The latest state government news from The Texas Tribune.
At our 6/18 conversation, Erica Grieder of Texas Monthly discussed the conundrum of what to do with state Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, who landed on the magazine's list of the ten worst legislators. Full Story
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At our 6/18 conversation, Erica Grieder and R.G. Ratcliffe of Texas Monthly explained why they named state Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, one of the 84th session's ten worst legislators. Full Story
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Full video of our 6/18 conversation with Erica Grieder and R.G. Ratcliffe, the lead authors of Texas Monthly's biennial list of the best and worst legislators. Full Story
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Low-income Texans can enjoy a discount on their electricity bills for a little longer. Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday signed legislation ensuring that the remaining balance of the state’s “System Benefit Fund” would go toward that purpose. Full Story
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Many of the legislators who originally elevated Joe Straus into the House speaker's chair four legislative sessions ago are gone. But as he enters another election cycle with his eye on another term, Straus is in remarkably good political shape. Full Story
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The legislative session may be over, but that doesn’t mean it’s vacation time for many of the Capitol’s lobbyists. With a Sunday deadline for Gov. Greg Abbott to veto legislation, some of them are still making a last-ditch effort to kill bills. Full Story
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The city of San Antonio, the MD Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Texas at Dallas are the latest additions to the Tribune's Government Salaries Explorer. Full Story
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State Rep. Jim Keffer, R-Eastland, plans to announce Wednesday that he will not seek another term in the Texas House. He is one of a handful of House Speaker Joe Straus' original supporters still in the Legislature. Full Story
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Gov. Greg Abbott has signed legislation that could make it tougher for local governments to sue big-time polluters – an effort that largely targets Harris County prosecutors. Full Story
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The Texas Oil and Gas Association and the state’s General Land Office have expanded the scope of their lawsuits against Denton. Both are taking aim at the city’s moratorium on new gas drilling in addition to the toothless fracking ban still on its books. Full Story
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The fight over guns on campus now shifts to the schools, where university and college presidents must figure out where and where not to ban weapons. Full Story
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Declaring “a new era of job growth in the state of Texas,” Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday signed a $2.56 billion bill cutting the franchise tax rate paid by businesses by 25 percent. Full Story
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Attorneys who represented Texas doctors in a lawsuit against the state’s 2011 abortion sonogram law are considering their legal options following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Monday decision not to revive a similar North Carolina law. Full Story
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This week's edition of WFAA-TV's Inside Texas Politics features an extended interview with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Full Story
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State Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, has reportedly decided not to run for re-election in 2016, bringing to a close more than two decades in public service and setting off a potentially crowded GOP primary to replace him. Full Story
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In the Roundup: Former Gov. Rick Perry is officially in the 2016 race for president, Gov. Greg Abbott is busy signing key legislation into law and abortion providers are grappling with the latest court ruling that could leave just a handful of clinics open statewide. Full Story
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Tucked in the $209 billion budget lawmakers passed last month is a budget rider allocating $500,000 for a nonprofit to publish the Texas Almanac, a reference guide that had gotten by for over a century as a for-profit publication. Full Story
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A top spokesperson for Gov. Greg Abbott is leaving for Washington, D.C. Amelia Chasse has served as Abbott's press secretary since he took office in January. Full Story
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That legislative session Gov. Greg Abbott sought to devote to ethics? Texas ethics regulators are far from impressed. Full Story
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Gov. Greg Abbott, who signed a bill Thursday that allows clergy members to refuse to conduct marriages that violate their beliefs, said that "pastors now have the freedom to exercise their First Amendment rights." Full Story
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