The latest Texas Senate news from The Texas Tribune.
Top state leaders were negotiating intensely — and optimistically — Thursday afternoon on a master settlement on tax cuts, restraints on local property tax increases, border security, prosecutions of state ethics cases and open carry of handguns. Full Story
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As they try to agree on tax cuts that are the major obstacle to a state budget, lawmakers could find themselves wishing the cuts they deliver are as big as they sounded to the public. Full Story
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The so-called Pastor Protection Act — a bill that clarifies clergy members' right to refuse to marry same-sex couples — tentatively passed the Texas Senate on Monday. Full Story
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Without showing their hand, conservatives outside of government have captured the attention of every nervous conservative in the Legislature at exactly the right time. Full Story
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The so-called Denton fracking bill is headed to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk. The Senate on Monday approved a bill to pre-empt local efforts to regulate a wide variety of oil and gas activities. Full Story
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May is the final full month of the 140-day regular legislative session, which concludes June 1. And the deadlines that start in a week form a bottleneck that will ultimately block most proposed legislation. Full Story
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You can slow down or even kill a piece of legislation with a single word or phrase, if it's poisonous enough. Full Story
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Tax cuts and politics ethics legislation have this in common: When lawmakers have to vote in public view, they're often forced to set aside their private opinions. Full Story
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The budget conference committee will hash out a compromise of the chamber’s respective 2016-17 budget plans. Committee members include two Democrats who rank as the most experienced budget negotiators on the panel. Full Story
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Any candidate seeking elected office in Texas would be required to take a drug test when he or she files to run, under a proposal that the state Senate approved Tuesday. Full Story
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Here's an updated breakdown of House Bills 1-20 and Senate Bills 1-20, showing where House Speaker Joe Straus and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick are placing their priorities for the 84th legislative session. Full Story
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As the Texas Legislature ponders ethics reforms to increase transparency and reduce conflicts of interests among its members, a key state lawmaker is facing new questions about whether his private business affairs are impacting his public duties. Full Story
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The Texas Legislature has fewer than six weeks left in this session and thousands of bills to consider. But you can get a pretty good feel for how things are going by watching their efforts to cut taxes. Full Story
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This week, the House and the Senate named the members of a conference committee that will resolve the differences between the two chambers' budget plans. Here’s a look at how the two proposals compare, with details on some areas where the plans diverge. Full Story
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The panel of conservative activists that is advising Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is putting him in a tricky spot as he navigates leadership politics under the dome. Full Story
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Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has named the Senate lineup of budget negotiators who will meet with House counterparts and hash out a final version of the two-year state budget. Full Story
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A weekly leadership breakfast went sour Wednesday as the state's top three officials complained to one another about legislative packages and the tensions between a House and Senate that have just weeks left to complete their work. Full Story
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Amid concerns raised about the rising costs of a college tuition program for military veterans, a Texas Senate panel on Wednesday backed a plan that would tighten eligibility rules. Full Story
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The Texas House and Senate are ignoring each other's work, slowing progress on bills like open carry and border security legislation. They're ruffling feathers, too. Full Story
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The Texas House on Tuesday tentatively passed House Bill 21, the “right to try” bill that would allow terminally ill patients to try experimental drugs that have passed at least the first of three FDA trial phases. Full Story
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