Abbott tapped into a powerful national conservative movement and his own campaign war chest to turn turned legislative races into multimillion-dollar affairs.

Frank said he would work to bring better communication, member empowerment and management of the flow of legislation if he became the chamber’s leader.

Though lawmakers have drafted a bill to increase public school funding and teacher salaries, it cannot pass during the special session unless Abbott adds those issues to his agenda.

Gov. Greg Abbott called lawmakers back to Austin to try again to pass education savings accounts, which would let families use state funds to pay for their children’s private schooling. Teacher pay was not part of his agenda.

Lawmakers at a Texas Tribune Fest panel found common ground on school funding and teacher pay but took starkly different stances on “school choice.”

Texas joins a handful of states turn to the north for cheaper drugs. But feds have been slow to approve requests, three years after giving initial OK.

Lawmakers were assured that outsourcing management of foster care services would fix the state’s troubled child welfare agency. But the rollout of the new model, set to be completed by 2029, has been complicated by setbacks.

Bills that would give relative caregivers more money have missed key deadlines to make it in front of the full House.

Texas lawmakers and a federal judge say attorneys in the case against the state’s Department of Family and Protective Services should not hire lobbyists using funds won in court.

Most reports of child abuse or neglect turn out to be unfounded. But while under investigation, parents with little understanding of their rights or the process often make decisions that could impact the fate of their families.

As Judge Janis Jack continues to threaten contempt-of-court fines in a federal lawsuit against the state’s foster care system, advocates say the case has moved the needle on reform — but it has come with a hefty price tag.

Brooke Crowder said The Refuge is working to incorporate a deeper employee screening process with the help of a company recommended by the governor’s and attorney general’s offices.