Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has named the Senate lineup of budget negotiators who will meet with House counterparts and hash out a final version of the two-year state budget.
Joan Huffman
Posted in
State Government
Lawmakers in No Rush to Disclose Lobbyist Wining and Dining
Two bills aimed at disclosure of lobbyist wining and dining are on the verge of being snuffed out in a Senate committee, according to the sponsor of the measures. That’s despite Greg Abbott’s vow to “dedicate this session to ethics reform.”
Posted in
Politics
Senate Backs Bill That Would Relocate Public Integrity Unit
The Texas Senate has preliminarily passed a bill that would move the state’s public integrity unit from the Travis County district attorney’s office to the Texas Rangers.
Posted inState Government
The Brief: April 8, 2015
Lawmakers are talking about giving taxpayers billions in tax relief this session. But in a state with 27 million residents, it turns out that even $4.5 billion doesn’t stretch as far as the politicians would like it to.
Posted inState Government
The Brief: April 2, 2015
The blowback experienced by Indiana over its religious freedom law has Texas’ largest business organization worried about efforts this session to update this state’s law on the subject.
Posted inState Government
The Brief: March 5, 2015
Business interests told Senate budget writers on Wednesday that a tax relief plan focused on making changes to the business margins tax prioritized the wrong issue.
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Energy
The Brief: Feb. 25, 2015
Texans in this month’s University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll made clear that the property tax is their least favorite. The only other tax to be disliked by voters more than it is liked is the business margins tax.
Posted in
Politics
Lobby Firm Helped Draft GOP Letter to Racing Commission
State Sen. Joan Huffman acknowledges that a lobby firm with ties to casino interests helped her draft a GOP caucus letter blasting a proposal to allow expanded gambling at horse tracks. Now a major proponent of the tracks is crying foul.
Posted in
Energy
The Brief: Feb. 19, 2015
Senate budget writers on Wednesday lit into Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Kyle Janek, a former senator himself, in a hearing that concluded with another call for him to resign.
Posted in
Energy
The Brief: Feb. 4, 2015
The ability of Austin tech firm 21CT to secure a $20 million Medicaid fraud software contract through a no-bid program run by the state’s Department of Information Resources drew intense scrutiny from Senate budget writers on Tuesday.