DAN PATRICK

The governor stands behind his support of the Texas House tax plan despite Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s insistence that the Senate has a better deal for homeowners.

Gov. Greg Abbott and House Speaker Dade Phelan back a plan that spreads property tax relief among all landowners, while Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s proposal would give homeowners a bigger boost than businesses.

Always happy to castigate the Texas House, Patrick breaks form to criticize the governor as misinformed and unsympathetic toward homeowners.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick blasted Speaker Dade Phelan's handling of the issue, while Phelan indicated he hopes to pass out new tax legislation Tuesday.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick will hold a post-legislative session presentation and news conference on Tuesday morning.

The coming impeachment trial for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has a twist.

The 2023 legislative session started with a $32.7 billion surplus. It was mired in Republican infighting and multiple scandals. Then, the House impeached the state’s attorney general.

A historic impeachment trial in Texas to determine whether Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton should be permanently removed from office will begin no later than August in the state Senate.

After negotiations that became tense and public, the House and Senate fell short of delivering on one of the biggest legislative priorities for Republicans in the regular legislative session.

Despite a generation of political dominance, the party has had trouble uniting behind a common vision. The infighting over Paxton suggests that’s not about to change.

The Texas Legislature already made one historic move with the impeachment of Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The state Senate originally passed a bill to ban tenure, but on Saturday it approved the House’s counterproposal, which enshrines tenure in state law.

Republicans have chosen to remain largely silent during years of alleged misconduct and lawbreaking by the attorney general. Now they will have to take a public stand.

The two chambers have been at odds over property tax relief and school choice, but on Tuesday night, those divisions spilled over into priorities the bodies had previously agreed upon.

The idea appeared to die in the Texas House over the weekend, but senators kept it alive by grafting the proposal on to another piece of legislation.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wants to eliminate tenure, but his attempts have impacted the institute he helped create.

Emotions often ran high over a proposal to limit young adults’ access to some firearms. Lawmakers have largely prioritized school safety measures, but there was still progress for some gun-related legislation.

The Texas Senate wants to ban tenure. The House gave initial approval Monday to a a bill that would instead enshrine tenure policies in state law. After final passage, the two chambers have a week left to come to a compromise.

For the third time, the Senate is pushing a proposal critics say will ignore the existence of LGBTQ people in every grade level. Two other bills that contained similar language missed key legislative deadlines.

Seeking to avoid a special session, the state leaders discuss school choice, property taxes and grid reform.

Priority bills that died include a 10-year minimum sentencing for gun-related crimes, a ban on “critical race theory” at public universities and LGBTQ-related legislation. While the bills may be dead, lawmakers have a limited time to attach their ideas to legislation that are still alive.

Texas could become the second state in the country after Florida to ban diversity, equity and inclusion offices in higher education.

The bill no longer targets drag performers, but LGBTQ advocates say the legislation’s vague language could still be used to criminalize such shows.

The Senate wants to eliminate tenure altogether while the House seeks to enshrine it in state law. The two chambers have until May 26 to come to an agreement.

Although the lower chamber backed the Senate’s action on gender-affirming care, it has been less accepting of school choice and attempts to rein in higher education.

Both the House and the Senate’s proposals on property tax cuts would give modest savings to the typical Texas homeowner, but critics say the House plan could create vast inequities and disproportionately benefit wealthy homeowners.

Facing a rigid deadline, gaming supporters were unable to get the supermajority support needed to move the legislation forward.

Rep. John Kuempel, R-Seguin, pledged to defend his legislation dialing back Senate bills that would eliminate tenure and ban diversity, equity and inclusion offices. But faculty and students say even the House versions will hurt higher education.

After mall shooting, residents of the Dallas suburb are experiencing familiar rituals: mourning, anger and despair.

A new version of Senate Bill 18 scheduled for a hearing in the House Higher Education Committee on Monday would keep faculty tenure and direct university governing boards to establish policies to grant and revoke tenure.

A new version of Senate Bill 17 expected to be considered by the House’s Higher Education Committee on Monday would still ban DEI offices and prohibit required diversity training, but it would open the door for university boards of regents to approve such programs in certain circumstances.

In this week’s episode, we discuss the final three weeks of the Legislature and Colin Allred’s bid for U.S. Senate.

The list of potential hurdles includes property tax cuts, school choice, the power grid, the state budget, plus diversity and tenure in higher education.

Opponents of church-state separation have been emboldened by recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions and the growing acceptance of Christian nationalism on the right.

While the proposed tenure ban will likely face steep opposition in the Texas House, faculty say lawmakers’ recent attacks on higher education have raised concerns about whether Texas is the best state to build their career.

