Even outspoken critics of the controversial program that redistributes money among school districts, acknowledge that they need it to avoid future school-finance lawsuits.
86th Legislative Session
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Texas Legislature 2019
State lawmakers aim to lock in funding for Texas parks, historic sites
In 1993, the Legislature passed a law that said state parks and historic sites could receive all of the money generated by a tax on the sale of sporting goods. Since then, state lawmakers have given the parks department only about 40 percent of those collections.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Despite beer and lobby ties, Speaker Dennis Bonnen sees no need for recusals or new disclosures
Bonnen, who married into a beer distributing family, says he doesn’t need to recuse himself on alcohol issues and won’t name the lobbyists who own a piece of his bank — a list that is much longer than previously reported.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Voters to pick replacements for former state Reps. Carol Alvarado, Joe Pickett
There are special elections Tuesday in House District 145 and House District 79.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Political hardball, committee assignments spark joy and drama alike in the Texas Legislature
In this episode of our documentary series “Under the Dome,” House and Senate leaders make their highly anticipated committee assignments — and one longtime lawmaker ends up in the doghouse.
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Texas Legislature 2019
In the Texas House, they’re seen as lobbyists. In the Senate, they sit at the press table.
Two employees of the influential conservative group Empower Texans have been granted media credentials in the upper chamber. In the past — and in the House — they were rejected.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas lawmakers want to fix wait times at driver’s license offices. Will they agree on a solution?
The Texas House wants to pump $200 million into the state’s driver’s license program — and possibly move it to a new agency — to alleviate what have become all-day waits for some Texans at Department of Public Safety offices.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Analysis: A Texas senator’s reputation, in a word
What began as a lieutenant governor’s unusual admonishment of a state senator has turned into something else: a smear campaign.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Analysis: The Texas comptroller’s new “pesky chart”
In a new report, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar says the state should cover 40 percent of the cost of public education — and should cover the costs of inflation, too.
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Texas Legislature 2019
After Hurricane Harvey, Texas senator eyes using state’s savings for flood control
State Sen. Charles Perry, chairman of the Senate Committee on Water and Rural Affairs, has a package of bills that could create Texas’ first statewide flood plan. He says coastal Texans aren’t the only ones at risk of property loss.
