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Here’s what you need to know about the fight over property tax cuts in the Texas Legislature
Read full article: Here’s what you need to know about the fight over property tax cuts in the Texas LegislatureRepublicans are wrestling over how much of the state’s nearly $33 billion budget surplus to spend on property taxes. Democrats have their own ideas about what to do with the cash.
With full state coffers and bipartisan support, Texas teachers are hopeful they’ll get a raise this year
Read full article: With full state coffers and bipartisan support, Texas teachers are hopeful they’ll get a raise this yearThe COVID-19 pandemic, inflation and burnout have pummeled teachers in the last few years. Lawmakers from both parties agree they should get a pay bump — but it won’t happen without some negotiation.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says he’ll run for reelection in 2026, reversing previous plan to retire
Read full article: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says he’ll run for reelection in 2026, reversing previous plan to retirePatrick made the comments at a daylong conference in Austin hosted by The Texan, a political news site started by former GOP state Sen. Konni Burton.
Texas GOP launches radio attack ads against Republican state House speaker
Read full article: Texas GOP launches radio attack ads against Republican state House speakerThe radio ad, which criticizes Phelan for appointing Democratic committee chairs, prompted pushback from Republican colleagues in the House over why the state party would use resources to attack its own member.
Texas House speaker addresses prospects of anti-LGBTQ bills, gun legislation and casinos
Read full article: Texas House speaker addresses prospects of anti-LGBTQ bills, gun legislation and casinosAt 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.
Effort to ban Democratic chairs fails in Texas House, but rule passes to penalize future quorum-breakers
Read full article: Effort to ban Democratic chairs fails in Texas House, but rule passes to penalize future quorum-breakersHouse 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.
Republican Texas House candidate’s election complaint tossed after he fails to pay fee
Read full article: Republican Texas House candidate’s election complaint tossed after he fails to pay feeMike May was one of more than 20 losing candidates in Harris County who filed election contests, citing reports of Election Day issues.
As Donald Trump mounts his 2024 presidential bid, his support among Texas politicos is waning
Read full article: As Donald Trump mounts his 2024 presidential bid, his support among Texas politicos is waningAbout two months into his comeback bid, few prominent Texas Republicans have endorsed Trump — and some are showing more willingness to cross him publicly.
Texas House selects Rep. Dade Phelan as speaker for another legislative session
Read full article: Texas House selects Rep. Dade Phelan as speaker for another legislative sessionPhelan 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.
The Texas Legislative session begins today. Here are 6 things we’re watching
Read full article: The Texas Legislative session begins today. Here are 6 things we’re watchingLawmakers 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 Legislature 101: Understanding the state government and how it passes laws
Read full article: Texas Legislature 101: Understanding the state government and how it passes lawsHere’s a rundown of how a bill becomes a law, how the Texas Legislature works and the power players who keep things moving under the Pink Dome.
‘I want to fight’: LGBTQ Texans ready for legislative session as GOP lawmakers target them in dozens of bills
Read full article: ‘I want to fight’: LGBTQ Texans ready for legislative session as GOP lawmakers target them in dozens of billsRepublicans are backing legislation targeting gender-affirming care for children, classroom lessons about sexuality and drag shows.
Texas House Democrats enter session with bipartisan hopes — and a new leader who’s prepared to fight
Read full article: Texas House Democrats enter session with bipartisan hopes — and a new leader who’s prepared to fightThere are 64 Democrats in the 150-member House, one fewer than before the election. There is also one fewer Democrat in the Senate.
Republican Caucus backs Dade Phelan as Texas House speaker
Read full article: Republican Caucus backs Dade Phelan as Texas House speakerRepublican 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.
By tradition, the minority party gets to chair some Texas House committees. Some in the GOP want to end that.
Read full article: By tradition, the minority party gets to chair some Texas House committees. Some in the GOP want to end that.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.
State Rep. Tony Tinderholt, one of the most far-right members of the House, announces he’s running for speaker
Read full article: State Rep. Tony Tinderholt, one of the most far-right members of the House, announces he’s running for speakerThe current speaker, fellow Republican Dade Phelan, is expected to seek the gavel again but has not made an official announcement yet.
