Texas House of Representatives

House Democrats Applaud Senate's Budget Delay

By Becca Aaronson April 28, 2011

House Democrats are applauding the Senate's delay in taking up what they call a “woefully inadequate” appropriations bill. Full Story

Credit: Bob Daemmrich
Texas House Gives Initial OK to Redistricting Plan

By Ross Ramsey April 28, 2011

The Texas House tentatively approved new political districts early this morning on a 92-52 vote after hours of nips and tucks that left the proposal they started with mostly intact. Full Story

Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera
Redistricting Maps Move Front and Center in the House

By Ross Ramsey April 27, 2011

Texas state representatives will choose their voters today — grabbing the ones they want, ditching the ones they don't — as the decennial drawing of political maps reaches the floor of the House. Full Story

Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman
Wrongful-Conviction Bill Moves Toward Passage in House

By Aziza Musa April 20, 2011

The House got closer Wednesday to locking in measures to reduce the number of wrongful convictions in Texas. Full Story

Credit: Illustration by Courtesy of the Cole family
House: Foster Kids Must Get Records Faster

By Aziza Musa April 20, 2011

Responding to a Texas Tribune article about young adults who age out of foster care being denied their records, House lawmakers passed a bill today to require the prompt release of case files following a child's discharge from foster care. Full Story

Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman
Representatives Move Back Redistricting

By Aziza Musa April 20, 2011

House lawmakers will get another day to pore over redistricting maps, after Democratic members vehemently opposed an effort to change the deadline for submitting amendments. Full Story

Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman
Guest Column: Don't Mess With My District!

By Wendy Davis April 20, 2011

Partisan redistricting aimed to protect or harm politicians only hurts the voters and their ability to participate in the political process. At its core, this is not about me or my party affiliation. It's about the people of Senate District 10. Full Story
Juvenile Justice Agencies Come Closer to Merger

By Aziza Musa April 14, 2011

Hours after the state Senate passed a bill Wednesday that would merge the state's two juvenile criminal justice agencies, a House committee passed a similar bill. Full Story

Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman
Coalition's Map Would Add Five Latino House Seats

By Ross Ramsey April 14, 2011

A coalition of Latino groups unveiled a redistricting map that would add five Latino-majority districts to the political map used to elect state representatives in Texas. Full Story
House Tentatively Passes Eminent Domain

By Aziza Musa April 13, 2011

Another bill on Gov. Rick Perry's emergency items list — eminent domain — tentatively passed in the House today, and it could further curb the government's right to take private property. Full Story

Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera
Texplainer: Why Are There Two Calendars Committees?

By Andrew Weber April 12, 2011

With more than 3,000 bills and only 140 days to pass them, somebody's got to set priorities and make a schedule. Those somebodies are on the calendars committees. Full Story

Credit: Bob Daemmrich
Senate Working on Abortion Sonogram Compromise

By Aziza Musa April 11, 2011

A panel of senators today discussed an abortion sonogram carve-out that would allow women in remote communities to wait just two hours after a sonogram to have an abortion, instead of 24 hours. Full Story

Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman
TribLive: A Preview of Texas Redistricting Maps

By Evan Smith April 11, 2011

At last Thursday's TribLive conversation, I interviewed state Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, and state Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, about the maps they and their colleagues will draw for the state's House, Senate and congressional districts. Full Story

Credit: Jacob Villanueva
TribLive: Seliger and Solomons on the House Map

By Evan Smith April 11, 2011

At last Thursday's TribLive, state Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, and state Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, the chairs of the Senate and House redistricting committees, respectively, talked about their approach to redrawing Texas House district lines. Full Story
Wentworth Temporarily Pulls Down Campus Carry Bill

By Aziza Musa and Andrew Weber April 7, 2011

After his bill received heated debate on the floor, Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, withdrew his campus carry bill today. Full Story
Thousands Rally for Smaller Budget Cuts

By Aziza Musa April 6, 2011

Thousands of protesters chanted "They say, 'Cut back.' We say, 'Fight back'" as they marched to the Capitol this afternoon to rally against proposed budget cuts. Full Story

Credit: Bob Daemmrich
Budget Fun: Guess the Signature [Updated]

By Reeve Hamilton April 1, 2011

If the signatures of state representatives on the hundreds of amendments to HB1 are any indication, possession of legible handwriting is not a prereqisite for holding elective office. Full Story

Credit: Bob Daemmrich
State Senators in Tricky Search for More Money

By Ross Ramsey April 1, 2011

It’s not just that state Sen. Robert Duncan doesn’t like gambling. He doesn’t think he could get legalized casinos approved. But Duncan's got a mission: Find $5 billion to $6 billion. Full Story

Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman
TribLive: Don't Cut Public Ed, Thompson Says

By Evan Smith March 31, 2011

At this morning's TribLive conversation, state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, the longest-serving woman, African American and Democrat in the Texas House, forcefully argued that state funding of public education should not be cut — unless school districts are made to tap into their own reserves. Full Story
House Budget: All the Amendments

By Ross Ramsey March 31, 2011

The House is scheduled to take up the full budget on Friday, and members filed more than 400 pages of amendments in advance of that debate. Here's the full set, in searchable, electronic form. Full Story