State news in Texas
Statewide Texas News
How a Perennial Playoff Failure Is Profiting off the Texas Lottery
Are the Cowboys more focused on winning tax-funded contracts than football games?
Dallas ISD Agrees To Enforce Ban on Boys in Girls’ Sports
Attorney General Ken Paxton said biological males have no place in girls’ sports.
Texas Senator’s Measure Creates State Watchdog for Foreign Land Purchases
The proposal seeks to accommodate potential federal and state jurisdictional concerns over limitations on foreign land purchases.
Texas Could Abolish Public Schools’ Immunity in Sex Abuse Cases
Proposed legislation would remove governmental immunity from school districts and their employees for acts of intentional sexual abuse, which are on the rise.
State Archive
Cooking Calendars
After spending three sessions killing conservative reforms in the House State Affairs Committee, State Rep. Byron Cook may soon be getting a promotion that would give him even broader leeway to thwart the will of Republican primary voters. Sources in the Texas Capitol...
Taylor Calls Lawmakers’ Bluff on Ethics
With lawmakers returning to Austin and the Texas Legislature convening in only a few days, State Sen. Van Taylor (R–Plano) is making clear that lawmakers wishing to subvert ethics reform legislation will have to do so in plain sight. Last session, Taylor spearheaded...
TSRA Firing Blanks on Gun Rights
In a memo to members informing them of what to expect from the Texas Legislature, the Texas State Rifle Association omitted the top legislative priority of the state’s Republican Party and what is likely to be the most contentious gun-related issue of the session:...
Pension Obligation Bonds, Yea or Nay?
All of the talk surrounding pension reform and unfunded liabilities is causing municipal governments to become increasingly interested in pension obligation bonds. Whether one finds them good or bad, most disagree with passing them without voter approval, which is...
House Issues Interim Report on Pensions Ahead of Session
In the midst of Texas’ two largest cities’ pension storms, the Texas House Committee on Pensions, chaired by State Rep. Dan Flynn (R-Canton), has released its interim report. Among other things, the committee was tasked with evaluating ways to ensure public pension...
University of Texas Lobbying for Liberal Policies
With the return of the Texas Legislature fast approaching, many interest groups are cementing their wish lists that they’ll be bringing to Austin. Among them is the University of Texas, which has approved a lobbying agenda that could have been ripped from the Democrat...
Loyalty Vote on Day One
With the power to determine all of the committee chairs and the assignment of bills, the speaker of the Texas House controls whether conservative reforms live or die in the legislative process. Over the last three legislative sessions, conservative members of the...
Will Abbott Rein-in Gambling Speculators with Racing Commission Pick?
With his appointment of Texas Racing Commission Chairman Rolando Pablos as Secretary of State set to take effect on January 5th, Gov. Greg Abbott will once again be tasked with picking a chairman for the beleaguered horse and dog racing regulator. Abbott appointed...
Blame Texas Republicans for the National Bathroom Battle
Texas Republicans had the opportunity to shut down the political left’s assault on basic moral principles, but dodged the fight and thereby emboldened a national fight that now has parents fighting to keep boys out of their daughters’ bathrooms, locker rooms, and...