1836 Project promotes sanitized version of Texas history, experts say
Read full article: 1836 Project promotes sanitized version of Texas history, experts sayThe Texas Tribune reviewed the 15-page document, which will be handed out to new drivers, and asked historians to comment on how accurately and thoroughly it chronicles the state’s history.
Republican Texas senator says he will support new rape exceptions for abortion
Read full article: Republican Texas senator says he will support new rape exceptions for abortionOne 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.
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan rules out raising the minimum age to buy a firearm
Read full article: Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan rules out raising the minimum age to buy a firearmAt the 2022 Texas Tribune Festival, the Texas House speaker also signaled willingness to consider exceptions to the state’s abortion ban.
Delayed: Mandatory maternal mortality rate data won’t be ready for Texas lawmakers in time for 2023 session
Read full article: Delayed: Mandatory maternal mortality rate data won’t be ready for Texas lawmakers in time for 2023 sessionLawmakers say they need the latest pregnancy-related death data to more precisely address the problem during the legislative session. But delays means they won’t see it until after the session ends.
After Uvalde shooting, Texas leaders will spend more than $100 million on school safety, mental health
Read full article: After Uvalde shooting, Texas leaders will spend more than $100 million on school safety, mental healthAlmost half the money is going toward bullet-resistant shields for school police officers, a move that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called on fellow state leaders to support.
Uvalde was a mental health desert before a school shooting prompted Texas to respond with resources
Read full article: Uvalde was a mental health desert before a school shooting prompted Texas to respond with resourcesAfter the May 24 school shooting, mental health help is now pouring into Uvalde, where a fourth of residents are uninsured and counseling options are few and far between.
Texas House speaker pitches spending more than $100 million for mental health, school safety programs
Read full article: Texas House speaker pitches spending more than $100 million for mental health, school safety programsLt. 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.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick calls for spending $50 million to buy bulletproof shields for school police
Read full article: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick calls for spending $50 million to buy bulletproof shields for school policePatrick 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.
House Speaker Dade Phelan announces legislative committee to investigate Uvalde shooting
Read full article: House Speaker Dade Phelan announces legislative committee to investigate Uvalde shootingPhelan 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.
Republican Texas House races become high-dollar affairs as Tuesday’s primary runoff nears
Read full article: Republican Texas House races become high-dollar affairs as Tuesday’s primary runoff nearsThe 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.
State GOP leaders win big in Texas legislative primaries
Read full article: State GOP leaders win big in Texas legislative primariesAlmost 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.
Las Vegas Sands launches $2 million PAC to continue its push to legalize casinos in Texas
Read full article: Las Vegas Sands launches $2 million PAC to continue its push to legalize casinos in TexasThe new Texas Sands PAC has already spread over half a million dollars across more than three dozen primaries for the state House and Senate.
Redistricting, challenges from the right test Texas House GOP incumbents coming off “most conservative session ever”
Read full article: Redistricting, challenges from the right test Texas House GOP incumbents coming off “most conservative session ever”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 lawmakers deplore mistreatment of National Guardsmen sent to border duty
Read full article: Texas lawmakers deplore mistreatment of National Guardsmen sent to border dutyLegislative leaders overseeing the Texas Military Department say they are looking into reports of suicides, habitual pay problems and poor working conditions on Gov. Greg Abbott's highly touted border mission.
State Rep. Ryan Guillen switches to GOP in latest blow to South Texas Democrats
Read full article: State Rep. Ryan Guillen switches to GOP in latest blow to South Texas DemocratsThe Rio Grande City lawmaker was the least liberal Democrat in the Texas House this year, according to a political scientist’s rankings of lawmakers.
Five takeaways from Texas’ third special legislative session
Read full article: Five takeaways from Texas’ third special legislative sessionGov. Greg Abbott’s office says there’s no plan for a fourth special session at this time. If this was the final special session of the year, what did we learn from it?
