2010: Paxton Ducks
Rep. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, is not, Not, NOT running against Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, in spite of reports that he was planning a challenge. Full Story
The latest Texas Legislature news from The Texas Tribune.
Rep. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, is not, Not, NOT running against Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, in spite of reports that he was planning a challenge. Full Story
Short-term, high-interest lenders are clustered in neighborhoods where the median household income is less than $50,000 a year. Full Story
Wednesday could be the day voters in SD-5 find out whether Steve Ogden has changed his mind about getting out of the Legislature. Maybe. Full Story
The Rainy Day Fund seems like weather word play waiting to happen. It can plug holes in the budget, defend against an economic perfect storm and keep the deficit clouds at bay. That’s certainly how some see it when looking at the next biennium's projected shortfalls. Full Story
Rep. Dan Gattis says state Sen. Steve Ogden is running for reelection after all. But Ogden has maintained radio silence, not commenting (except through staff, who are happy to tell reporters that there's no comment available). Full Story
Dan Patrick is changing the programming at his Dallas station exclusively to Indian music. Full Story
The stimulus money increased funding for education last session. But can the state keep it up next session without more federal money? Full Story
Dan Gattis' announcement that he won't run for Senate or for reelection to the House next year: Full Story
State Rep. Dan Gattis, R-Georgetown, is dropping his bid for state Senate and won't seek reelection to the Texas House next year, he said Sunday. Gattis said State Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, will seek reelection after all. Full Story
State Rep. Norma Chavez, D-El Paso, announced today on a local radio show that she plans to run for reelection to the Texas House instead of making a go at the state Senate seat that Eliot Shapleigh is vacating. Full Story
The number-crunchers among the Republicans and the Democrats in Texas use election results to get a feel for the political environment in each legislative district. They start with statewide races and then bake in some assumptions about what might happen if they put the right candidates in place. We and other political watchers need the same thing, without the partisan ingredients. So we cooked up the Texas Tribune Index. Full Story
Multi-part stories from Ramshaw and Grissom and Stiles on mental health services for detained immigrants and on payday lenders who provide exorbitantly priced credit to people with nowhere else to turn... Twitter, word clouds and the race for governor — a Stiles joint... Farouk Shami is in and Hu was there to watch... Philpott went to Bastrop for a gather of Republican governors... Rapoport finds a State Board of Education that's trying to control itself... and we have the skinny on legislative races that are likely to be competitive (only about 5 percent of the races on the ballot). It's the best of The Texas Tribune from November 14 to 20, 2009. Full Story
Groups that offer high-interest, short-term consumer loans and want to avoid state regulation contributed more than $1.4 million to Texas politicians over the past nine years, Texas Ethics Commission records show. Full Story
Speaker Joe Straus has given committees their assignments for the next year. Full Story
El Paso Republican businessman Dee Margo said today he will run for the Texas House again, taking on Democrat Joe Moody. The campaign will be Margo's third try for a seat in the Texas Legislature. Full Story
Desperate Texans who get crosswise with payday lenders quickly find they get no help from the state, which hasn't regulated the industry since 2005. Full Story
With 198 legislators on the ballot next year, there ought to be more fear in the air. But only a few are in obvious political trouble. Who's on the list, and what makes them vulnerable? Full Story
Guess which demographic group is calling dibs on new congressional seats? Full Story
Will there be enough money to cover the current state budget? "Fortunately, it's too early to tell," jokes House Speaker Joe Straus. He and other state leaders are well aware of the numbers, and although they think it's not yet time to act, they're focused on the big question. Full Story
The latest addition to our elected officials directory: a listing of every staffer (we think) who works for a member of the Texas Legislature. Full Story