The latest state government news from The Texas Tribune.
There aren't any maps yet, but now there are two Texas redistricting lawsuits. The Mexican American Legislative Caucus has filed suit to block the use of what it calls flawed census data in drawing new political maps for legislative, congressional and State Board of Education districts. Full Story
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The Senate approved a bill today that would help charter schools borrow money by allowing them to use the state’s Permanent School Fund as a bond guarantee Full Story
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A bill that would create a committee of experts, school officials and parents to develop guidelines for schools to use to craft food allergy protocols passed the Senate today. Full Story
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Confused about the state's budget process? Trust us — you’re not alone. Check our flow chart to help understand where we are in the process (highlighted in yellow) and what steps are next (highlighted in gray). Full Story
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With a football helmet in hand, Rep. Eddie Lucio III, D-San Benito, won preliminary approval from the House today for a bill to ensure school districts keep close tabs on how often helmets are checked and repaired. Full Story
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The U.S. Supreme Court issued a 30-day stay for death row inmate Cleve Foster, who was scheduled tonight to become the first Texas inmate executed using the state's new three-drug lethal injection cocktail. Full Story
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Generally, committee meetings are open to the public and recorded — one way or another. Full Story
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The aptly nicknamed "pork chopper" bill — which authorizes hunters to shoot feral hogs and coyotes from helicopters — passed a preliminary vote in the Texas House today, 137-9. Full Story
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The Senate approved a bill today that would change the name of the Railroad Commission to the Texas Oil and Gas Commission and reduce the size of the commission from three elected members to one elected commissioner. Full Story
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The aptly nicknamed "pork chopper" bill — which authorizes hunters to shoot feral hogs and coyotes from helicopters — passed a preliminary vote in the Texas House today, 137-9. Full Story
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The 3rd Court of Appeals today denied two death row inmates' request to stop the state from using a new lethal injection drug. Full Story
Feral hogs are a fast-growing — and destructive — problem. Does that mean recreational hunters in helicopters should shoot them? Full Story
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Texas laws more strictly regulate euthanasia of animals than the lethal injection of death row inmates, according to a report released Sunday by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas and the Center for International Human Rights at Northwestern University Law School. Full Story
For our most recent TribLive conversation, I interviewed state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, about gambling, how Democrats can regain their mojo and whether being black and being Republican are incompatible. Full Story
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At last Thursday's TribLive, State Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, made the economic development case for legalized gambling in Texas. Full Story
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The authorities in Hudspeth County have realized what the rest of us have known for years: Before you start investigating the funny smell emanating from his tour bus, remember that he's Willie Nelson. The usual rules don't apply. Full Story
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For the latest installment of our nonscientific survey of political and policy insiders, we asked how the state's top leaders are doing so far this session and which lawmakers — and which freshmen lawmakers — are standing out, for better or for worse. Full Story
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The Texas House started with a $164.5 billion budget and ended with the same total. But lawmakers spent the better part of a weekend making changes inside the budget for 2012-13 before giving it their approval, 98 to 49. Full Story
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In an ugly debate late Friday night, Rep. Wayne Christian proposed requiring that colleges and universities getting state funds should make sure that at least 10 percent of their courses "provide instruction in Western Civilization." Full Story
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Tan's wall-to-wall coverage of the budget (with more from the rest of the Trib crew, interviews with some of the freshmen seeing this up close for the first time and a map of how it works), Philpott on the similarities between budget worries in Texas and those elsewhere, M. Smith explains school finance, Ramshaw on the dwindling insurance options for orphans, Grissom on legal fights over the drugs used for state executions, Aguilar on the run-up to the debate over sanctuary cities, Stiles maps the diversity of Texas counties, Galbraith on efforts to recycle plastic bags and Hamilton on calls for "entrepreneurship" at the University of Texas: The best of our best content from March 28 to April 1, 2011. Full Story
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