Gov. Greg Abbott is a top sponsor and Speaker Dustin Burrows will be the first sitting speaker to address the gathering, as Republicans close ranks ahead of a tough midterm.
Republicans would have just a 76-74 majority in the Texas House if the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee succeeds in flipping its targeted GOP districts.
A Republican-led House committee approved the penalties Friday, charging Democrats $500 for each day they were absent, plus costs borne by law enforcement to bring them back.
The lieutenant governor’s remarks are the latest sign that Republicans are worried about the fall midterms. The GOP has controlled the state House since 2003 and currently has an 88-62 advantage.
Junior Ezeonu, a Grand Prairie City Council member, defeated Turner in the Democratic primary, becoming the representative-elect for the southeast Tarrant County House district.
The Republican speaker’s interim charges also covered water resources, foreign threats and government accountability.
The most expensive state House primaries this cycle were proxy wars over issues including casinos, tort reform and a lingering battle between establishment Republicans and more hardline conservatives.
More than 70 GOP House members signed a letter asking Congress to stop legal immigration until “proper vetting protocols” are in place.
Crenshaw, fighting to remain in his Houston-area congressional seat, has drawn criticism from right-wing media and a challenge from Toth, among the most conservative members of the Texas House.
The Texas Tribune is trying new things to help Texans vote with confidence this spring. We want to demystify the process, the candidates and the offices of this year’s Texas primaries.
Aaron Reitz, who is running for Texas attorney general, issued the threat after an interview of Wu was shared online of him discussing non-white voting strength.
With Texas’ hardline conservative megadonors largely staying on the sidelines, a handful of House primaries have become battlegrounds for the state’s civil justice debate.
The majority of the Democratic caucus’ haul came when the party broke quorum over the summer to delay the GOP-controlled Legislature from redrawing the state’s congressional map.
Texas Majority PAC and the Texas Democratic Party recruited 104 candidates to fill uncontested races. Gov. Greg Abbott’s strategist said it amounts to a gimmick “if they don’t back it up with serious resources.”
Rep. Christina Morales, the new chair of the Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee, said she wants to initially target five GOP-controlled districts, with a broader list to come later.
VanDeaver, who represents northeast Texas, was one of two House Republicans to oppose a school voucher program this year after he narrowly beat a pro-voucher primary challenger in 2024.
Speaking at the Texas Tribune Festival, Democratic Rep. Donna Howard acknowledged that Republicans have unified around Speaker Dustin Burrows to the point that he “may not need us” to retain the gavel.
Smithee has represented the Panhandle in the Texas House for 40 years. He ran for speaker last year and most recently served as chair of the criminal jurisprudence committee.
Leaders of the Republican Party of Texas are meeting at the state Capitol this weekend to consider censuring state representatives who party leaders believe aren't conservative enough to be called Republicans.
The state party’s governing board will meet Saturday to decide whether 10 Texas House Republicans tried to thwart GOP priorities during this year’s legislative session.
The statewide survey found that more voters disapprove of the mid-decade redraw than support it, fueled by overwhelming opposition from independent and Democratic voters.
Democrats in the Texas House began the year by elevating a new speaker and left Austin relegated to the sidelines in the one chamber that had granted them at least scraps from the table.
House Bill 8 scraps the unpopular exam for three shorter tests at the beginning, middle and end of the year starting in the 2027-28 school year.
The House refused Senate changes allowing exports to continue while the state studies its underground water supply. Lawmakers left the Capitol without reaching a compromise.
House members who freeze future legislation by fleeing Texas will face steeper fines, loss of seniority and committee posts, and limits on political fundraising.
High priority bills that propose banning THC have not moved through the Texas House, as the current overtime session could conclude in the coming days.
Senate Bill 8, which goes into effect on Dec. 4, restricts bathroom use in government buildings and schools to the sex assigned at birth.
House Bill 26 advanced out of the Texas Legislature on Aug. 27, two days after being added to the second special session’s agenda.
Democrats say recent changes to the bill give too much power to the TEA and fall short of meaningfully easing the pressures of standardized testing.
The measure comes four years after the state’s highest criminal court ruled the agency could not bring election cases without an invitation from local prosecutors.
Democrats said the walkout inspired a national protest against GOP redistricting. But it also greased the path for other bills they oppose and unified Texas Republicans.
One lawsuit, filed by LULAC on behalf of 13 Texas residents, states that the redrawn districts in the new map are racially discriminatory and violate voter protection laws.
Senate Bill 8, which now heads to the House floor, would restrict which bathrooms in government buildings transgender people would be allowed to use.
The League of United Latin American Citizens and the NAACP held a joint press conference to express frustration with the bill, calling it a suppression of minority voters.
As speaker, Phelan oversaw passage of numerous conservative priorities, but he gave up the gavel under pressure from the far right over the House’s impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The House tentatively adopted the map, 88 to 52, on party lines, and was expected to grant its final approval later on Wednesday.
Republican lawmakers are pursuing the unusual mid-decade redistricting plan amid pressure from President Donald Trump to protect the GOP’s slim majority in the U.S. House.
Texas Democrats have ended a two-week walkout that stalled efforts to redraw congressional districts as part of a national partisan brawl over President Donald Trump’s desire to reshape U.S. House maps to his advantage.
Senators moved fast on Gov. Greg Abbott’s agenda for the second special session. With House Democrats back in Texas, bills can now move through that chamber.
After two weeks out of state, Democratic lawmakers returned to Austin, paving the way for Republicans to pass their proposed congressional map.
The second session is set to consider the same agenda that stalled in the first, with redistricting and disaster response at the top of the governor’s priorities.
With Democrats’ walkout over redistricting bringing the House to a standstill, both parties are accusing each other of abandoning Central Texas flood victims.
