TEXAS HOUSE

Senators have been publicly silent, citing their role as jurors with a weighty decision: Whether to remove one of the state’s top Republicans from office.

Lawmakers sacrificed school funding to block school vouchers, but the issue could be debated again in a special session. Districts will get new funds for school safety, though Uvalde families were ultimately left disappointed with inaction on gun restrictions.

Proposals to improve energy efficiency failed. Bills that sought to limit greenhouse gas emissions in Texas were ignored, and legislation to block cities from taking action on climate change passed.

Led by Andrew Murr, a West Texas rancher and lawyer, and Ann Johnson, a former prosecutor, the team of 12 includes 11 with law degrees.

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.

Following Paxton’s impeachment on Saturday, Gov. Greg Abbott appointed former Texas Secretary of State John Scott to serve as the state’s top attorney.

The Houston-based attorneys are legends in their own right, having participated in numerous high-profile criminal and civil matters.

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

At least five candidates have already announced their intention to run in the solidly Republican North Texas district.

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.

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.

Seven Republicans and five Democrats make up the board of managers who will handle the prosecution in the trial, which has yet to be scheduled.

A failure to compromise on school choice, border security and, for now, property taxes all but assures the governor will call lawmakers back for a special legislative session.

About $17 billion worth of commitments lawmakers made in the new budget were snagged in policy fights between the Texas House and Senate on Saturday night.

The suspended attorney general’s supporters thought lawmakers tried to overrule voters. Ken Paxton’s critics felt accountability was a long time coming.

Abbott himself is a former attorney general, preceding Paxton in the position. The governor has built deep connections in the conservative legal world and is known to lean on former aides for high-profile appointments.

Here’s a list of the representatives who voted for and against impeaching Attorney General Ken Paxton on Saturday.

The House voted 121-23 to suspend the attorney general and refer him to the Senate for trial on charges of bribery, abuse of office and obstruction. It was the first such impeachment since 1975.

The full House and Senate still must approve the final bill language before sending the legislation to Gov. Greg Abbott. If it becomes law, Texas will become the second state in the country to ban DEI offices at public universities.

The embattled attorney general has criticized a Republican-led push that could remove him from office. The Texas House is set to debate 20 articles of impeachment at 1 p.m.

Supporters of the attorney general portray Saturday’s impeachment vote as a political witch hunt meant to sideline President Joe Biden’s biggest headache.

Paxton said House members were showing “contempt for the electoral process” and accused them of sabotaging his work challenging the Biden administration.

Texas lawmakers have issued 20 articles of impeachment against state Attorney General Ken Paxton, ranging from bribery to abuse of public trust as state Republicans surged toward a swift and sudden vote that could remove him from office.

Chris Hilton, head of litigation in the attorney general’s office, told reporters that lawmakers can’t oust Paxton. His comments came as a House committee met behind closed doors about its investigation into the state’s top lawyer.

The proposal would leave billions of anticipated tax revenue untouched at a time when the state has more money coming in than lawmakers are constitutionally allowed to spend.

As families and loved ones mourn the unimaginable loss of 19 children and two teachers shot dead last year in Uvalde, Texas, President Joe Biden will speak Wednesday about the epidemic of gun violence that has become the No. 1 killer of kids in America.

The bill, which Democrats have been pushing for years, has become a top priority after the overturn of Roe v. Wade. The Senate has already passed the bill, which would provide tax relief on the purchase of menstrual products, diapers and other child care necessities.

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.

In our one-hour special, “One Year In: Uvalde,” KSAT looks at the past 12 months, the victims and survivors, and how their legacy spreads outside their local community.

Dangerous dog legislation passed by the Texas House and Senate is expected to be signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott in the coming weeks.

Senate Bill 7 would limit how much electricity customers could end up paying if the state opts to use performance credits, which would give the money to power generators in hopes they’ll add more power to the state grid.

Texas senators have latched education savings accounts to a school funding bill in a last-ditch effort to avoid a special session. But some House members are furious at the revamped version and have vowed not to let it become law.