Texas voters will decide whether to lower their property tax payments after Legislature completes last-minute Hail Mary
Read full article: Texas voters will decide whether to lower their property tax payments after Legislature completes last-minute Hail MaryIf voters approve the measure next year, it will raise the state’s homestead exemption from $25,000 to $40,000 for school district property taxes, netting the average homeowner about $176 in savings.
Texas’ second special session of the year is over. Here are five things you need to know.
Read full article: Texas’ second special session of the year is over. Here are five things you need to know.Lawmakers will return to Austin at least one more time this year to redraw the state's political maps. Only Gov. Greg Abbott knows when that will be and if there will be additional special sessions beyond that.
Texas House Speaker says ‘absolutely no deals made’ to bring back absent Democrats
Read full article: Texas House Speaker says ‘absolutely no deals made’ to bring back absent DemocratsNavigating 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.
Analysis: Texas lawmakers have two contentious voting fights ahead — if they can stay in the same room
Read full article: Analysis: Texas lawmakers have two contentious voting fights ahead — if they can stay in the same roomAfter a standoff that lasted more than a month, the Texas House appears to have enough state representatives in Austin to conduct business. The divisions are deep, relationships are frayed and redistricting lies ahead.
The threats of state troopers arresting House Democrats have yet to materialize
Read full article: The threats of state troopers arresting House Democrats have yet to materializeAs of Wednesday, there were no known cases of absent Democrats being arrested, and the chamber was still shy of the 100 members it needs for a quorum to conduct official business. That is despite its Aug. 10 vote to proceed with the arrests.
Texas Supreme Court says House Democrats can be arrested and brought to the Capitol, siding with Republicans trying to secure a quorum
Read full article: Texas Supreme Court says House Democrats can be arrested and brought to the Capitol, siding with Republicans trying to secure a quorumIn a bid to block a voting restrictions bill, House Democrats for weeks have denied the lower chamber the number of present members needed to pass legislation. House Speaker Dade Phelan has already signed dozens of civil arrest warrants.
Signed warrants produce no arrests of Texas Democrats for now, but perhaps a hardened resolve to stay away
Read full article: Signed warrants produce no arrests of Texas Democrats for now, but perhaps a hardened resolve to stay awayIt’s unclear how far Republican leadership plans to take the arrests, and there remains debate about the limits of law enforcement’s authority to detain lawmakers who are not accused of committing crimes.
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan signs 52 arrest warrants for absent Democrats in bid to end chamber’s weekslong stalemate
Read full article: Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan signs 52 arrest warrants for absent Democrats in bid to end chamber’s weekslong stalemateThe Texas Supreme Court earlier Tuesday ruled that Democrats who refuse to show up could be detained by law enforcement and brought back to the state Capitol.
Gov. Greg Abbott, House Speaker Dade Phelan, ask Texas Supreme Court to overturn ruling blocking arrest of Democrats
Read full article: Gov. Greg Abbott, House Speaker Dade Phelan, ask Texas Supreme Court to overturn ruling blocking arrest of DemocratsThe Democrats had left the state to block the passage of a Republican elections bill they say would restrict voting rights in the state.
Texas House, just shy of a quorum, issues order to lock members inside the chamber
Read full article: Texas House, just shy of a quorum, issues order to lock members inside the chamberThis is the second time in recent weeks the majority Republican House has voted to issue a “call of the House,” though members on Monday did not offer or debate a motion to enable law enforcement to track down members still missing from the chamber.
Speaker Dade Phelan signs civil arrest warrant for Texas House Democrat who returned to Washington
Read full article: Speaker Dade Phelan signs civil arrest warrant for Texas House Democrat who returned to WashingtonThe warrant to apprehend state Rep. Philip Cortez is the first one signed by the speaker since more than 50 House Democrats left the state to block Republicans from having the quorum needed to pass legislation during the special legislative session.
Texas House Speaker offers Democrats free plane ride home to return to state
Read full article: Texas House Speaker offers Democrats free plane ride home to return to stateThe plane will be on standby at Dulles International Airport, and Dade Phelan’s team said his political campaign, not taxpayers, will pay for the flight.