Since Democratic lawmakers left Texas to delay Republicans’ new map, state leaders have challenged the limits of traditional democratic norms to break the impasse.
Texas Republicans have escalated the penalties against Democrats as they enter a second week camped out in states across the country to block new U.S. House maps pushed for by President Donald Trump to win more seats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Gov. Greg Abbott previously asked the court to expel Rep. Gene Wu, the House Democratic leader. Paxton disputed the governor’s authority to make the request.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have appeared shoulder-to-shoulder with Texas Democratic lawmakers in a show of support for their nearly weeklong walkout.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn announced that the FBI has granted his request to investigate and locate the Texas Democratic lawmakers who left the state in an attempt to stop the passage of new GOP-favored congressional maps.
“Is Gene Wu back in China?” state Sen. Mayes Middleton, a Galveston Republican, posted on X on Monday — the first day the House did not reach a quorum due to the absent Democrats.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has asked the state Supreme Court on Tuesday to remove from office a top state lawmaker he called the “ringleader” of Democrats who left the state to block a vote on a new congressional voting map pushed by President Donald Trump.
The former El Paso congressman also contributed to House Democrats’ 2021 quorum break. A PAC backed by Democratic donor George Soros is also involved in this year’s effort.
Texas Republicans are trying to redraw congressional districts to pick up five additional U.S. House seats. Democrats face financial and political risk in their bid to block the GOP plan.
Democrats fled the state to stop Republicans’ attempt to redraw congressional districts, but bills aimed at everything from a THC product ban to bolstering flood response are now in doubt.
The warrants apply only within state lines, making them largely symbolic as most of the legislators in question decamped to Illinois, New York and Massachusetts.
Dozens of Democratic state lawmakers in Texas have scattered across the country in a last-ditch effort to prevent Republicans from adopting U.S. House maps that President Donald Trump wants in place before the 2026 midterm elections.
Dozens of Democratic lawmakers have left Texas in an attempt to block the adoption of redrawn U.S. House maps sought by President Donald Trump.
While the Democrats could technically derail the GOP’s redistricting map, such efforts have been largely symbolic and had limited success blocking past legislation, experts say.
Texas Democrats have left the state in an attempt to prevent the state House from holding a vote Monday on new congressional maps that Republicans hope will net them several additional U.S. House seats in the 2026 midterm elections.
Texas Republicans have proposed a new congressional map that creates five additional GOP-leaning districts as they brace for a challenging midterm election in 2026.
At the same time, some Democrats acknowledged the Lubbock Republican let them leave their mark on some of the GOP bills they disagreed with.
Jones, a Democrat elected to the Texas House in 2022 and previously served on the Houston City Council, joins a slate of candidates running to fill the solidly blue seat.
Research shows cellphones interfere with students' ability to focus in class. Texas would join at least nine other states that ban students from using their phones during the school day.
Gov. Greg Abbott has already said he intends to sign the bill, which will give schools funding for salary increases, special education, teacher preparation and operational costs.
Supporters said the proposal, which sought to amend the state constitution, would improve safety. Critics said it would violate due process and unfairly target minority groups.
Senate Bill 1362 would prevent officials from taking someone’s firearms if they haven’t been charged with a crime or aren’t subject to a protective order under the Texas Family Code.
Senate Bill 15, a top priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, is part of a broad push by lawmakers to put a dent in the state’s high home prices.
The House made changes to the proposal that leave open ways for victims to be compensated beyond medical bills.
Senate Bill 13 would require school boards or advisory councils to approve new books and review complaints. In most cases only 50 parents’ approval would be needed to create the oversight councils.
A top priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the legislation would make it easier to construct homes on smaller lots. A House Democrat briefly killed the bill.
A 2024 war among Republicans tilted the House to the right. Now more closely aligned with the Senate, Speaker Dustin Burrows has accelerated action on bail, school vouchers and social issues.
The chambers differ on how much power districts should have to push back in courts over their accountability ratings. They risk keeping STAAR by default if they don’t reach an agreement.
The bill, which is poised to become law, creates up to a $250,000 fine for medical professionals who change a patients’ listed sex outside of certain exemptions.
The House approved the ban after previously considering proposals to preserve the industry by tightening regulations.
The deal appears to strike a face-saving compromise for both chambers over how to increase funds for the state’s public schools, with money earmarked for teacher pay and overhead costs.
The bill is part of a suite of GOP proposals aimed at curbing the state’s high housing costs — chiefly by allowing more homes to be built.
The House passage of the measure asking voters to amend the state Constitution to tighten the state’s bail laws hands a major policy win to Gov. Greg Abbott.
As the state grapples with a threatened water supply, industry and lawmakers have invested millions in research to clean the toxic backwash for use in for agriculture.
Some measures that made it through before midnight dealt with jail bonds, an unconstitutional ban on gay sex, and the liability of vaccine manufacturers.
U.S. Congressman Tony Gonzales has filed legislation to support domestic filmmaking, days after President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 100% tariff on foreign-made films.
The bill would cap out-of-state political donations to a candidate or lawmaker to $5,000 for a statewide election, $2,500 for a district office and $1,000 for a county office.
The Texas House must approve changes to the proposal that were brokered by party leaders. It’s part of a package of bills to bring down property taxes statewide.
Senators will hold a hearing Thursday on their counterproposal to the House's school funding bill. House Democrats and public education advocates have criticized the upper chamber for not moving faster to advance the legislation.
It is unclear whether the House bill could come back as an amendment to another measure before the legislative session ends June 2.
The bill originally allowed pregnant women to drive in HOV lanes, to be consistent with Texas abortion laws, but legislators extended it to all mothers.