The latest 83rd Legislative Session news from The Texas Tribune.
State Sen. Kel Seliger, the Amarillo Republican who leads the Senate's Higher Education Committee, filed a bill Tuesday offering broad changes to student assessment and high school graduation requirements in the state. Full Story
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At this morning's TribLive conversation, state Reps. Sarah Davis, R-West University Place, and Donna Howard, D-Austin, talked about whether the new state-run Texas Women's Health Program will have enough providers without Planned Parenthood. Full Story
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State Rep. James White, R-Hillister, has filed legislation that would require the state to study the effects of cutting financial ties with the federal government. The bill is not intended as a call for secession, White said. Full Story
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Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst filled out his committee assignments late Friday afternoon, supplementing the chairmanship shuffle he announced late last year. Full Story
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Water has emerged as the top infrastructure issue before the 83rd Legislature — an issue that appears to be more important to lawmakers than to most of the people they represent. Full Story
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Full video of my January 17 TribLive conversation with state Rep. Allan Ritter, R-Nederland, the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee. Full Story
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The legislative session just started, but it seems clear that state leaders are running low on what a former president from Texas once called "the vision thing." Full Story
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At least 20 bills have been filed or proposed by Texas lawmakers on the subject of guns, with most of the legislation aiming to widen access to guns. Here's a roundup of the proposals. Full Story
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At this morning's TribLive conversation, state Rep. Allan Ritter, R-Nederland, the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, talked about what it will take to make local communities recognize the magnitude of the state's water crisis. Full Story
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A veteran lawmaker has filed legislation that would penalize businesses that misclassify workers as independent contractors. Leaders of construction firms have said their industry is rife with companies that purposely misclassify employees. Full Story
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The Texas Senate and House have released their first drafts of the state's next two-year budget. Use this interactive to explore how state spending has grown since 2004. Full Story
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UPDATED: State Sen. Wendy Davis has filed companion legislation to a House bill from two freshman legislators — one on the far right, the other on the far left — that would expand the requirements of the state’s personal financial disclosure form. Full Story
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The Tribune asked all 180 current members of the Legislature to provide their last three tax returns — and got few takers. Most lawmakers either ignored the request or said they weren’t comfortable with that level of disclosure. Full Story
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The Lawmaker Explorer is a first-of-its-kind interactive tool that gives Texans a window into the personal interests of their state legislators. It is the linchpin of the Tribune's Bidness as Usual project, a session-long look at ethics and transparency in the Texas Legislature. Full Story
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With a lacking conflict disclosure system, virtually toothless ethics laws and a Legislature historically unwilling to make itself more transparent, Texans know little about who or what influences the people elected to represent them. Full Story
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The kickoff of the 83rd legislative session packed few surprises. The Texas Senate voted on rules, Joe Straus won without breaking a sweat, Comptroller Susan Combs announced the state budget forecast and Gov. Rick Perry laid out his priorities for the 140-day session. Full Story
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Batheja on growing calls for infrastructure spending, Dehn and Rocha report on voters’ legislative wishes, Murphy counts noses in the new Legislature, KUT’s Philpott sniffs out a push for tax relief, M. Smith tracks House Speaker Joe Straus after his re-election, Kalifa’s lovely time-lapse look at the Legislature’s first day, Aaronson on the Medicaid expansion, Aguilar on hopes for immigration reform, Grissom on the tribulations of Kerry Max Cook, Hamilton looks into a college curriculum battle, and E. Smith’s TribLive interview with Michael Williams: The best of our best for the week of Jan. 7, 2013. Full Story
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On Friday afternoon, the Republican state representative from Longview talked about why he ran for speaker, the real reason he quit the race and what happens next. Full Story
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Momentum is growing for Texas lawmakers to commit large amounts of money to address the state's long-term infrastructure needs, particularly water and transportation. Full Story
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After successfully fending off another challenge to his speakership, Joe Straus faces a tough task in the session. He will have to tackle issues that have been thorny for Republicans in the past, without further alienating the far right. Full Story
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