The latest Texas House of Representatives news from The Texas Tribune.
Members of the Texas House on average spent about $11,000 on travel expenses in the last fiscal year, which ended August 31. This table details those records by member. Click the column headers to sort the table and compare their spending in the various categories Full Story
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Retiring state Rep. Joe Crabb, R-Atascocita, led all Texas House members in government-funded travel expenses in the last fiscal year, according to a Texas Tribune review of expense reports obtained from the state comptroller. Crabb spent $48,400, versus a per-member average of about $11,000. In all, 14 members spent more than $30,000. View a sortable table of travel totals by member. Full Story
The Nederland Democrat will indeed become a Nederland Republican on Tuesday. Full Story
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State Rep. Allan Ritter, D-Nederland, is telling associates he will switch to the Republican Party next week. Full Story
Speculation is growing that state Rep. Aaron Peña, D-Edinburg, will soon switch parties, giving the Republicans the supermajority they were barely denied on Election Night. Full Story
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Six weeks after the drubbing their party took at the hands of voters, surviving Texas House Democrats find themselves at a crossroads — on style and substance, politics and policy. With massive budget cuts looming, will they effectively sit out the session and force Republicans in the majority to have all the blood on their hands? Will they participate just enough to soften the blow in the areas they care about the most: education and health care? Can they hold together a solid 51-vote bloc on key legislation? Where exactly should they go from here? And who will lead them? Full Story
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John Frullo, Jim Landtroop, Charles Perry and Four Price each won election to the Texas House last month, representing districts in a part of the state where the population is dwindling. At least one of them should leave the car running at the curb. Full Story
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The force of the GOP wave in November was so strong that black Republicans and Latino Republicans outnumber the Texas House's new endangered species: the white Democratic woman. And if the 16-vote victory of state Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, doesn't survive a recount, the species will be extinct. Full Story
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At this morning's TribLive event, state Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, speaks out on the challenge to his close friend and colleague, Speaker Joe Straus. Full Story
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Robert Grijalva isn't running for the Texas House. Full Story
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An interview with state Rep. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, about his run for speaker of the Texas House. Full Story
The Republican state representative from McKinney on why he's running for speaker, why Joe Straus is "the most controversial Republican elected official ... that maybe has ever happened," the role of outside groups in what has historically been a forum for the most inside of insider politics and whether he thinks he can really win. Full Story
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It's orientation week for the largest incoming class of House members since the early '70s. Before their work begins in January, they're learning how things work in the pink building — and drawing balls to see who gets the most seniority. Full Story
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Freshman state Rep. Van Taylor, R-Plano, says he's supporting Ken Paxton's challenge to incumbent House Speaker Joe Straus. Full Story
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On last night's edition of CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, state Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, sparred with the host about whether Barack Obama has a U.S. birth certificate — and whether Texas law should be changed to require that any candidate for president who wants ballot access produce one. Full Story
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The newly christened executive director of the Texas Legislative Council on how the upcoming session is going to be "really, really difficult," how technology has changed her job, whether redistricting maps can get drawn and agreed upon by June and how she keeps politics from impacting her work. Full Story
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The newest video touting Joe Straus for reelection as Speaker looks like the intro for one of those lifetime achievement statues they give away on the awards shows. Full Story
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Add state Reps. Erwin Cain of Como and James White of Hillister to the list of members backing Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, for speaker of the House. Full Story
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Jurors in the money laundering trial of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay continued working on Wednesday. Full Story
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Remember the ABCs? Anybody But Craddick? Not you've got ABS folks, who don't like Republican House Speaker Joe Straus. Full Story
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