The Texas Senate has passed similar legislation. But a key policy separates the two chambers.

With threats of a special session and a derisive moniker, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick tries to pressure the House speaker into acting on his conservative priorities.

Senate Bill 18 faces an uphill battle at the Texas House, where Speaker Dade Phelan has expressed concerns with completely eliminating the commonplace job protection.

Voters in nearly 100 counties — mostly rural — can vote at any polling site in their county. The sponsor, without offering evidence, said the practice was not secure despite years of successful elections in Texas with the system.

The Senate also passed a bill that would set prayer and Bible reading times during the school day.

New moms would be able to maintain their health insurance for up to a year after childbirth under the proposal, which also passed the House last session. The Senate previously reduced it to just six months of coverage.

There are $5 billion and several political wedges standing between the House and Senate plans, which now move into conference committee with less than five weeks before session ends.

Spurred by a groundswell of far-right support, the Texas Senate has passed all of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s priority LGBTQ bills — and then some. What the House does next will impact queer Texans’ lives and could determine Speaker Phelan’s future.

The proposal would offer hospitals and nonprofits grant funding to expand child and family mental health services.

Proponents of the bill say it will keep inappropriate material away from kids. Some librarians are concerned about the logistical challenges it could bring.

House Speaker Dade Phelan has said tightening the appraisal cap is the best way to cut property taxes, but Senate tax-cut proponents, housing experts and business groups predict the move would have dire consequences.

Critics say Senate Bill 16 is overly vague and will create a chilling effect that will prevent important conversations about race and gender. But Republican supporters say the legislation is necessary to protect conservative students who are self-censoring in the classroom.

In this week’s episode, we discuss whether the House’s recent vote to ban school vouchers means a top Gov. Greg Abbott priority is doomed.

Gov. Greg Abbott and other conservatives say families need options to escape “woke” education in public schools. East Texas parents and school leaders say the national talking points are off base.

A Texas House vote earlier in the day suggests Senate Bill 8 might be short of the votes needed to pass in the lower chamber. Senators also passed a bill on Thursday that would give teachers a one-time bonus.

Critics say the bills could lead to untold billions in added costs to customers and minimal benefits while ignoring needed efforts to reduce electricity demand.

The bill, a priority for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, is part of a larger effort to limit the power of elected prosecutors, especially in Texas’ largest, left-leaning counties.

The Senate approved Senate Bill 14, which would ban transition-related care for transgender kids. Republicans had previously voted to allow kids currently receiving such care to continue doing so.

The Senate wants to raise the homestead exemption. The House wants to tighten the appraisal cap. Both chambers’ leaders are skeptical of each other’s proposal.

Senate Bill 14 would now allow trans children who are already receiving some transition-related treatments to continue getting that care. The Senate gave initial approval to the reworked legislation Wednesday.

Opponents of the bill call it a “power play aimed at making the lives of transgender children as difficult as possible.”

Senate Bill 8 supporters say the legislation protects the rights of parents who don’t want their kids to learn about gender identity and sexual orientation. Critics say it could force schools to ignore the existence of LGBTQ people.

The proposals target the taxes homeowners pay and require school districts to lower their tax rates.

Senate Bill 14 would ban doctors from providing kids with transition-related treatments that medical groups recommend for children with gender dysphoria.

Law enforcement officers who serve on Operation Lone Star get a $500,000 death benefit for their survivors if they die on duty. But National Guard troops on the same mission don’t get a dime from the state for their families if they die.

Cuts to school property tax bills. Bigger tax benefits for homeowners. A controversial idea to limit property tax growth. Here’s what you need to know about the brewing property tax debate at the Texas Legislature.

Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, has filed legislation that would establish The Civitas School of Civic and International Leadership as a formal college at the University of Texas at Austin.

The priority bill, backed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, reverses a change the Legislature made two years ago during an omnibus voting bill that made illegal voting a misdemeanor.

House Bill 20 by state Rep. Matt Schaefer, R-Tyler, would test the boundaries of the state’s ability to enforce immigration law, which courts have historically ruled falls under federal purview

The bill, which has the blessing of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, will create new rules on how gender and sexual orientation is taught. It will face a tougher test in the House.

The bills are part of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s list of priorities and, if passed as filed, could have profound impacts on how Texas universities recruit top faculty and other employees.

Under Senate Bill 23, all felonies involving a gun would incur a mandatory 10-year prison sentence. It’s meant to curb crime, despite the lack of correlation between harsher sentences and crime rates.

