School choice, property taxes and abortion (podcast)
On this week's TribCast, Emily talks to Ross, Patrick and Morgan about the special session issues the Senate is plowing through — and what the House's coping mechanism is. Full Story
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Credit: Emily Albracht / Todd Wiseman -
Texas Senate tackles special session abortion bills
Texas senators tentatively approved bills that would require physicians and facilities to do more detailed reporting on abortions — and fine those who do not comply. Full Story
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![State Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, pauses during debate with Sen. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, while talking on Senate Bill 10 on July 24, 2017. The measure would modify reporting requirements for physicians performing abortions.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate OKs maternal mortality task force
Under Senate Bill 17, the state’s Task Force on Maternal Mortality and Morbidity would have more time to study why an alarming number of Texas mothers are dying less than a year after childbirth. Full Story
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Credit: Bas Silderhuis -
Analysis: In special session, Texas Senate's the hare, House is the tortoise
This summer's special session is a little like this spring's regular session, only in miniature. The Senate has big plans and is in a hurry. The House? Not so much. Full Story
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![The three leaders of Texas appear jovial at a short meeting of the Cash Management Committee on July 18, 2017, as they face a potentially contentious 30-day special session of the 85th Legislature.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate committee OKs bill to outlaw city cellphone restrictions
Senate Bill 15 would pre-empt local ordinances on mobile phone usage, effectively rolling back provisions in more than 40 Texas cities that currently post hands-free ordinances stricter than the statewide texting ban. Full Story
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![State Sens. Brandon Creighton, R-The Woodlands, and Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills, at a Business & Commerce committee hearing on Saturday.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Despite losing bathroom bill fight, a transgender girl gets her two minutes
They were unlikely to sway a committee of Republicans considering bathroom restrictions for transgender Texans, but a transgender 7-year-old and her mother waited for their two minutes. Full Story
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![Libby Gonzales, a 7-year-old transgender girl, and her sister sit by their parents at a press conference in the Capitol rotunda concerning SB 3 and SB 91 on July 21, 2017.]()
Credit: Austin Price / The Texas Tribune -
Source of Senate's speed in special session? "Pizza and soda pop" (video)
Donning an apron, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick offered senators dinner for coming back in the early morning hours Thursday to vote out two special session bills that would extend the life of five state agencies. Full Story
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Analysis: A legislative body in motion can do whatever it wants
A Texas governor can tell lawmakers what subjects to work on in a special session but can't tell them exactly what to do. The session that started this week is now in the hands of the Texas Legislature — not the governor. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick confers with a group of senators during the special session on July 19, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune -
The first week of the special legislative session (podcast)
On this week's TribCast, Emily talks to Evan, Ross and Patrick about the kickoff of the special legislative session, what's at stake for the state's top leaders and what's in store for the bathroom bill. Full Story
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Credit: Emily Albracht / Todd Wiseman -
Lawmakers to target Austin's worker protections on construction projects
With the beginning of the special legislative session, opponents of construction permitting rules in Austin that require more worker protections in exchange for a faster process have the chance to overturn local regulations like Austin's. Full Story
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![Construction in downtown Austin's Warehouse District on Tuesday, May 2, 2017.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Follow the leader, if you can find him
The governor has identified the issues he wants lawmakers to work on during the special session. He says he'll keep score to track friends and foes. But he hasn't publicly made his positions clear — so how do they know how to vote? Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott (l.) and Kevin Roberts, executive vice president at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, at a TPPF orientation session ahead of the special session, on July 17, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Democrats lay out their own special session priorities
Democrats in the Texas Legislature outlined their priorities for the upcoming special legislative session on Monday, focusing on several issues that did not appear on Gov. Greg Abbott's agenda for the session. Full Story
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![State Rep. Chris Turner, D-Arlington, attempts to add an amendment to SJR 2 advocating for Texas to join a Convention of States on May 4, 2017. Turner's try at an amendment, to force the resignation of federal officials caught cooperating with the Soviets, failed to pass.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Abbott: I'm keeping a list of lawmakers who oppose me during special session
Gov. Greg Abbott says he's going to keep a list of lawmakers who oppose his agenda during the special legislative session, and that property tax reform is his top priority. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott lays out items for a special session at a press conference on June 6, 2017.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Special session sniping underway before the opening gavels
The Texas Legislature is returning to Austin, but the leaders of the Senate and the House appear to be starting the new session on the same sour notes with which they ended the regular session seven weeks ago. Full Story
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![House Speaker Joe Straus and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick at a Texas Legislative Budget Board meeting on December 1, 2016.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for the Texas Tribune -
Critics say Abbott catering to donors with special session priorities
As state lawmakers and city officials gear up to battle over land-use legislation, a liberal watchdog group says $34 million in campaign donations from real estate and construction industries "paved the way" for this month's special session agenda. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott lays out items for a special session at a press conference on June 6, 2017.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Lawmakers file dozens of bills as Abbott officially calls special session
Within hours of Gov. Greg Abbott issuing his proclamation announcing next week's special session, lawmakers had filed dozens of bills including two so-called bathroom bills from state Rep. Ron Simmons, a Carrollton Republican. Full Story
![Gov. Greg Abbott lays out items for a special session at a press conference on June 6, 2017.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: When Austin isn’t the summer getaway lawmakers had in mind
Texas lawmakers will be back in Austin for a special session in just two weeks. They'd rather be elsewhere, on vacation or — in some cases — for much more tactical reasons. Full Story
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Credit: Graphic by Emily Albracht -
Analysis: You can fight City Hall — if you’re governor of Texas
Local government attorneys in Texas are about to take a page from Greg Abbott, who spent 12 years as the top attorney for the state of Texas — suing a faraway government that has its nose in their business. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott lays out items for a special session at a press conference on June 6, 2017.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg. Abbott plots aggressive approach to Texas special session
Gov. Greg Abbott is plotting an aggressive approach to the upcoming special session of the Legislature, diverting from his above-the-fray style to try to see through an ambitious 20-item agenda. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott lays out items for a special session at a press conference on June 6, 2017. The session will start on July 18.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Texas congressman thanks Capitol police for saving lives (video)
A Texas congressman recalls the scene at a shooting in Washington, D.C. this week, a new poll finds Republicans in Texas think President Trump is doing a fine job and Gov. Greg Abbott hopes lawmakers will give local tree ordinances the ax. Full Story
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