The Senate education committee has drastically changed House Bill 100 after Gov. Greg Abbott signaled he would call a special session if a voucher-like program didn’t pass.

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.

An estimated 7 million Texans don’t have access to high-speed broadband internet access.

House lawmakers added a significant boost to the Senate’s proposed homestead exemption and tacked on a contentious idea to lower the state’s appraisal cap.

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.

The action came after The Refuge, a Bastrop foster care facility, hired a caretaker without knowing her history of misconduct.

The bill marks the Legislature’s turn toward supporting natural gas-fueled electricity after the deadly winter storm in 2021.

The bill aims to create a water supply four times the size of Lake Livingston, one of the state’s largest reservoirs. But it may still be a “drop in the bucket” compared to the state’s needs.

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.

With two weeks to go before the legislative session adjourns, chief budget writers still have not announced compromises on some of the largest fights facing the Texas Legislature.

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.

The Texas House paved the way for a billion-dollar investment in state parks, which one advocate said would create “a new golden age” for the park system. Texas now ranks 35th nationally in state park acreage per capita.

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

A Texas lawmaker introduced an amendment that would have revived a proposal to raise the minimum age to buy certain semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21 before it was ultimately withdrawn.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle threw their support behind a new requirement that the unit use only commissioned peace officers for enforcement actions.

Republicans were so busy policing drag artists and transgender Texans that they missed so-called “grooming behavior” by one of their own, LGBTQ advocates say.

The House plans to discuss its version of Senate Bill 8 on Wednesday, which was heavily modified to sway votes in the lower chamber.

A day after a committee unexpectedly advanced a bill that would raise the minimum age to purchase certain semi-automatic rifles, the legislation faces another make-or-break deadline.

The Royse City Republican became the first member of the Legislature to be cast out of office since 1927. Slaton had an inappropriate sexual relationship with an aide, an investigation determined.

House Bill 2744 was nearly killed by inaction in the Community Safety Committee of the Texas House, but a last-minute save may not be enough to bring it to a vote in the full state House and Senate.

The legislation would raise the age requirement for purchasing certain firearms, but likely wouldn’t have been a hindrance to the Allen gunman obtaining a weapon. The bill still faces an uphill climb in the Legislature.

On the heels of our state’s latest mass shooting and a weekend of gun violence here in San Antonio, there’s a last-minute push for gun violence prevention legislation.

Senate Bill 14 spurred protests that led to altercations with state police earlier this week. Bill supporters and opponents again showed up at the Capitol for an expected vote Friday.

House Bill 3377 was authored by freshman state Rep. Venton Jones, the Legislature’s first openly HIV-positive member. It’s received overwhelming public and bipartisan support.

During the floor debate for a plan to replace the expired Chapter 313 program, House members added that the new version of the incentive must require companies to pay higher wages and create stiffer penalties for noncompliance.

The Royse City Republican, accused of having an inappropriate relationship with an employee, emerged from a room where a House investigative panel was meeting.

The change is supported by business groups, but has drawn opposition from media companies, First Amendment lawyers and political groups from across the ideological spectrum.

Texas state police detained and handcuffed people protesting legislation that would prohibit transgender kids from getting puberty blockers and hormone therapy. The House separately delayed a vote on Senate Bill 14 until later this week.

The proposed raise would be the first time in nearly 20 years that some retirees would get a cost-of-living adjustment.

The legislation — which falls short of the $10 billion needed to ensure all Texans have reliable internet access — must still win approval in the state Senate.

Lawmakers have already proposed directing billions of dollars to schools so they can lower property taxes and pay for safety upgrades. But House Bill 100 would be the first to increase the amount of money districts receive to raise teacher pay and cover the actual costs of educating students.

A bill passed by the Texas House on Wednesday would also help schools rehire retired teachers and offer other incentives in an effort to fight the state’s teacher shortage.

The 150 districts didn’t change, but the vote ensured the House met its constitutional requirement to approve new maps in the first regular session following formal publication of the 2020 census results.

