Let us count the ways legislators passed, killed, and then resurrected what was a popular, bipartisan way to limit arrests for minor infractions.
Stickland and his band of merry pranksters could have pushed the Legislature into a special session by killing a popular bill to increase mental health services for kids.
The last few days have brought tearful, angry debate over abortion, religious discrimination, and LGBTQ rights.
The Legislature’s own budget advisors have warned that a constitutional amendment prohibiting an income tax could cost the state billions in lost revenue from the business tax.
House lawmakers are watching the clock as a key lawmaker's absence from the Capitol has suddenly imperiled a controversial elections measure.
The ”don’t trust the government” right and the ”don’t trust the government” left overlap when it comes to vaccines.
In a fit of idiocy and confusion, Democrats in the Legislature not once, but twice derailed bipartisan legislation prohibiting police from making arrests for minor infractions.
But don’t think that means Representative Jonathan Stickland is all grown up. He’s still more or less the lib-baiting troll he’s always been.
Here died Greg Abbott’s burden-shifting plan, orphaned and alone.
The state’s biggest industry finds itself in an unusual position: facing landowner-friendly reforms at the Texas Legislature.
On Monday, the Senate passed a proposal to add four more writing tests and tie school funding directly to third-grade test results.
Kennedy’s presentation to vaccine activists at the Capitol was a master class in how to turn fears toward a dangerous cause.
In a dispute between cities and the state, employees and employers, you can probably guess who has the upper hand.
The Big Three are desperate to save their property tax proposal. Among the ideas to buy down property taxes is an increase in the oil and gas severance tax.
Despite Representative Celia Israel’s emotional, personal testimony, her bill to curtail the discredited practice has little chance of becoming law.
In a new presidential poll of Texas, Beto, Bernie, and Biden all look competitive against Trump. But it's far too early to make too much of that.
The San Antonio congressman said he feels he can accomplish more in the majority party in the U.S. House
Once upon a time, the Texas Senate was Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick’s whole world. His turbulent 2014 campaign for the post was a radical change in Texas politics, the tea party revolution taking the throne. In his inauguration speech he proclaimed that his arrival marked “a new day
No shower caps, bonnets, Do-rags, or saggy pants? The principal’s dress code for parents is about more than just school-appropriate attire.
At hearings in El Paso, asylum seekers forced to stay in Juarez told of violence and fear.
The group that made Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a star in New York aims to unseat veteran Laredo congressman Henry Cuellar.
Rosie Castro is known in San Antonio as a firebrand political activist. Her son is a cautious career politician running for president. But don’t let appearances deceive you—they’re fighting the same fight.
Big-city prosecutors are now driving the conversation around mass incarceration, and some lawmakers and law enforcement officials just can’t abide that.
The state’s senior U.S. senator is calling out Joaquin Castro and MJ Hegar in particular.
If you’re going to traffick in conspiracy theories, at least be nice about it.
The senators who will help finalize the state budget—which affects 28 million Texans—are all white and Republican, and four of the five are from the Houston area.
Many Texans think their property taxes are too high. But the highly regressive sales tax would put even more of a burden on those who can least afford it.
'Unplanned,' a new film about Johnson's conversion from Planned Parenthood administrator to anti-abortion crusader, puts her back in the spotlight. But her story still doesn’t add up.
In a powerful floor speech Monday, Senator Kel Seliger offers a demonstration of decency that diminishes the lieutenant governor’s raw power play.
Unless a compromise can be reached next week, Patrick's decision to move forward will upend decades of Senate tradition.
In the pantheon of lawmaker-involved squabbles, what happened at the J.W. Marriott hotel in Austin on Wednesday night probably doesn’t rank higher (lower?) than the time Borris Miles whipped out a gun at a party, or the time Bob Bullock pulled a gun on
The governor, lieutenant governor and speaker line up behind a penny increase to the sales tax to provide property tax relief.
The Texas Senate has tacitly endorsed President Trump’s threat to shut down the border if necessary—a dangerous move for the economy and the president’s political future.
The free three-day event starts April 8 and is a follow-up to the LBJ Foundation’s 2014 Civil Rights Summit.
The strengths of Beto O'Rourke's senate candidacy have been cast in a harsher light now that he's a presidential contender.
The embattled state official visited the Rio Grande Valley to encourage voter participation.
An op-ed from the San Antonio senator and member of the Texas Senate Committee on Higher Education.
The legislation would be an example of law’s “expressive” power, potentially curbing behavior regardless of how many creeps are prosecuted.
The support from Altria marks a reversal from the tobacco company's viewpoint in 2017.
A step towards a less partisan future. Or at least a furrier, friendlier one.
A Joaquin Castro candidacy instantly makes next year's Senate race competitive, observers say.
In an interview with Texas Monthly, O’Rourke says he’ll offer “bold leadership”—but offered few specifics.
More challenges emerge to Texas’s least favorite exam.
“We believe we have a path to [winning] … if the Democrats choose a far-left person who is espousing socialistic policies.”
The outspoken congressman left a promising career in the CIA and became a rising Republican star. But his political balancing act is dicier than ever.
The freshman congresswoman even took a question from Bill Nye, the Science Guy.
On the latest National Podcast of Texas, the 2014 gubernatorial candidate on her latest thinking about a potential run against John Cornyn, Beto O’Rourke’s future, and the status of the upcoming Sandra Bullock film centered on her filibuster.
The bipartisan lineup of heavy-hitting political figures indicates a new way of thinking about the role the festival can play.
It's the latest in a string of legal rulings that have chipped away at the Lone Star State’s once-heralded open records laws.
The Legislature remains far from allowing recreational use, but baby steps toward decriminalization could come this session.