State news in Texas
Statewide Texas News
New Measure Seeks to End Faculty Senate Power in University Decision-Making
The measure follows faculty senate clashes with both lawmakers and a university’s board of regents.
House Lawmaker Files Measure To Allow Over-the-counter Ivermectin
Texas is one of several states filing legislation to make ivermectin more accessible.
Texas Senators Rip Lottery Commission in Committee Hearing, Pass Courier Ban
During the hearing, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick issued a statement calling on Gov. Greg Abbott to expand his investigation into the commission.
Texas Home School Coalition Warns Lobbying Law Threatens Political Speech
THSC is warning that the Texas Ethics Commission’s actions could severely limit the ability of parents and advocacy groups to engage in the political process.
State Archive
Who Says They Don’t Listen?
Anyone who thinks lawmakers don't move to fix unintended problems in legislative initiatives should see what State Rep. Jerry Madden of Plano did. He took what could have accidentially been a joke on the taxpayers, and fixed it to become a cost-saving initiative good...
Why Conservative Priorities Stalled In Texas House
Everyone knew this was going to be a less conservative Texas House. After all, Republicans had lost seats. In this 81st Session, economically sound legislation has been killed in committee, while big-tax/big-government bills are flying. The cause? The House committee...
Pro-Taxpayer Groups Oppose 125% Gas Tax Hike Proposal
In these final weeks of the session, the Texas Legislature is poised to adopt an approach that could permit the gas tax to skyrocket from 20 cents to 45 cents per gallon. These new transportation tax proposals passed by the House Transportation Committee are being...
More Education Mandates: Dems Plus RINOs Merritt & Smith
For all the whining Democrats do about unfunded mandates on public education, they sure don't mind implementing them. The Texas House voted last night on legislation mandating that every public and private high school principle designate four people as deputy voter...
Saying No To Property Taxes
We now know who is, and isn't, serious about weaning Texas from oppressive property taxes. The Texas House narrowly stopped a constitutional amendment that would have allowed more entities to claim a piece of your property, and your wallet. According to the...
Scoring The Legislature
We've begun putting together the Fiscal Responsibility Index for this 81st Session. Obviously four weeks are left and a lot of legislation remains unheard, but the picture we're seeing isn't a good one. (Updated May 11.) Our goal is to create an objective measure of...
Florida’s Lege Says No
Even as the Republican-led Texas House and Senate work furiously to unravel our unemployment rules to make them more appealing to Barack Obama, Florida’s legislature rejected such efforts. My friend Adam Hasner, the Florida House Majority leader, said, “The strings...
Money For Nothing
Under legislation adopted by the Texas House yesterday, you'll soon be paying state employees not work at their tax-funded jobs; no, you'll be paying them to volunteer their time! The Texas House approved HB 1462 by a margin of 87-57. The legislation lets state...
Texas’ Earmark King And Queen
Who wants to be the ruling couple of earmarks in Texas? What first family of waste would build a Texas-size bridge to nowhere? Behold the heftiest of the special-interest spenders: State Rep. Dawnna Dukes (D-Austin) and State Rep. Pete Gallego (D-Alpine). She wants to...