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.

The House gave initial approval to the bill Tuesday. The legislation is a priority for Speaker Dade Phelan.

Lawmakers have said school safety is a priority this session, but it is still unclear whether they’ll listen to Uvalde families who want to raise the minimum age to purchase semi-automatic guns from 18 to 21.

In this week’s episode, we discuss the Texas House’s appetite to pass bills related to drag shows, medical care for transgender children and the discussion of sexuality at schools.

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.

Legal experts, librarians and some parents say House Bill 900’s language is so vague and broad that it could ensnare books that are not inappropriate.

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.

With six weeks remaining in the legislative session, advocates implored Texans to join the “resistance” against fast-moving efforts to curb health care, drag queens, education, trans athletes and more.

The new details about the allegation stem from the complaint filed against Slaton to the House General Investigating Committee.

Under the legislation, minors currently receiving certain gender-affirming care would have to taper off their treatments. A majority of Texas lawmakers in each chamber has supported previous versions of the legislation.

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.

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.

The proposal for the 2024-25 budget cycle includes $142.1 billion in general revenue spending — about $5 billion higher than the proposal approved last week by the Texas House — at a time when lawmakers have a historic $32.7 billion surplus at their disposal this session.

The bill seeks to ban discrimination based on certain hairstyles — like braids, dreadlocks and twists — in schools, workplaces and housing.

The bill was amended to make the benefits retroactive, supporting the family of a soldier whose name is on the legislation.

The chamber voted 138-5 on Wednesday to approve a bill that seeks to end the practice of changing clocks twice a year. But that doesn’t mean the measure has an easy path to reality.

Reps. Briscoe Cain and Steve Toth, who are usually ideologically aligned with Slaton, said the lawmaker needed to step down.

Texas lawmakers are poised to create a new multibillion-dollar endowment to boost emerging research universities in national rankings. But faculty members say banning diversity offices and tenure would stymie those efforts.

Sweltering heat has killed inmates, driven away prison workers and cost taxpayers millions in lawsuits. The House budget would provide air conditioning for 46 prisons, but it’s unclear if the Senate will sign on.

The bill would take fentanyl test strips off the state’s “drug paraphernalia” list, meaning it would no longer be a crime to carry them.

The complaint came after an incident in which Slaton and the staffer allegedly met up at his Austin apartment last weekend. A separate staffer told The Texas Tribune that Slaton drank alcohol with an intern under 21 years old.

The House voted 86-52 on Thursday to amend the budget to ban state funding for “school vouchers or other similar programs.” Abbott has spent the past two months touring the state to build support for the proposal, spending tremendous political capital on trying to break through the rural Republican opposition to it.

After a marathon debate, the bill will head to the Senate, where lawmakers have been crafting their own version of the spending plan.

House Bill 1 is being debated on the floor of the lower chamber, where representatives are hammering out details on the next two years of state spending.

Passage of a school choice measure is anything but a sure bet, as there is little evidence that the governor has been able to convince rural Republicans in the Texas House — who have for years been a reliable firewall — to drop their opposition.

The vote ensured the Senate met its constitutional requirement to redraw districts in the first regular session after publication of the 2020 census results.

The Senate Finance Committee’s proposals won’t be voted on and sent to the full chamber until April.

The proposal recommends spending billions on programs including property tax cuts, teacher pay raises, mental health services and border security. It leaves out requests for pay raises for retired state employees and funding for rent relief and childcare programs.

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.

More than nine months after the Uvalde school shooting, top GOP lawmakers maintain focus on school safety reforms and investments in mental health resources in hopes it will prevent future tragedies.

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.

Texas legislators are considering increasing the Department of Family and Protective Services’ budget, giving extended relatives more money to care for kids and notifying the subjects of child abuse investigations of their rights.

State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, has proposed an amendment to the state constitution to raise legislator pay and tie it to teachers’ pay, saying it would give lawmakers a living wage and allow a broader range of Texans to serve.