DADE PHELAN

Cars in some of Texas’ larger counties will still be required to have their emission output checked.

Always happy to castigate the Texas House, Patrick breaks form to criticize the governor as misinformed and unsympathetic toward homeowners.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick blasted Speaker Dade Phelan's handling of the issue, while Phelan indicated he hopes to pass out new tax legislation Tuesday.

The 2023 legislative session started with a $32.7 billion surplus. It was mired in Republican infighting and multiple scandals. Then, the House impeached the state’s attorney general.

After negotiations that became tense and public, the House and Senate fell short of delivering on one of the biggest legislative priorities for Republicans in the regular legislative session.

Despite a generation of political dominance, the party has had trouble uniting behind a common vision. The infighting over Paxton suggests that’s not about to change.

The House voted 121-23 to suspend the attorney general and refer him to the Senate for trial on charges of bribery, abuse of office and obstruction. It was the first such impeachment since 1975.

The embattled attorney general has criticized a Republican-led push that could remove him from office. The Texas House is set to debate 20 articles of impeachment at 1 p.m.

Supporters of the attorney general portray Saturday’s impeachment vote as a political witch hunt meant to sideline President Joe Biden’s biggest headache.

Republicans have chosen to remain largely silent during years of alleged misconduct and lawbreaking by the attorney general. Now they will have to take a public stand.

Chris Hilton, head of litigation in the attorney general’s office, told reporters that lawmakers can’t oust Paxton. His comments came as a House committee met behind closed doors about its investigation into the state’s top lawyer.

A Republican-led investigation has accused Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton of committing multiple crimes in office.

The two chambers have been at odds over property tax relief and school choice, but on Tuesday night, those divisions spilled over into priorities the bodies had previously agreed upon.

The bill, which Democrats have been pushing for years, has become a top priority after the overturn of Roe v. Wade. The Senate has already passed the bill, which would provide tax relief on the purchase of menstrual products, diapers and other child care necessities.

The attorney general’s comment came after a viral video showed Phelan slurring his words while leading the House. Phelan defenders say he appeared fine before and after the clip.

Seeking to avoid a special session, the state leaders discuss school choice, property taxes and grid reform.

Texas could become the second state in the country after Florida to ban diversity, equity and inclusion offices in higher education.

Although the lower chamber backed the Senate’s action on gender-affirming care, it has been less accepting of school choice and attempts to rein in higher education.

Both the House and the Senate’s proposals on property tax cuts would give modest savings to the typical Texas homeowner, but critics say the House plan could create vast inequities and disproportionately benefit wealthy homeowners.

Facing a rigid deadline, gaming supporters were unable to get the supermajority support needed to move the legislation forward.

It was a night of frustration, retaliation and, for some, elation as the stroke of midnight spelled doom for a lot of legislation.

A new version of Senate Bill 18 scheduled for a hearing in the House Higher Education Committee on Monday would keep faculty tenure and direct university governing boards to establish policies to grant and revoke tenure.

The House General Investigating Committee found that Slaton, a Republican from Royse City, engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with a subordinate. The Texas Tribune previously reported on an allegation that he had sex with one of his staff, a woman under 21, and gave her alcohol.

In this week’s episode, we discuss the final three weeks of the Legislature and Colin Allred’s bid for U.S. Senate.

The list of potential hurdles includes property tax cuts, school choice, the power grid, the state budget, plus diversity and tenure in higher education.

During the floor debate for a plan to replace the expired Chapter 313 program, House members added that the new version of the incentive must require companies to pay higher wages and create stiffer penalties for noncompliance.

Texas state police detained and handcuffed people protesting legislation that would prohibit transgender kids from getting puberty blockers and hormone therapy. The House separately delayed a vote on Senate Bill 14 until later this week.

With threats of a special session and a derisive moniker, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick tries to pressure the House speaker into acting on his conservative priorities.

The House gave initial approval to the bill Tuesday. The legislation is a priority for Speaker Dade Phelan.

Legal experts, librarians and some parents say House Bill 900’s language is so vague and broad that it could ensnare books that are not inappropriate.

Supporters say the proposals would increase efficiency and expertise, but opponents argue the attempts are political and probably unconstitutional.

Spurred by a groundswell of far-right support, the Texas Senate has passed all of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s priority LGBTQ bills — and then some. What the House does next will impact queer Texans’ lives and could determine Speaker Phelan’s future.

House Speaker Dade Phelan has said tightening the appraisal cap is the best way to cut property taxes, but Senate tax-cut proponents, housing experts and business groups predict the move would have dire consequences.

The bill was amended to make the benefits retroactive, supporting the family of a soldier whose name is on the legislation.

After a marathon debate, the bill will head to the Senate, where lawmakers have been crafting their own version of the spending plan.

