The latest state government news from The Texas Tribune.
As the House and Senate engage in what state Sen. Kevin Eltife calls "a bidding war" over cuts to sales and property taxes, the Tyler Republican is sticking to his guns: He thinks lawmakers should look at neglected projects before they cut taxes. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/04/09/UP9A6450.jpg)
The Texas House gave final approval Thursday to an early education bill backed by Gov. Greg Abbott, sending it to the upper chamber on a vote of 128-17. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/03/26/_01F0435.jpg)
One week after an Uber driver in Houston was charged with sexually assaulting a passenger, a panel of Texas lawmakers on Thursday considered a bill critics say will open the door for more criminals to slip past driver background checks. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/06/09/Uber-Lyft-Hybrid.jpg)
At our 4/9 conversation, state Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, the chairman of the Senate Business and Commerce Committee, talked about whether he plans to run again in 2016. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/UP9A6409.jpg)
At our 4/9 conversation, state Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, the chairman of the Senate Business and Commerce Committee, explained why he supports allowing undocumented students to pay in-state tuition rates at public universities. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/7C2A6641.jpg)
At our 4/9 conversation, state Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, the chairman of the Senate Business and Commerce Committee, pushed back against the suggestion that he's insufficiently conservative. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/UP9A6414.jpg)
Full video of my 4/9 conversation with state Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, the chairman of the Senate Business and Commerce Committee. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/7C2A6572.jpg)
On a 5-4 vote, the Senate Transportation Committee approved a bill Wednesday that would hobble a private company’s plan to build a $12 billion high-speed rail line from Dallas to Houston. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/08/15/train-hispeed-upload.jpg)
Senate Finance Chairwoman Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, said she expected the Senate version of the budget to be debated by the full Senate next week, “probably Tuesday.” Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/03/25/SenateNelson476.jpg)
House Ways and Means Chairman Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, laid out a $4.9 billion tax cut plan Wednesday featuring cuts in sales taxes and business taxes. The Senate's plan cuts business taxes and property taxes. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/03/18/HB11Border245finger.jpg)
Three bills up for House committee hearings Wednesday would lower the penalties for possessing small amounts of pot in Texas. A fourth would decriminalize pot entirely. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/04/07/Marijuana-Capitol-2.jpg)
The House and Senate have some differences over which taxes to cut, but their plans have one thing in common: When they trickle down to average taxpayers, the benefits are small. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/12/18/Receipts.jpg)
In Texas, children who miss a certain number of school days can be sent to truancy court, where they could face a Class C misdemeanor punishable by up to $500. Advocates are pushing to make truancy a civil, rather than criminal, offense. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/04/07/KLRU_TRUANCY_PART_2.jpg)
State Rep. Borris Miles threatened to "beat up" a plainclothes DPS trooper while the lawman was guarding Attorney General Ken Paxton during a meeting at an Austin steakhouse, according to a report obtained by the Tribune. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/0650caf2de328890febf13ba958e67a1/BD%20INC%20Miles%201784%202011)
A handful of Democrats on Tuesday asked the House Business and Industry Committee to support a package of bills that would increase the minimum wage in Texas. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/CapitolMoney-TexasSpending.jpg)
Former Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday deferred to state lawmakers on whether they want to repeal Texas' in-state tuition law, a measure he signed into law in 2001 and has defended to varying degrees ever since. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/02/05/Rick_Perry_WaPo_Interview_2.jpg)
UPDATED: Business groups are weighing in on gun legislation, trying to preserve a business owner's rights to ban guns from private property. A House committee took up the question up Tuesday. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Gun-Holstered.jpg)
State Rep. Kyle Kacal has introduced legislation that he hopes would prevent another accident like the explosion of a West fertilizer plant in 2013 that killed 15 and injured more than 200. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/04/18/West-TX-1.jpg)
At our 4/7 conversation, state Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, and state Rep. Joe Pickett, D-El Paso — the chairmen, respectively, of the Senate and House Transportation Committees — took a dim view of the prospects for high-speed rail. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/7C2A6195.jpg)
At our 4/7 conversation, state Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, and state Rep. Joe Pickett, D-El Paso — the chairmen, respectively, of the Senate and House Transportation Committees — talked about their preferred methods of transportation funding. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/7C2A6227.jpg)