El Paso Democrat Joe Moody stripped of leadership position in Texas House after leaving state with Democrats
Read full article: El Paso Democrat Joe Moody stripped of leadership position in Texas House after leaving state with DemocratsMoody, one of House Speaker Dade Phelan's closest Democratic allies, is the first Democrat to suffer political backlash after the quorum break.
Texas House rallies behind Speaker Dade Phelan, even as Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick blames him for GOP legislative failures
Read full article: Texas House rallies behind Speaker Dade Phelan, even as Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick blames him for GOP legislative failuresPhelan has touted a list of conservative wins in his first session as House leader, such as passing legislation to let Texans carry handguns without a license and approving some of the strictest restrictions on abortion in the country.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott could be upsetting balance of powers with threat to veto Texas Legislature’s pay
Read full article: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott could be upsetting balance of powers with threat to veto Texas Legislature’s payA governor targeting the Legislature’s budget would be unprecedented in Texas history.
Texas’ GOP leadership already at odds over plans for special legislative session
Read full article: Texas’ GOP leadership already at odds over plans for special legislative sessionSince House Democrats staged a walkout that killed Republicans’ priority elections bill for the regular session, the governor and the leaders of the state House and Senate have diverged notably in interviews about how they are approaching the overtime round.
House Speaker Dade Phelan says Gov. Greg Abbott could hurt staffers and legislative agencies if he tries to block lawmaker salaries
Read full article: House Speaker Dade Phelan says Gov. Greg Abbott could hurt staffers and legislative agencies if he tries to block lawmaker salariesAbbott’s vow came after a Democratic walkout in the House late Sunday night blocked passage of Senate Bill 7, his priority elections bill that would overhaul voting rights in Texas.
With feelings raw over voting bill's demise, Texas Legislature wraps up — for now
Read full article: With feelings raw over voting bill's demise, Texas Legislature wraps up — for nowMembers celebrated the end of the session, but also acknowledged that they'll be back sometime soon for at least one special session.
Leadership tensions, potential special session loom as Texas legislative session hits uncertain end
Read full article: Leadership tensions, potential special session loom as Texas legislative session hits uncertain endTensions between the two chambers are peaking, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is putting pressure on Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special session for unfinished business on conservative priorities
TribCast: Will Dan Patrick force a special session of the Texas Legislature?
Read full article: TribCast: Will Dan Patrick force a special session of the Texas Legislature?In this week's TribCast, Matthew speaks with Ross, Patrick and James about the politics and the policy surrounding Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's push to reconvene the Legislature in June.
Speaker Dade Phelan once criticized anti-LGBTQ efforts. Now he’s signaling support for a bill targeting transgender Texans.
Read full article: Speaker Dade Phelan once criticized anti-LGBTQ efforts. Now he’s signaling support for a bill targeting transgender Texans.Democrats supported Phelan for House speaker, reassured he would avoid controversial social issues that target LGBTQ Texans. They say they’re disappointed he is now signaling support for bill targeting transgender student athletes.
Texas lawmakers split over how long to extend Medicaid health coverage for new mothers
Read full article: Texas lawmakers split over how long to extend Medicaid health coverage for new mothersMaternal health advocates said the bill — originally pitched as a one-year extension — could reduce the state’s maternal mortality rate and offer vital help to mothers grappling with conditions like postpartum depression or health complications in the months after giving birth.
Texas GOP’s bills targeting transgender children have exacted a mental health toll, even if they don’t become law
Read full article: Texas GOP’s bills targeting transgender children have exacted a mental health toll, even if they don’t become lawAs the clock ticks on this year's legislative session, the House scheduled a Tuesday floor debate for a bill that would limit transgender children's sports team participation. Other GOP bills that would restrict or punish transition-related health care, like puberty blockers, missed a key Sunday deadline to advance.
Priority bills imperiled as end-of-session tensions rise between Texas House and Senate
Read full article: Priority bills imperiled as end-of-session tensions rise between Texas House and SenateHouse lawmakers expressed frustration on Thursday that some of their priority legislation had not moved in the upper chamber, including a package of health care and criminal justice reform bills pushed by House Speaker Dade Phelan.