The Senate wants to raise the homestead exemption. The House wants to tighten the appraisal cap. Both chambers’ leaders are skeptical of each other’s proposal.

The proposal would remove sales tax on diapers, baby wipes and bottles; feminine hygiene products including tampons, sanitary pads and menstrual cups; maternity clothing; and products for pumping breast milk.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has embraced Senate Bill 8, which will get its first committee hearing Wednesday. But House Speaker Dade Phelan hasn’t made school choice legislation a priority.

In previously unreleased interviews, police who responded to the Robb Elementary shooting told investigators they were cowed by the shooter’s military-style rifle. This drove their decision to wait for a Border Patrol SWAT team to engage him, which took more than an hour.

Housing advocates, builders and real estate experts agree that the state simply isn’t building enough homes to keep up with its booming population and economic growth.

Law enforcement officers who serve on Operation Lone Star get a $500,000 death benefit for their survivors if they die on duty. But National Guard troops on the same mission don’t get a dime from the state for their families if they die.

Cuts to school property tax bills. Bigger tax benefits for homeowners. A controversial idea to limit property tax growth. Here’s what you need to know about the brewing property tax debate at the Texas Legislature.

House Bill 20 by state Rep. Matt Schaefer, R-Tyler, would test the boundaries of the state’s ability to enforce immigration law, which courts have historically ruled falls under federal purview.

Plagued by decades of scandals over sexual and physical abuse of children, the Texas Juvenile Justice Department is at a crossroads.

More than nine months after the Uvalde school shooting, top GOP lawmakers maintain focus on school safety reforms and investments in mental health resources in hopes it will prevent future tragedies.

During dueling speeches to a conservative think tank in Austin, state House Speaker Dade Phelan and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who have a history of animus, split over property tax relief, criminal justice reform and school choice.

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan’s proposal reveals the different roads the Texas House and Senate want to take on property taxes — and the fight that might emerge between the two chambers this session.

Seventy-seven Texas House Republicans signed on as co-authors to state Rep. Valoree Swanson’s bill extending restrictions on transgender athletes to college sports. Gov. Greg Abbott has expressed support for the legislation, which is also a priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

Business groups warned lawmakers that Texas could lose business to other states without something to replace the so-called Chapter 313 tax break, which gave some companies big breaks on school taxes.

The leader of the state House also threw his support behind bills to crack down on how companies handle private data and to protect children from “addictive algorithms” by digital companies.

Abbott told business leaders in Arlington on Wednesday that Texas is already suffering from the end of the tax-break program, recently losing a “massive” computer chip factory to New York.

Texas is the latest state to pitch a version of the program, which lets parents who opt out of their local school districts use tax dollars to pay for private schooling.

In an interview with the Tribune, the governor also backed criminalizing some health care treatments for transgender kids and shrugged off the idea that he’s in a conservative policy rivalry with Ron DeSantis.

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated an already short supply of therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers.

In a statement, the attorneys for the four former top deputies who accused Attorney General Ken Paxton of crimes said state employees “cannot be expected to report government corruption in the future if they know the Legislature won’t back their rights.”

House Speaker Dade Phelan selected Democrats to chair eight of the 34 standing committees, down from the 13 he appointed at the start of the last legislative session.

Millions of Texans — mostly children, young adults and new moms — stayed on Medicaid for the duration of the pandemic. The state will soon start reevaluating eligibility.

Given the stiff headwinds to getting any expansion in gambling passed, sports betting and casino advocates may be competing against each other, rather than working in tandem.

Conservative activists have pushed for legislative leaders to ban Democrats from leading committees.

Mayors from the state’s most populous cities presented their legislative wish list, including economic development and workforce programs, broadband infrastructure and violence prevention.

At the start of his second term leading the lower chamber, Dade Phelan talked to reporters about several legislative issues that will be decided this year.

House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, snuffed out a monthslong push Wednesday to end the chamber’s longtime tradition of having committee chairs from both parties.

Mike May was one of more than 20 losing candidates in Harris County who filed election contests, citing reports of Election Day issues.

About two months into his comeback bid, few prominent Texas Republicans have endorsed Trump — and some are showing more willingness to cross him publicly.

Phelan defeated Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington, for the House leadership position in a vote, 145-3. In cruising to victory, Phelan secured the support of Democrats as well as the most conservative members of his party.

Lawmakers begin work today for their biennial legislative session. They’ll debate over the state budget, school issues, border security and property taxes, among other issues.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said on Wednesday that he's banned the use of the social media platform TikTok on any government-issued devices as he claims the "threat of the Chinese Communist Party gaining access to critical U.S. information and infrastructure continues to grow."

Republican members of the Texas House endorsed Phelan’s bid for reelection in a nonbinding vote on Saturday. An official vote from the entire Texas House will take place in January.

