GRAPHIC: How Lawmakers Set the Budget
Confused about the budget? Trust us — you’re not alone. Later this week, the House votes on several key pieces of legislation. We've created a flow chart to help keep track of the process. Full Story
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Lawmakers Want Fewer Tickets for Students
Last year, Texas police issued 300,000 students for offenses like chewing gum, truancy and cursing. The Senate Criminal Justice Committee today discussed a bill that would mean far fewer citations for youngsters in schools. Full Story
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![Students at Austin Discovery School work on a project at the Texas charter school on Tuesday, February 15th, 2011.]()
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Supporters: Gaming Would Generate Needed Revenue
Allowing gambling in Texas could boost the economy, create thousands of jobs and help lawmakers close the state's looming budget gap, gambling advocates told lawmakers in a House committee meeting today. Full Story
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Jack Pratt: The TT Interview
Jack Pratt, chairman of the Texas Gaming Association, has tried for years to convince Texas lawmakers to let voters decide whether to allow casinos in the state. He's back again, proposing a combination of casinos, "racinos" (racetracks with slot machines), and Indian casinos that he and his economists say would bring more than $1.2 billion into the state treasury every year. We asked Pratt about the new proposal, the political environment, and the odds. Full Story
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Jack Pratt: The TT Interview
The head of the Texas Gaming Association, who's trying to convince Texas lawmakers to legalize casinos, on what's different this year, what he says to people who just don't like gambing, and how his likes his chances. Full Story
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Jack Pratt: The TT Interview (audio)
An interview with Jack Pratt of the Texas Gaming Association. Full Story
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Senate Committee Endorses Rural Hospital Hiring Doctors
Rural hospitals are one step closer to being able to directly hire doctors — something they say is necessary to attract new doctors to rural areas, but is not currently allowed by Texas law. Full Story
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An Unexpectedly Important Bloc on Budget: Freshmen
Behold the mighty freshman Republicans of the Texas House of Representatives. They’re supposed to be quiet, to bow to their tenured colleagues, to stay out of the way. But here they are, quietly and deferentially exercising some clout on the only piece of legislation that absolutely has to pass: the state budget. Full Story
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Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman -
Texplainer: What Is a "Point of Order"?
Calling a point of order is a parliamentary delay tactic, but it can be a deadly one. Full Story
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![Rep. Peter Gallego D-Alpine reviews the Texas House Practice book with Rep. Armando Walle D-Houston while discussing HB 14 regarding Voter ID on March 23rd, 2011]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
House, Senate Budget Battle Looming
This week, we saw signs Senate budget writers may be willing to spend more than their counterparts in the House. Meanwhile, a new analysis of the House budget's possible effects on Texas jobs raised eyebrows. Full Story
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State Senate, Facing Tight Budget, Hunts Revenue
The Texas Senate isn’t allowed to raise money. It’s right there in the state’s Constitution, which says all revenue bills must originate in the House. But there it goes, looking for “non-tax revenues” to put enough meat on the skimpy proposed budget to get senators to vote for it. Full Story
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The Week in Texas Politics Recap: March 21 to March 25
No time to follow every twist and turn of the Texas Legislature? We've made it easier for you with our weekly recaps of the action under the dome. Full Story
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Analysis of House Budget Divides Lawmakers
Lawmakers offered dueling interpretations Thursday of a Legislative Budget Board analysis predicting that the state could lose hundreds of thousands of jobs if the House's budget bill is passed. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
Committee Votes to Restore $4.5 Billion for Health Services
Deliberation about what to cut — and whom to save — ended with a vote to restore $4.5 billion to state health agencies at a Senate Health and Human Services subcommittee hearing this morning. The issue now goes to the full Senate Finance Committee. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
Report: Hundreds of Youths in Adult Prisons
Judges across the state, and particularly in Harris County, are sending youth offenders to adult prisons even when they have few prior offenses, according to a study by a University of Texas criminal justice expert. Full Story
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House, Senate Budget Goals Could Lead to Battle
As the House prepares for a vote on its budget bill, Senate lawmakers are hinting that they're looking to spend more than their counterparts on public education — setting the stage for a budget battle. Full Story
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Amendments, Emotion Dominate Texas Voter ID Debate
House Democrats unsuccessfully fired off a half-dozen points of order challenging several provisions in the voter ID bill all in an effort to halt or alter the controversial legislation. Republicans expressed exasperation at the Democrats' attempts to stall the legislation. Full Story
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Voter ID Passes House After Long, Emotional Debate
After more than 11 hours of debate, seven points of order, more than 60 amendments and nearly as many heated exchanges, a mentally vanquished and emotionally exhausted Texas House preliminarily approved the controversial voter ID bill late tonight. Full Story
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Human Trafficking Bill Passes in Senate
The Senate preliminarily approved a bill today by state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, that would add new definitions and harsher penalties to human trafficking laws. Full Story
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Infographic: The Politics of the Rainy Day Fund
Use our infographic to understand the intent of the Rainy Day Fund, what it takes to draw from that savings account, and the political arguments for and against using it. Full Story
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Credit: Graphic by Ben Hasson
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