott asked the Texas Department of Public Safety Friday to retract its plans to begin charging local agencies for forensic testing.

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When it comes to this summer's "bathroom bill," Texans with disabilities say they — like many transgender men and women — believe the Legislature is further complicating something that’s already difficult to navigate.

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