The latest Texas Legislature news from The Texas Tribune.
As a holiday gift to Tribune readers, I'm pleased to present Last Man Standing, my documentary about the 2002 Texas House race between Republican incumbent Rick Green and Democratic challenger Patrick Rose, who mounted his campaign while attending law school at UT-Austin. It's the story of why people run for office — and what happens when ideals are pitted against the reality of what it takes to win. Full Story
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It's "time to become a private citizen," the Dumas Republican said in a press release. Full Story
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As a holiday gift to Tribune readers, I'm pleased to present Last Man Standing, my documentary about the 2002 Texas House race between Republican incumbent Rick Green and challenger Patrick Rose, a young Democrat who mounted his campaign while attending law school at UT-Austin. Full Story
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Roll your own political videos ... interactive travel maps of your federal and state legislators ... scary movies, to keep the kids out of the border's scary drug wars ... puttting dropouts back in class ... rates squeezing families out of home health care ... how many lobby and trade associations do teachers in Texas need? ... enjoying the silence before an expected two-month siege of political advertising ... the dean of Texas political writers gets shut out of the gubernatorial debates ... and we have an interactive database of the state's best and worst public schools. The best of our best for a short news week, from December 19 to 26, 2009. Full Story
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Four Texas teachers groups offer similar benefits and want the same basic things. So what’s the fuss about? Full Story
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Since 2005, Texas lobbyists have spent more than $500,000 on transportation and lodging for state officials, including members of the Lege. Full Story
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Most money was on a run for governor or attorney general, but — as you’ll hear — Ronnie Earle wants to be a part of the legislative process and thinks the Lite Guv position suits him best. Full Story
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Holly Turner, running for the Texas House in Austin’s HD-47, got welcomed into the race by a fellow Republican’s press release with this headline Full Story
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Is retired Travis County D.A. Ronnie Earle — who talked about running for governor and then filed for lieutenant governor — a strong statewide candidate? Full Story
Stiles and Thevenot collaborate on the salaries paid to superintendents, and even compare them on price per student… Ramsey’s look at redistricting and next year’s elections… Aguilar’s report on jails, brought to you by the federal agency that’s in the ag business… Rapoport’s peek at the power behind Texas pre-kindergarten programs… Smith’s conversation with Dan Patrick, in three parts… Grissom’s narrative on a circular immigration and deportation route financed by two governments… Ramshaw finds doctors agreeing on public policy and split on strategy and tactics… Hu’s latest Stump Interrupted puts the camera on Farouk Shami… Hamilton’s story on two retired cops who are taking on cargo theft in Texas… And Kreighbaum and Stiles pop open the itineraries of your folks in Congress. The best of our best from December 12 to 18, 2009. Full Story
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The former Travis County District Attorney was expected to file for some statewide race, though precisely which one has been something of a mystery. Mystery solved. Full Story
Rep. Carl Isett, R-Lubbock, has his hometown buzzing with rumors that he won't seek an eighth term in the Texas House. Isett didn't return calls and texts to confirm, and his office said simply that he'll have an announcement on Friday. Full Story
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On the eve of a noisy election year, the former lieutenant governor of Texas takes us on a tour through voting and demographic statistics. Full Story
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The inflamed immigration rhetoric of the past couple of years has waned, but a report the National Conference of State Legislatures released today shows that state lawmakers still have passion for the issue. Full Story
Texas voters won't be offered a real chance at change in the Legislature and Congress next year. Four out of five state and federal lawmakers face no real competition in their primary or general elections. Full Story
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Think like the political pros and your mind will go to the long game instead of the short one. The short game is the elections of 2010. The long game is redistricting in 2011, when maps are drawn that corral the voters into the districts that will elect legislators for the next ten years. Full Story
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The El Paso school board this week dumped a controversial policy requiring teachers to give automatic grades of 50 to students who didn't earn them. But teachers are still allowed to do so at their discretion. Full Story
What are state and local governments in Texas doing to make raw data available to the public? Not much. Full Story
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Criminal justice blogger Scott Henson is reporting on Grits For Breakfast that lawmakers put 59 new felonies on the books during the last legislative session. Full Story
Remember Van Taylor? Full Story