Mike May, who lost to Houston state Rep. Jon Rosenthal by 6,000 votes, wants the Texas House to order a new election. State law allows such an appeal, but the House hasn’t approved one in more than 40 years.

Republican critics say conservative priorities will always be hamstrung if Democrats, who are in the minority party, get a say in which legislation reaches the floor.

Texas homeowners have some of the highest property tax bills in the nation, a byproduct of the state’s reliance on such taxes to help pay for public schools and the state’s lack of an income tax.

In the days since Abbott was reelected for a third term, he has embraced the word like never before, using it in a letter to President Joe Biden, echoing the intensifying language many Republicans have adopted in recent years.

The current speaker, fellow Republican Dade Phelan, is expected to seek the gavel again but has not made an official announcement yet.

One of the longest-serving Republican state senators, Robert Nichols is among the first to say publicly he’d support revising the state’s abortion prohibition. He spoke Friday at The Texas Tribune Festival.

At the 2022 Texas Tribune Festival, the Texas House speaker also signaled willingness to consider exceptions to the state’s abortion ban.

Lawmakers let the program, known as Chapter 313, expire at the end of this year after the Senate declined to consider a bill extending it. It was the first time in its 20-year history that legislators decided not to renew the program.

The state House committee investigating the police response to the mass murders at Robb Elementary School held its first session in Uvalde Thursday. All testimony given to the committee was done behind closed doors.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick had asked House leaders to support his push for arming school police officers with bulletproof shields after the Uvalde shooting. House Speaker Dade Phelan is also asking for more money for mental health and school safety programs.

Patrick said he wants police in as many Texas schools as possible to have bulletproof shields before the fall. He’s asked other state leaders to move around money in the state budget to make it happen.

Phelan said it is an “outrage” that officials still do not have a clear picture of what happened during the shooting. The committee’s findings will inform the House’s legislative response.

The committees are different from a special legislative session, which Democrats — and at least a couple Republicans — have asked for after the shooting. Abbott has not ruled that out.

Abbott was publicly criticized by his Democratic opponent for governor. Abbot also said he wasn’t sure if he would attend the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting later this week.

In Texas Legislature runoffs, three of four Republican House incumbents succeed, while Democrats set their sights on retaining a South Texas Senate seat.

The pricey fights illustrate how much of the action in Texas politics has shifted back to the primary after redistricting dramatically reduced the number of competitive seats.

The next session of the Texas Legislature is months away, but by the time it actually starts, a lot of the work will already be done. Lawmakers are working on early versions of their legislation right now — before some of them have even been elected.

In the Texas House, the biggest intraparty attack on Republican leadership came from the Defend Texas Liberty PAC, led by former state Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford. Backed by hard-right donors like Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, West Texas oil tycoons, the group spent at least $5.2 million from January onward.

Almost all the preferred candidates of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan nabbed enough votes to head into the November general election. And nearly all sitting House and Senate members seeking to return to the Texas Capitol kept their seats.

The primaries are also the first major electoral test for House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, who took over the gavel more than a year ago.

Texas politics in 2021 were marked by a violent insurrection at the nation’s Capitol and state legislative fights over abortion, voting rights and redistricting. Our photojournalists were there every step of the way.

It remains unclear whether Gov. Greg Abbott — the only official with the power to convene special sessions — will order state lawmakers back to Austin, or what issues he would include on the agenda.

State Reps. Gina Hinojosa, Donna Howard and Eddie Rodriguez talked about everything from redistricting to “critical race theory” with Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith.

On this week’s episode, Matthew speaks with Alexa, James and Patrick about the end of the Texas Legislature’s third special session and whether there will be a fourth.

In a tweet, Patrick said he supported Abbott calling lawmakers back to Austin to increase the penalty for illegal voting and approve a “forensic audit bill.”

The latest special session ended without lawmakers passing two of Abbott’s priorities — legislation to increase an illegal-voting penalty and to ban vaccine mandates by any entity in Texas.

Lawmakers approved new political maps and decided how to spend COVID-19 relief money. But they didn’t pass bills about vaccine mandates or the criminal penalty for illegal voting.

For House Democrats, the story of the second special session is much different from that of the first one. The excitement of leaving the state had worn off, the media spotlight had dimmed and the pressures to return home were mounting.

On top of redistricting, Abbott wants lawmakers to take up bills on restrictions for transgender student athletes and the allocation of billions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief funds.

Navigating the quorum break, Speaker Dade Phelan said he was especially mindful of not doing “un-repairable harm” to the chamber, indicating that could have happened if members were physically detained and brought to the chamber.

There were 99 members registered as present Thursday evening, the exact number needed to end the 38-day Democratic quorum break over the GOP’s priority elections bill. But not all of those members were physically on the floor.

Democrat Reps. Garnet Coleman, Armando Walle and Ana Hernandez were the latest to rejoin the House on Thursday, narrowly clinching a quorum.