GREG BONNEN

Galveston County is set to open a new mental health crisis center in 2024.

One week before the fifth anniversary of the Santa Fe High School mass shooting, relatives of those killed and wounded are celebrating a hard fought victory at the state capitol. A bill that will allow family members of crime victims to see certain pieces of evidence prior to trial is headed to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk for his signature.

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

Two bills that advanced in House and Senate committees on Wednesday both exempt any lawmaker who has already taken advantage of the benefit.

The proposal recommends spending billions on programs including property tax cuts, teacher pay raises, mental health services and border security. It leaves out requests for pay raises for retired state employees and funding for rent relief and childcare programs.

Budget proposals would boost state spending for the current budget cycle for projects ranging from mental health hospitals to state pay raises. This would leave $27 billion in surplus for next two years.

The leaders of the state’s six biggest university systems are seeking the money to fund instruction, university operations and employee health insurance and to cover a free tuition program for veterans and their children.

A shaky hand from essential tremors or Parkinson’s can negatively impact a person’s life. As the tremors progress, patients can lose the ability to perform basic tasks like personal hygiene or pouring a drink.

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration is nearing a final plan to expel many of the thousands of Haitian migrants who have suddenly crossed into a Texas border city from Mexico and to fly them back to their Caribbean homeland.

The legislation will need another stamp of approval in the House before it heads to the Senate, which has not yet debated its version of the proposal on the floor.

The bill would nearly triple border security funding from the last biennium. The legislation needs one more vote of approval from the House before moving to the Senate.

The House Appropriations Committee voted on Friday 21-0 to move forward a bill that would reinstate the funding after Abbott vetoed it to punish House Democrats who broke quorum in the final days of the session to kill two of his priority bills.

Abbott has the power to veto individual line items he objects to.

House Bill 4509 would mandate that students study documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Federalist Papers. The bill's author added speeches from Black historical figures after criticism at a hearing last month.

Republican Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan shook up the chamber’s committee leadership Thursday, signaling who his top lieutenants will be during his first session overseeing the lower chamber. State Rep. Greg Bonnen, a Friendswood Republican, will now oversee the budget-planning House Appropriations Committee, replacing state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake. Dutton replaces state Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Houston, the longtime chair who in 2019 helped pass massive reforms to the state’s school finance system. Hunter replaces state Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford. Meanwhile, state Rep. Will Metcalf, R-Conroe, replaces state Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, as chair of the House Administration Committee; state Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, replaces state Rep. Four Price, R-Amarillo, as chair of the House Calendars Committee, and state Rep. Chris Paddie, R-Marshall, will serve as chair of the House State Affairs Committee, which Phelan oversaw during the 2019 session.