Texas Legislative Guide: Environment
Use our Texas Legislative Guide to stay updated on the issues that lawmakers are debating this legislative session. This week, our featured section is Environment. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Emily Albracht -
Film Groups Want Separate Funding for Video Games
Texas film heavyweights are asking lawmakers to create a separate funding strategy for video game incentives instead of continuing shared funding with film and television incentives. The video game lobby isn't ready for a split. Full Story
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![Naveen Nattam (l) Sean Riley (r) play games during their lunch break at Twisted Pixel, a video game company in Austin. Texas is second in the nation for video game industry employment and promoting further growth with incentives and training.]()
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Along the Texas Border, a Third-World Problem
Reliable access to clean drinking water is not a reality for tens of thousands of Texans living along the Mexican border, despite a multibillion-dollar effort that has spanned decades. Those left behind face third-world conditions and grave health risks. Full Story
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In Women's Health Fight, Cancer Care Could Be Collateral Damage
GOP lawmakers, in their effort to put Planned Parenthood out of business, could change how they fund a cancer screening program for poor women. But private clinics unaffiliated with Planned Parenthood say they'd take a hit, too. Full Story
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![X-Ray Technologist Donna Fehl, prepares to scan a patient on a mobile mammogram machine at a clinic in Port Arthur, Texas, Monday, November 11, 2013.]()
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Roundup: Funding Roads, Debating Health Care Reform
In the Roundup: The Texas Senate passed its first legislation this week, state Republican leaders again addressed Medicaid expansion and reforms, and new bills aim to preserve the federal health subsidies in question in a U.S. Supreme Court case. Full Story
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"Texting is the King of Distraction," Lobbyist Tells Panel
Doctors, law enforcement officers, and family members of crash victims gathered Thursday at the Capitol to testify in support of a statewide texting-while-driving ban. Forty-four states now ban text messaging while driving. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
Analysis: Fear of Spending Even Extends to Tax Cuts
Lawmakers want to send voters a tax cut but fear spending the money the cut requires without asking voters for permission. Full Story
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![State Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick at a budget press conference on Jan. 27, 2015.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Committee Passes Second Chance Bill For Failing Seniors
Texas public high school seniors who failed the state's mandatory exams might still get to graduate this May under a bill pushed by state Sen. Kel Seliger. The Senate Education Committee approved the measure Wednesday. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has a chat with Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, after calling a recess in the Senate on Jan. 21, 2015.]()
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House: Dripping Springs the "Wedding Capital of Texas"
The Texas House said “I do” to a proposal Wednesday by Republican Jason Isaac to designate Dripping Springs as the state wedding capital. Full Story
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![Rep. Jason Isaac, R-Dripping Springs, on the House floor, February 8, 2011.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Senate Approves Funneling Car Sales Tax to Highways
If voters approve, some of the taxes collected on car sales would be dedicated to building and fixing highways under the first two pieces of legislation to clear the Senate this session. Teachers might also see a pay boost under the measures. Full Story
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![Wokers along stretch of highway at US290/US 183 April 2011]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Patrick: Exempt Tax Cuts, Debt Payments From Spending Cap
Senate leaders joined Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to announce a plan to allow lawmakers to cut property taxes and pay down the state's debt without busting the state’s politically charged spending cap. Full Story
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![Sen. Jane Nelson R-Flower Mound, together with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, hold a press conference on the budget on Jan. 27, 2014.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Video: A Bid to Solidify Support Services for Female Veterans
More female veterans call Texas home than any other state, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. It’s a growing segment of the military population that could soon have a state resource exclusively dedicated to serving its needs. Full Story
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Analysis: In Senate, Spotlight Squarely on Tax Cuts
Here's some free advice to anyone hoping to see some love in the next state budget: Get in line. Tax cuts are at the front of the queue. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announces the filing of SB1 with a series of property and business tax cuts for Texans on Feb. 24, 2015.]()
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Senators Show Interest in Ditching Margins Tax
As a key Senate committee prepares to hear public testimony on tax cut proposals Wednesday, senators expressed strong interest in repealing the state's unpopular margins tax on businesses, which has raised $4.7 billion annually. Full Story
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State Waits for Directions to Declassify Colonias
The state has worked for decades to halt the proliferation of colonias, but it has no way to declassify communities that have outgrown the colonia description. Full Story
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![A young girl plays outside her home in the Pueblo de Palmas colonia near Mission, Texas, on Aug. 29, 2013.]()
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Analysis: A Desire for Tax Cuts and a Call for Restraint
As state officials rush to announce tax cuts, a former mayor now in the Senate is pleading for a little restraint and a return to pay-as-you-go government. Full Story
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![Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, is congratulated by Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, in passing changes to Senate rules on Jan. 21, 2015.]()
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New Sheriff Arrives at Troubled Health Agency
The new chief watchdog for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission told lawmakers Monday he plans to right the embattled department by going after fraud and waste outside and inside the $37 billion state social services empire. Full Story
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At Hearing, Climate Change Called a "Threat Multiplier"
A Democratic state lawmaker on Monday kicked off efforts to force a discussion about climate change in Texas, but he faces an uphill battle in a state where most Republican leaders don't believe it is a problem. Full Story
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![Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, during a Texas Tribune event on Feb. 21, 2013.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
The Playlist: The Race is On
The first University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll of 2015 had good news for likely White House hopefuls Scott Walker and Hillary Clinton — so we’re kicking off this week’s playlist with George Jones singing “The Race Is On." Full Story
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Roundup: Polls and Property Tax Cuts
This week in the Roundup, we take a look at the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll and a proposal by state Senate leaders to offer tax relief to property owners and businesses. Full Story
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