Texas lawmakers this year are debating whether to block transgender kids’ access to transition-related health care, classify businesses that host drag shows as sexually oriented establishments and limit public school lessons on sexuality and gender identity.

The bill, introduced months after the Uvalde school shooting, also allocates more funds to the state’s school safety allotment, which is money given to districts to improve campus security.

During dueling speeches to a conservative think tank in Austin, state House Speaker Dade Phelan and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who have a history of animus, split over property tax relief, criminal justice reform and school choice.

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan’s proposal reveals the different roads the Texas House and Senate want to take on property taxes — and the fight that might emerge between the two chambers this session.

In 2021, the Texas Senate declined to consider a bill extending the program, which discounted local property taxes to lure big companies to the state. It had become plagued with bipartisan accusations of “corporate welfare.”

Seventy-seven Texas House Republicans signed on as co-authors to state Rep. Valoree Swanson’s bill extending restrictions on transgender athletes to college sports. Gov. Greg Abbott has expressed support for the legislation, which is also a priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

Abbott told business leaders in Arlington on Wednesday that Texas is already suffering from the end of the tax-break program, recently losing a “massive” computer chip factory to New York.

Texas is the latest state to pitch a version of the program, which lets parents who opt out of their local school districts use tax dollars to pay for private schooling.

In an interview with the Tribune, the governor also backed criminalizing some health care treatments for transgender kids and shrugged off the idea that he’s in a conservative policy rivalry with Ron DeSantis.

Speaking in December, Patrick was less out front about conservative priorities like school book bans and restrictions to rights for transgender people. His priority bill list made clear those are a major part of his focus.

Millions of Texans — mostly children, young adults and new moms — stayed on Medicaid for the duration of the pandemic. The state will soon start reevaluating eligibility.

The Texas Sports Betting Alliance threw its weight behind new legislation Monday to let voters decided whether to legalize online sports betting.

A spokesperson for the secretary of state’s office said only a court order could force a redo of elections.

Lawmakers are looking at ways to keep teachers in the profession, make schools safer, give parents money for private schooling and censor conversations about sex and gender.

Republicans are wrestling over how much of the state’s nearly $33 billion budget surplus to spend on property taxes. Democrats have their own ideas about what to do with the cash.

Rural school leaders in Texas have been able to stave off the legislative priority of some of the state’s most prominent Republicans. But private school officials hope this year will be different.

The COVID-19 pandemic, inflation and burnout have pummeled teachers in the last few years. Lawmakers from both parties agree they should get a pay bump — but it won’t happen without some negotiation.

Patrick has made no qualms in the past about bending arms or using public pressure to get other state officials — including Gov. Greg Abbott — to go along with his plans.

Given the stiff headwinds to getting any expansion in gambling passed, sports betting and casino advocates may be competing against each other, rather than working in tandem.

State policymakers have mapped out familiar territory early in the legislative session, with Democrats seeking to expand voting access and Republicans pledging to make elections more secure.

Patrick made the comments at a daylong conference in Austin hosted by The Texan, a political news site started by former GOP state Sen. Konni Burton.

Conservative activists have pushed for legislative leaders to ban Democrats from leading committees.

Readers sometimes ask us if the outcomes in governing are predetermined and whether civic engagement makes a difference. There are plenty of examples of Texans influencing lawmakers’ decisions.

Texans came from all corners of the state to watch Abbott’s inauguration Tuesday. Even those who don’t completely agree with the Republican leader reveled in the ceremonies.

Greg Abbott was sworn into office on Tuesday morning for his third four-year term as governor.

Abbott is on track to becoming Texas’ second-longest-serving governor, behind Rick Perry, who served more than 14 years. Abbott enters his third term after a decisive reelection win in November.

Community colleges want a funding overhaul this legislative session, and four-year universities are hoping for a boost in research funds. Meanwhile, faculty are bracing for a potential threat to tenure and limits to conversations about race.

About two months into his comeback bid, few prominent Texas Republicans have endorsed Trump — and some are showing more willingness to cross him publicly.

The leaders of the state’s six biggest university systems are seeking the money to fund instruction, university operations and employee health insurance and to cover a free tuition program for veterans and their children.

Here’s a rundown of how a bill becomes a law, how the Texas Legislature works and the power players who keep things moving under the Pink Dome.

Lawmakers begin work today for their biennial legislative session. They’ll debate over the state budget, school issues, border security and property taxes, among other issues.

Republicans are backing legislation targeting gender-affirming care for children, classroom lessons about sexuality and drag shows.

In several red states around the country, conservative officials say it's time to reconsider tenure for university professors.