Video: With 43-Hour Filibuster, Texas Senator Set Record
Thirty-six years before U.S. Sen. Rand Paul held a nearly 13-hour filibuster, a Texas senator filibustered for 43 hours in the Texas Senate, setting a world record. Full Story
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The latest state government news from The Texas Tribune.
Thirty-six years before U.S. Sen. Rand Paul held a nearly 13-hour filibuster, a Texas senator filibustered for 43 hours in the Texas Senate, setting a world record. Full Story
A Facebook update state Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, posted on Tuesday suggesting that mothers should be "modest" while breast-feeding their babies in public has nearly 1,000 comments — most of them outraged. Full Story
Thirty-six years before U.S. Sen. Rand Paul held a nearly 13-hour filibuster, a Texas senator filibustered for 43 hours in the Texas Senate, setting a world record. Full Story
When it comes to immigration-related legislation, this session is far different from the one two years ago. But several bills could still stir some heated debate once House committees take up the measures in the coming weeks. Full Story
Some say state lawmakers' cuts to family planning funding in 2011 cost the state more than it saved because it had to pay to cover additional pregnancies through Medicaid. State Rep. Sarah Davis, R-West University Place, wants to quantify that. Full Story
Since relinquishing their seats in January, 11 former House members and one former state senator have registered as lobbyists with the Texas Ethics Commission — and several of them are working for clients in industries they regulated in the Legislature. Full Story
A House committee on Wednesday debated several bills that would make it a crime to enforce new federal gun laws in Texas. Full Story
As lawmakers prepare to discuss allowing concealed handguns in college and university buildings on Thursday, the chancellor of the state's largest university system continues to express his concerns with such proposals. Full Story
The budget approved Wednesday by the Senate Finance Committee is 2.9 percent bigger than the estimated size of the current two-year budget. It includes about $8.9 billion more than the first draft Senate leaders unveiled in January. Full Story
The House Insurance Committee heard debate Tuesday on a bill that would prohibit the coverage of elective abortions in minimum state health plans, and would require women to opt into and pay more for abortion coverage. Full Story
Two lawmakers have filed legislation that would allocate state funding for education programs that exempt veterans or their dependents from tuition payments. Full Story
As state legislators consider what “a Texas solution” to Medicaid expansion would look like, others have begun addressing the question of how Medicaid expansion would affect the state budget and local taxes. Full Story
Protesters on Monday attempted to turn up the heat in the simmering legislative debate over public education in Texas. Full Story
Ask any of the estimated 2,700 members of the American Federation of Teachers who came out Monday for the group's lobby day, and they’ll tell you their top priority is restoring the $5.4 billion in cuts made last session to public education. Full Story
Beer distributors and craft breweries reached a tentative deal Monday to amend the Texas Alcoholic Beverage code, but the parties declined to provide specific details until legislative language was completed later this week. Full Story
Former state Rep. Vicki Truitt says she's over her primary loss to Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake. But an email she sent to "selected friends" early this month indicates she's still harboring resentment over the bruising campaign. Full Story
The general rule is that new legislators are supposed to be seen and not heard — especially, as it turns out, when the subject is legislative ethics. Full Story
Lawmakers waited until the last minute to file several bills that could give rise to some of the most heated debates of this year's legislative session. Full Story
This week in the Newsreel: Highlights from the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll, lawmakers work toward completion of the first supplemental appropriations bill and Sylvia Garcia wins the SD-6 special election. Full Story
With a Republican majority in the state House, Senate and state congressional delegation, it seems like a strange time for conservatives to renew a push for instituting term limits. But some conservatives are doing just that. Full Story