The latest state government news from The Texas Tribune.
LaSalle County, which is in the heart of the Eagle Ford Shale, has sued the Texas Department of Transportation over a $225 million grant program aimed at repairing roads damaged by oilfield traffic. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/04/25/shale-roads.png)
More than six months after a series of earthquakes surprised parts of North Texas, the mayors of two shaken-up towns told a state House subcommittee Monday that the state has moved too slowly in investigating what’s behind the phenomenon. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TxTrib-004RCC.JPG)
UPDATED: The House Select Committee on Transparency in State Agency Operations voted Monday that there are grounds to impeach University of Texas System Regent Wallace Hall. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/05/12/BDB_8652.jpg)
UPDATED: With all of the precincts counted, Brandon Creighton and Steve Toth finished first and second and appear headed for a runoff in the contest to succeed Tommy Williams in the Texas Senate. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/04/28/SD-4-update.jpg)
A $5-per-patron fee is not an unconstitutional occupation tax and must be paid by Texas strip clubs that serve alcohol, an appeals court ruled Friday. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/StripTax.jpg)
At our May 8 TribLive conversation, state Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, a Republican candidate for Texas attorney general in 2014, praised the work of the Texas House under Speaker Joe Straus but stopped short of saying he'd back him in another leadership race. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/7C2A4191.jpg)
At our May 8 TribLive conversation, state Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, a Republican candidate for Texas attorney general in 2014, responded to questions about his commitment to transparency and explained where he stands on "dark money." Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/UP9A5599.jpg)
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and state Sen. Dan Patrick lodged their most personal attacks yet in a political roundtable on WFAA-TV in Dallas. Patrick is trying to unseat Dewhurst in the May 27 Republican runoff. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/05/07/LtGovDebate_wfaa.JPG)
The Texas Department of Public Safety is not horsing around with its new mounted patrol unit for the state Capitol complex. Formally introduced Tuesday morning, it includes three donated horses and four trained state troopers. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/05/06/2014-05-06_DPS_mounted_unit_charlie.pearce438.jpg)
A controversial strip club fee that lawmakers approved in 2007 is still winding its way through the courts, but Comptroller Susan Combs is pressing the clubs to pay six years' worth of “pole taxes.” Full Story
During Dan Branch's first year in the House, he was a driving force behind an effort to prevent the disclosure of conflicts of interest that can arise when lawmakers work for firms that lobby the state Legislature. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/05/05/TexTrib-CONTRABAND-002.jpg)
While the federal Bureau of Land Management spends the next several years figuring out whether it owns some 90,000 acres of land along a 116-mile stretch of the Red River, landowners will continue paying taxes, at least for now. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/05/05/HendersonBLMDispute_0349.jpg)
In the Texas Legislature, it is often possible to tell legislators' political affiliations by their race and ethnicity. It's a result of voting patterns, voting rights laws and the way political maps are drawn. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/f7db99fe48a232b9e4c2dc534b22b591/BD%20INC%20House%20Floor%202011)
As a federal agency decides what to do with the 90,000 acres it says it controls along a 116-mile stretch of the Red River, Texans who have been managing land in the area say they feel paralyzed. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/Terry_McAlister.jpg)
After a presentation in Clay County on Red River land that's the subject of a dispute with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Texas officials and lawmakers on Monday sought to reassure Texans who have managed some of the land for decades. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/04/28/Daily_Turn_Image1.jpg)
Texas lawmakers are deciding whether to impeach a University of Texas regent — something they've never done before. Are they opening a Pandora's Box? Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/ed27ce751366acaaffe09a9b8c4accd3/BD%20INC%20Regents%20428%202013)
A state lawmaker wants to know if it’s legal to have taxpayers foot the bill for the $450-an-hour attorney hired to defend Gov. Rick Perry in a grand jury investigation. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/042ad8abb9b405bb0a2e1d2f9f3fd0bb/BD%20INC%20Deshotel%2001%202011)
Like most child welfare agencies nationwide, Texas Child Protective Services has had its share of problems. Officials say reforms have made clear improvements, but the agency still faces problems. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/09/05/CPS-Texas.jpg)
Republican state Sen. Dan Patrick has said that if elected lieutenant governor, he might not name any senators from the other party to lead committees. It would be a bold move, but not unprecedented. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/04/24/Bullock-Patrick.jpg)
On the heels of an expansion of Fort Bliss, El Paso is seeing an increase in the number of children who can't be placed in foster homes because there aren't enough English-speaking homes available. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2017/03/21/child-foster.jpg)