State
Survey: Senate Race Between Allred and Cruz Remains Tight
Cruz says allegations of noncitizens being registered to vote ahead of November is “deeply concerning.”
Dade Phelan Taps Taxpayer-Funded Casino Lobbyist as New Chief of Staff
Mike Toomey has earned between $3.4 and $6.7 million this year lobbying members of the state legislature.
DPS Chief Announces Retirement Amid Investigation
Steve McCraw is set to retire at the end of the year.
Texas Removed 1K Confirmed Non-US Citizens From Voter Rolls Since 2019
Texas’ transparency in removing non-U.S. Citizens remains murky.
State Archive
Shedding Light on State Affairs
In a meeting that lasted well past midnight, the State Affairs Committee of the Texas House considered legislation that would sharply limit free speech in the Lone Star State. On the agenda were four items; one each by State Reps. Sarah Davis (R-Houston) and Charlie...
Eltife Eager for More Government
Wednesday afternoon on the heels of major victories for property and business tax relief in the Texas Senate, State Sen. Kevin Eltife (R-Tyler) took the opportunity to continue his foot-in-mouth parade. Perhaps bitter over the passage of such relief, some of which he...
Curtain Drop on Cronyism
Though corporate welfare is popular with some politicians, it’s a practice that taxpayers have been opposing for quite some time. This legislative session, one lawmaker has taken the lead to end one of the most egregious examples. State Rep. Matt Shaheen (R-Plano) has...
Addition and Placation
House budget writers added an additional $800 million to the 2016-17 budget plan on Wednesday in an effort to increase education spending. This brings the House’s proposed education spending to a total of $3 billion, well beyond the $2.2 billion that’s needed to...
Senate Passes Property, Franchise Tax Relief
By super-majority votes, the Texas Senate on Wednesday approved $4.6 billion in tax relief in a series of measures aimed at helping small businesses and homeowners. "Rather than spend excess revenue, the Senate has voted to return $4.6 billion to Texas homeowners and...
Higher Ed Chairmen Seek Higher Tuition
In both the Texas House and Senate, the chairmen of the Higher Education committees will be working to raise tuition for Texas students and families on Wednesday. In the House, Higher Education Committee Chairman John Zerwas (R–Richmond) will hold a hearing at 8am...
Coup at the University of Texas
The horizon for the future of the University of Texas at Austin grew a shade darker yesterday. News broke that the UT System Board of Regents is set to appoint Greg Fenves, the current Executive Vice President and Provost at UT Austin, to replace his boss, Bill...
House Sluggish on Tax Relief
On Tuesday morning, the House Appropriations Committee unanimously passed the budget plan provided in House Bill 1. HB 1, as passed by the committee, will spend $209.8 billion over the 2016-17 biennium, an increase of $7.4 billion from the $202.4 billion base budget...
Calendars Confusion
There may be no better example in the Texas Legislature of the tyranny of House leadership and the corruption of the legislative process than the current practice of the House Calendars Committee. Under current House practice, 15 members hand picked by House Speaker...