A new House bill with substantial backing would require women to produce government-issued identification before receiving an abortion to prove they are not a minor.
A bill to allow the carrying of concealed handguns on Texas college campuses briefly stalled in the Senate on Tuesday. But Florida is pressing ahead with similar legislation.
As the state debates how ridesharing is regulated, drivers should know their days are numbered.
Senate debate on controversial open carry bill lacked enthusiasm.
Texas kept its post-Reconstruction ban on handguns to promote immigration and economic development, not as a Jim Crow law.
The Texas Eagle Forum and the John Birch Society are opposing calls for a constitutional convention on a federal balanced budget amendment. They call it dangerous.
Public Safety Director Steve McCraw has a history of seeing terrorists at the gate.
The Tax Foundation gives you statistics to argue Texas taxes either way.
The debate over border security often is as much about political posturing as it is about policy.
The goals of big business are clashing the the religious freedom agenda of Christian conservatives in the Legislature.
More legislative proposals try to solve voter angst over property taxes
Feeling grumpy from that lost hour of sleep? A state lawmaker wants to turn the clock back in Texas.
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick’s Senate is on a slow pass of passing bills. So Patrick is having news conferences instead.
The Senate Nominations Committee today gave its blessing to the confirmation of controversial University of Texas System Regents Sara Martinez Tucker, Steven Hicks and David Beck.
Each in their own way, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Texas Governor Rick Perry have sought to avoid public disclosure of their official emails.
The state’s former health commissioner says the cost to the state economy for treating diabetes from obesity is going to triple over the next 15 years.
When adjusted for population growth and inflation, state spending has remained almost flat since 1994. Is there a price for such frugality?
Former Texas Land Commissioner Bob Armstrong, who drove the state acquisition of land that became Big Bend State Park, died Sunday.
Battleground Texas has a goal of winning statewide for Democrats in 2020, but by then it may be too late.
On this day in 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos, the Texas Declaration of Independence was sign, creating the Republic of Texas. The convention elected David G. Burnet as the interim president.
The California Republican Party on Sunday approved the Log Cabin Republicans as an official volunteer organization. The Republican Party of Texas last year denied the Log Cabin Republicans even a booth in the exhibitors’ hall.
Former Governor Rick Perry this morning told a gathering of conservatives that Middle Eastern dictators do not take President Obama seriously because he has not been willing to secure the Texas border.
Social conservative senators kept three of Governor Greg Abbott’s nominees to the University of Texas board of regents in the nominations committee hot seat for almost six hours Thursday, an unusual grilling for a new governor’s appointments.
A newly released survey finds Texans sharply divided on issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion, but overwhelmingly in favor of a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who live here illegally.
A new poll indicates Rick Perry may get a second chance with Republican voters in the presidential race. Why? Many people do not have an opinion of him.
Governor Greg Abbott’s honeymoon shadow, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick’s prayers, and an effort to keep the United Nations out of the Alamo.
Dan Patrick and Jane Nelson’s property tax relief package appears like a silver cloud until you look at the lining.
State Sentor Leticia Van De Putte bid farewell to her 24-year career in the state Senate on Tuesday to prepare for a race in a May election to become San Antonio mayor.
Governor Greg Abbott dodges a couple of tough questions on Face the Nation.
Using a judicial side-step, two woman in Travis County have become the first couple to have a legally recognized same-sex marriage. But the Texas Supreme Court put the marriage on hold.
Walmart wants liquor stores, while nine-year-old Alexis Bortell wants medical marijuana. Who will win?
In the bright new day of Governor Greg Abbott, Texas and her people are strong and getting stronger, but his State of the State address only polished the edges on some of the major challenges facing the state.
Good news for Texas politicians: despite the change of administration, the big money donors are still willing to give.
Concealed carry has been legal since 1996—but the number of Texans applying for CHLs has exploded since 2008.
State gun laws are more complex than open carry advocates often suggest.
[Editors note: an earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that the Texas Association of School Administrators and the Texas Association of School Boards were among the groups that met with Senator Royce West last weekend to discuss the school finance plan. Neither TASA nor TASB were present at a
As the 82nd Legislature hurtled this weekend toward a crash landing, freshman Republican Representative Lanham Lyne of Wichita Falls stepped up to the front microphone of the Texas House to deliver his first major legislative speech. Lyne was arguing on behalf of the budget, which cuts billions, yet he seemed
Oh, ye liberals, Democrats and college professors, weep. There is no doubt now that the man you love to hate – Governor Rick Perry – will be the biggest winner of the 82nd Legislature. Perry has gotten his way on almost every item on is legislative agenda and squeezed the
Once upon a time, not so long ago, in a faraway land called Pennsylvania, a woman named Sarah Palin brought 200 protest cookies to school for children at the Plumstead Christian School - because she had read a report – mistaken as it turns out – that the state was
Betting on the come, in gambling terms, means: You don’t have what you need but you’re betting that you will have it when you need it. Betting on the come is exactly what House and Senate Republicans are doing with Governor Rick Perry as they press for a final budget
When senators Florence Shapiro and Steve Ogden earlier today said they had a budget deal, the deal apparently was just among the senators. House Speaker Joe Straus just issued this statement:
Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst just emerged from a meeting in Speaker Joe Straus’ office and said he left the Senate’s budget “deal” with the speaker to consider. Dewhurst said he had 21 senators signed onto the deal — the 19 Republicans and Democratic senators Royce West of Dallas and Juan
Senators Florence Shapiro and Steve Ogden both tell me a deal is done on the budget. Ogden says negotiations continue on exactly how to pay for it but that it is close. Public education will be funded at the Senate level, which is about $4 billion more than was in
Senate Finance Chairman Steve Ogden stormed off in the opposite direction from other conference committee negotiators as they left Speaker Joe Straus’ office. Caught in the stairwell behind the House, Ogden made a dour prediction: “We really haven’t made any progress. “There’s several issues. The thing that’s frustrating to me
Thursday was to have been Teacher Appreciation Day in the Legislature under House Republican plans to bring up HB 400 to make it easier for school districts to furlough or fire teachers, while giving those who remain employed the opportunity to teach more children in larger classes. Only
Who has more clout: A fictional Texas Ranger and a former major corporate CEO or a cadre of right wing interest groups? Texas Senate Republicans gave an unabashed nod to the interest groups this week by passing a state budget that balances without tapping the rainy day fund. Instead, the
Senate Finance Chairman Steve Ogden stands like Casey at the Bat, fully wanting to score. And nothing but a base hit, or a walk, perhaps, will get him to the floor. As this week ended with the scoreboard showing naught, Ogden admitted he lacked the stroke to bring his budget
If you think of the two-year budget passed by the Texas House as a bankruptcy filing for the State of Texas, then the budget approved by the Senate Finance Committee yesterday is a reorganization plan that requires a substantial liquidation of assets. Finance Chairman Steve Ogden (R-Bryan) and other senators
Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst and Senate Finance Chairman Steve Ogden today talked to reporters about the Senate’s two year budget proposal. The bottom line numbers, they said, will remain a squishy secret until Thursday. And how extra money for the plan will be raised will be revealed Tuesday. But for
Senator Eddie Lucio recently rode in a parade for Brownsville’s Charro Days Fiesta, a festival created in 1937 to raise the spirits of those living through the Great Depression. Suddenly, a man in the crowd shouted in Spanish at Lucio: “There goes the state official who is going to cut
