The latest Byron Cook news from The Texas Tribune.
In a June 22 letter, Abbott's office directed agencies to run rules by him before publishing them. In a letter this week, state Rep. Byron Cook questioned the governor's authority to do that. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2017/11/15/Byron_Cook_Competitive_hearing_MKC_TT.jpg)
Most of the seven Texas House Republican primary runoffs fell along familiar ideological fault lines in the Republican Party. The more moderate candidates won in most cases. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2017/05/14/MMD_8_TT.jpg)
Republican challenger Thomas McNutt lost to Byron Cook in 2016, and Matt Beebe couldn't topple Joe Straus in two attempts. They're running again this year, but with those two powerful incumbents out of the way. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/2d18d7d4c7fe0b6678d8f637af197dcd/Harris_McNutt_Allison_Beebe.jpg)
A score-settling Texas House report on economic development policies was published Tuesday — after the elections it might have influenced, ordered up by lame-duck legislators who won't be in Austin to see it through. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/08/15/StateAffairs0449.jpg)
The Texas “bathroom bill” has made it to the House but chamber leaders are hinting that the controversial legislation may never reach the chamber's floor for a vote. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2017/01/04/Texas_House_pre_85.jpg)
A day after hearing from peace officers largely opposed to the state's current proposal to outlaw "sanctuary cities," the chairman of the House committee that controls the proposal's future said he'd like to see some significant changes. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2017/03/15/__BDP4933_Cook_Byron.jpg)
What started as a state House committee hearing hearing on a bill that would require Texas hospitals to bury or cremate fetal remains turned into a heated debate over whether the proposal should be amended to abolish abortion completely. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2017/03/08/Byron_Cook_Fetal_Remains_TT.jpg)
In less than three months, Texans will watch as their attorney general stands trial on securities fraud charges, facing up to 99 years in prison. Yet Ken Paxton's Republican base is standing by him. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2017/01/12/UP9A0072.jpg)
The Texas Attorney General’s office has been asked to launch an investigation into allegations of voting misconduct in a county that included the hotly contested GOP primary challenge to state Rep. Byron Cook of Corsicana. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/02/12/Ballot-Texas.jpg)
Texas lawmakers will meet Thursday to examine policies on how human fetal tissue can be used for scientific research. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/03/29/IMG_0229.jpg)
The governor and lawmakers promise to reignite their efforts to tighten ethics laws in Texas, but they have so far been missing a key incentive to make reluctant officeholders go along: public interest. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/01/08/Abbott-Constitution.jpg)
House Speaker Joe Straus sailed to victory in his re-election bid and he avoided a significant net loss in fights between hard right conservatives and his lieutenants elsewhere in the state. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/05/14/IMG_9754.jpg)
Will bragging rights in the Republican primaries for Texas House seats go to the management now in place or to those opposed to the current leaders? Watching these races involving incumbents will provide some answers. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/01/07/Split-TinderholtRinaldiCookFrullo.jpg)
Protestors, police citations, dog poop. The race is young, but state Rep. Byron Cook's re-election bid promises to be noisy and messy as conservative activists target him for defeat. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/05/22/IMG_0094.jpg)
Legislation that would have blocked public employees from paying union or association dues with paycheck deductions failed last session. But the Senate is reopening the issue, and it could play against a powerful House chairman up for reelection next year. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/05/26/_S3R7468Cook2.jpg)
Some of the supporters who jumped fastest to defend Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton are also those who invested the most in his campaign for office. They're protecting a substantial political investment. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/04/21/UP9A8560.jpg)
The political blaming started quickly after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's indictments on Monday, and the elections will see some argument over who's shooting at the AG. But it will take more than politics to save his reputation. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/06/22/UP9A8470.jpg)
The House remains fully committed to keeping dark money disclosure language in its ethics reform legislation. However, the measure's Senate author is equally adamant that provision must come out. Full Story
The Texas House on Wednesday gave final sign-off to a far-reaching ethics reform package that would shine light on so-called “dark money” while restricting undercover recordings of people in the state Capitol. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/05/26/_S3R7357CookNovote.jpg)
A hectic weekend at the Legislature culminated in a major reversal by the House late Sunday on whether to allow a controversial abortion bill to be debated on the floor. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/05/15/IMG_9857.jpg)