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• Highlights from around the Capitol

  May 25, 2013 7:03 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Starting the final weekend of a legislative session that may be the last under Gov. Rick Perry, the Texas Senate passed a roughly $100 billion state budget Saturday that mostly reverses historic spending cuts to public schools and squeezes most of the revenue spoils of a resurgent... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  May 24, 2013 5:58 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Gov. Rick Perry wouldn't say Friday whether there is too much unfinished business at the Texas Legislature to adjourn next week as scheduled. His record the last 13 years says lawmakers aren't going anywhere. The regular 140-day session ends Monday. But with only the Memorial Day weekend... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  May 23, 2013 5:52 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Nearly 2,000 people went to Gov. Rick Perry's website in January to sound off on how lawmakers should cut taxes by $1.8 billion. Many won't get what they wanted. The state sales tax rate isn't budging. Another sales tax holiday isn't in the works. Nor is the... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  May 21, 2013 6:55 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Seeking to help the state's youngest students develop nutritious habits, Texas lawmakers on Tuesday approved banning the sale of sugary drinks in public elementary and junior high schools. In a 24-6 vote, the Senate advanced a bill that would limit beverage choices to water, low-fat milk and... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  May 20, 2013 6:19 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) The future of University of Texas President Bill Powers dominated Monday's confirmation hearing for three members of the system's Board of Regents, with one lawmaker saying he believes the board is "on a mission" to oust the popular leader of the Austin campus. The Senate is considering... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  May 17, 2013 6:48 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) A deal on a Texas budget is finally done. Now the Legislature must withstand one final and furious week without sinking a compromise that restores nearly $4 billion to public schools and puts more water in the pipeline amid a historic drought. Gov. Rick Perry must also... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  May 13, 2013 5:15 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Following a week of wobbly talks over a new Texas budget, House and Senate negotiators met publicly Monday to settle some of the fine print and described making "very positive" progress in private about big-ticket items. There are two weeks left to strike a deal on those... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  May 9, 2013 6:39 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) As lawmakers debate expanding Texas charter schools to accommodate students wanting to leave unsatisfactory traditional classrooms, new details show charter school waitlist numbers can fluctuate during the year due in large part to varied reporting standards and duplications. A major push to expand charter schools that's working... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  May 8, 2013 5:45 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) With still more than two weeks to go in Texas' legislative session, Gov. Rick Perry said Wednesday it's too early to issue ultimatums to lawmakers. Then he promptly issued one: Pass more tax cuts or work through the summer. Perry threatened to call legislators back after the... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  May 6, 2013 6:51 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) The Texas Senate on Monday unanimously approved its version of a major high school curriculum overhaul, reducing the number of standardized tests students must pass to graduate from a nation-leading 15 to five while allowing some to earn diplomas without taking upper-level math courses such as Algebra... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  May 4, 2013 5:24 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) The Texas House on Saturday approved a bushel of bills to further soften gun laws that were already among the most firearms-friendly in America, allowing college students to carry handguns in class, creating special, potentially armed marshals in public schools and exempting the state from any future... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  May 4, 2013 3:56 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) The Texas House on Saturday approved a bushel of bills to further soften gun laws that were already among the most firearms-friendly in America, allowing college students to carry handguns in class, creating special, potentially armed marshals in public schools and exempting the state from any future... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  May 3, 2013 7:08 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) A bipartisan push for a pilot drug needle exchange program in Texas narrowly failed Friday in the House, despite some Republicans who invoked late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and pleaded with their fellow GOP members not to fear political reprisals. The bill would have authorized seven... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  May 2, 2013 5:48 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Seeking to clarify the mission of the agency that primarily regulates the oil industry, lawmakers on Thursday approved a name change for the Texas Railroad Commission. Under a bill unanimously approved by the Texas Senate, it would become the Texas Energy Resources Commission. Founded in 1891 to... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  May 1, 2013 5:55 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) The investigation of a deadly explosion at a Texas fertilizer plant will likely finish within the next two weeks, state authorities told lawmakers Wednesday, but they also warned that the cause of the catastrophic blast might never be known. "As you can imagine, with this explosion site... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  May 1, 2013 5:31 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) The investigation of a deadly explosion at a Texas fertilizer plant will likely finish within the next two weeks, state authorities told lawmakers Wednesday, but they also warned that the cause of the catastrophic blast might never be known. "As you can imagine, with this explosion site... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  April 30, 2013 5:59 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Rep. Allan Ritter has spent years trying to find the money to build the water pipelines, reservoirs and conservation systems Texas' rapidly growing population needs, and this was supposed to be the year it finally happened. Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, Speaker Joe Straus and... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  April 29, 2013 7:16 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) The Texas House was involved in an intense debate Monday night over a plan to set up a $2 billion state water fund, with some conservative activists and tea party members opposing it as fiscally irresponsible. The State Water Infrastructure Fund was the top priority laid out... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  April 25, 2013 5:55 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) A proposal to criminalize "ballot harvesting" of mail-in votes roiled partisan tensions in the Texas House on Thursday and shattered a truce between Republicans and Democrats this session that had largely averted divisive voting rights measures. The bill targets what Republicans say is rife with potential voting... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  April 24, 2013 4:59 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Turns out the survival of the Texas Lottery had better odds than its games but just barely. A Wednesday vote in the House to disband the lottery in four years garnered 94 votes, six short of the two-thirds majority needed for approval. The failed measure would have... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  April 23, 2013 5:51 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) The Texas House cast a shocking vote on Tuesday to dismantle the state lottery only to reverse itself after a few frantic hours. House Bill 2197 began as a seemingly routine proposal to continue the operations of the Texas Lottery Commission until September 2025. But opposition mounted... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  April 22, 2013 6:06 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) The worst part was in his mind. "When you're in a room by yourself, you're not doing nothing," said Pete Garanzuay, 18, recalling 36 hours spent locked in solitary confinement at a juvenile detention center in Travis County. "Thinking about the bad things in life over and... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  April 17, 2013 6:40 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) A renewed push to make texting while driving illegal in Texas stayed afloat Wednesday, but only after narrowly defeating bipartisan resistance to an outright ban over concerns that ranged from racial profiling to government meddling. The House eventually gave preliminary approval to leveling a $100 fine to... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  April 16, 2013 5:11 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) A powerful state senator on Tuesday angrily disputed national assertions that Texas is poised to drastically ease its public school curriculum and standardized testing requirements, saying "nothing could be further from the truth." Texas lawmakers are considering a sweeping proposal designed to give more flexibility to students... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  April 11, 2013 5:26 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) The politically forbidden piggybank of the Texas Legislature may soon be cracked wide open. And surprisingly, Republicans are holding the hammer. Abandoning resistance to seek financial solace in the state Rainy Day Fund, Senate Republicans unveiled a plan Thursday to spend $6 billion for water and road... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  April 10, 2013 4:45 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Some Texas applicants for welfare would be subjected to drug testing and would be permanently cut off if they fail three times under a bill passed Wednesday by the state Senate. The bill covers Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program applicants. The program, which provides poor people... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  April 9, 2013 7:09 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) The chairman of the Texas Senate Education Committee acknowledged Tuesday that his sweeping school voucher plan faces a tough road to becoming law, and he asked key supporters to pray for it. Sen. Dan Patrick, a tea party-backed Republican from Houston, is a leading advocate for "school... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  April 9, 2013 5:40 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) The chairman of the Texas Senate Education Committee acknowledged Tuesday that his sweeping school voucher plan faces a tough road to becoming law, and he asked key supporters to pray for it. Sen. Dan Patrick, a tea party-backed Republican from Houston, is a leading advocate for "school... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  April 8, 2013 7:09 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) In Texas, where attempts to expand gay rights have run into strong opposition from Republican leaders, state lawmakers are considering new legal protections for sexually active gay teens. Sexual contact with minors under the age of 17 is a crime of indecency under Texas law. But a... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  April 2, 2013 5:44 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) The state's top education official said Tuesday he plans to order Texas to begin rating schools based on letter grades A through F starting next year without waiting for high-profile bills proposing to do the same thing to work their way through the Legislature. The current system... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  March 27, 2013 6:14 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) In an overwhelming display of bipartisanship, the Texas House voted to create state water fund Wednesday using money from the Rainy Day Fund to meet the needs of the rapidly growing state. The State Water Development Board would use what is expected to be a $2 billion... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  March 26, 2013 7:32 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Texas House lawmakers on Tuesday approved major changes to the state's high school curriculum that would allow students to graduate without having to take Algebra II or other advanced math and science classes and would slash the number of standardized tests they'd have to pass from 15... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  March 25, 2013 6:13 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) A coalition of 22 industry trade organizations said Monday it strongly supports a bill to reduce standardized testing and increase emphasis on career training in high schools statewide, endorsing the high-profile proposal a day before the Texas House is scheduled to debate it. Jobs for Texas, which... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  March 20, 2013 6:42 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) A new state budget cleared the first major vote in the Texas Legislature on Wednesday when the Senate approved a $195.5 billion spending plan that will now test a relatively civil political climate this session as Democrats ratchet up pressure to cough up more. The spending bill... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  March 19, 2013 6:04 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) A Texas Senate committee approved on Tuesday a bill that would put tighter regulations on abortion facilities in Texas, a measure that some worry may force smaller clinics to close. Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, defended his bill from fierce criticism on Tuesday that what he really was... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  March 18, 2013 5:37 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Arturo Alviter Balderrama lost his focus, his grade point average and eventually his freedom. But his troubles had deeper roots. "At 13, I found myself using low-level drugs for fun," Arturo, 17, told a legislative committee last month. "After about a year I had moved on to... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  March 14, 2013 8:29 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) A woman whose unborn child was killed by a sniper nearly five decades ago in one of the deadliest campus shootings in American history urged Texas lawmakers Thursday to reject proposals that would allow concealed handgun license holders to carry their weapons into college buildings and classrooms.... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  March 14, 2013 5:39 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) A woman whose unborn child was killed by a sniper nearly five decades ago in one of the deadliest campus shootings in American history urged Texas lawmakers Thursday to reject proposals that would allow concealed handgun license holders to carry their weapons into college buildings and classrooms.... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  March 13, 2013 5:56 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Public schools and mental health services in Texas would recover more of the funding gutted two years ago with the help of $5.2 billion in general purpose spending added Wednesday to a state budget plan that now heads to the Senate. The extra dollars beef up a... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  March 12, 2013 5:20 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) The Texas Legislature officially began spending money Tuesday with final passage of a $6.6 billion emergency bill to avert a deadline that would have left Medicaid providers unpaid for treating patients. The House provided no drama or dissent before unanimously approving the measure that also covers $1.7... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  March 11, 2013 5:00 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) A widely supported $2 billion proposal to jumpstart water projects in Texas drew fresh scrutiny Monday from lawmakers wanting assurance that another lucrative state fund flush with taxpayer dollars wouldn't fall prey to allegations of corruption or political patronage. The plan to tap the Rainy Day Fund... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  March 8, 2013 6:11 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Texas Republicans have made it clear they hate the idea of expanding health care for the poor under the Affordable Care Act, but a key leader pledged Friday to work on a state alternative to accomplish the same goal and bring in the same federal matching funds.... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  March 7, 2013 5:21 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and Sen. Kirk Watson touted a bill introduced Thursday that would allow elected bodies to hold open meetings online. Abbott, who is responsible for enforcing open meeting laws, said the bill would catch the Open Meetings Act up with modern technology. Watson,... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  March 7, 2013 4:31 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and Sen. Kirk Watson touted a bill introduced Thursday that would allow elected bodies to hold open meetings online. Abbott, who is responsible for enforcing open meeting laws, said the bill would catch the Open Meetings Act up with modern technology. Watson,... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  March 6, 2013 5:57 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Texas water planners facing mounting scrutiny from lawmakers privately drafted an $8 billion list of priority projects for Republican leaders as the state considers ramping up spending to fight a dwindling water supply, according to records obtained by The Associated Press. The list from the Texas Water... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  March 5, 2013 6:27 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) About 1,000 protesters marched and rode wheelchairs to the Texas Capitol on Tuesday to demand that lawmakers fully fund Medicaid and expand it to include an additional 1.5 million poor people. Disabled and low-income residents wearing yellow caps carried banners up Congress Avenue and chanted, "My Medicaid... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  March 5, 2013 4:58 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) About 1,000 protesters marched and rode wheelchairs to the Texas Capitol on Tuesday to demand that lawmakers fully fund Medicaid and expand it to include an additional 1.5 million poor people. Disabled and low-income residents wearing yellow caps carried banners up Congress Avenue and chanted, "My Medicaid... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  March 4, 2013 5:32 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Republicans in the Texas House voted Monday against expanding Medicaid in its current form, but left open the door to negotiations with the federal government. The House Republican Caucus met behind closed doors and voted against expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act's current regulations, said Rep.... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  February 28, 2013 4:59 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Two years after historic spending cuts to Texas classrooms, budget writers in the Senate on Thursday approved a $1.4 billion hike for public education in the first clear signal that the new Legislature may pour money back into financially ailing public schools. How much lawmakers will ultimately... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  February 27, 2013 5:26 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush urged Texas to swing for the fences when overhauling public education, telling state senators Wednesday that he was able to transform foundering schools in his home state with big if often unpopular ideas. But critics say Bush, who served from 1999 until... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  February 26, 2013 5:58 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday added his voice to a chorus of bipartisan state lawmakers, parents, teachers and educational professionals who say it's time for Texas to take a hard look at the standardized tests it requires students to pass in order to graduate from high school.... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  February 25, 2013 5:57 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) The Texas state budget will lose $334 million due to the budget battle in Washington, mostly in cuts to public education programs, according to an analysis presented to lawmakers Monday. The Texas budget receives $34 billion from Washington every year, but a law instituting automatic budget cuts... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  February 20, 2013 5:03 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) House and Senate leaders on Wednesday agreed to have a special committee investigate the board of regents that oversees the University of Texas System and a key senator filed a bill seeking to limit the power of board members. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Joe... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  February 19, 2013 6:06 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) The mayors of Houston, Dallas and Austin told lawmakers on Tuesday that they support a proposed $2 billion fund to finance water projects across the state and would like to see less red tape and more conservation efforts. Houston Mayor Annise Parker told the House Natural Resources... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  February 18, 2013 6:30 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst gave an emotional defense of embattled University of Texas President Bill Powers on Monday, accusing members of the school's board of regents of engaging in "character assassination" in efforts to force Powers out. "You leave your family out of it," Dewhurst said,... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  February 14, 2013 5:13 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Young offenders with mental illnesses now outnumber youths who are gang members at juvenile jails in Texas, according to new figures that justice officials submitted to state lawmakers Thursday. The rate of young offenders diagnosed as being mentally ill has risen to 56 percent in 2013, compared... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  February 11, 2013 5:54 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) The head of the Texas Board of Education acknowledged Monday that she once quizzed potential curriculum experts on how conservative they were and also divided up the 15-member board based on the strength of their Christian beliefs. Barbara Cargill is a former biology teacher and ultra-conservative who... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  February 7, 2013 5:12 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Gov. Rick Perry plans to visit California next week to follow up on a small buy of radio ads intended to persuade businesses to relocate to Texas. Perry is scheduled to fly to the West Coast on Sunday and will meet with executives in San Francisco, the... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  February 4, 2013 5:09 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) The system Texas uses to fund public schools violates the state's constitution by not providing enough money to school districts and failing to distribute the money in a fair way, a judge ruled Monday in a landmark decision that could force the Legislature to overhaul the way... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  January 31, 2013 5:22 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Thousands of Texans spend millions every year on specialty license plates believing the extra fees they pay will help support such things as state parks, environmental groups or arts organizations, but instead lawmakers have been diverting more than half of those funds to balance the state budget... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  January 30, 2013 4:50 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Gov. Rick Perry on Wednesday proposed taking nearly $1 billion from the Rainy Day Fund for tax relief on top of the $3.7 billion he wants to spend from the state's emergency account to pay for water and road projects. Tapping the Rainy Day Fund for tax... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  January 30, 2013 4:22 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Gov. Rick Perry on Wednesday proposed taking nearly $1 billion from the Rainy Day Fund for tax relief on top of the $3.7 billion he wants to spend from the state's emergency account to pay for water and road projects. Tapping the Rainy Day Fund for tax... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  January 29, 2013 5:46 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday credited spending restraint for igniting the Texas economy but also proposed digging into the state's cash reserves to pay for $3.7 billion in water and road improvements while returning any excess revenue directly to taxpayers. Perry used his State of the State... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  January 28, 2013 5:27 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Arming teachers could provide a critical measure of safety for students until police arrive in the event of a campus shooting, but could also put those teachers at "high risk" of being shot by responding officers, Texas state lawmakers were told Monday. Lawmakers are grappling with the... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  January 23, 2013 6:09 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) This week's gunfire at a Houston-area college prompted new calls Wednesday for allowing concealed handgun license holders to carry their weapons into Texas college buildings and classrooms as a measure of self-defense. Texas lawmakers already are considering a bill that allows concealed handguns in college classrooms. A... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  January 15, 2013 5:31 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) A Texas House draft budget that would pull funding from statewide standardized tests likely won't be approved, but it's the first time in recent memory lawmakers have tried such a move and it may even violate federal rules if it ever were to become law. The proposal... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  January 14, 2013 5:58 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Deep spending cuts to public schools remain while about $5.5 billion is left on the table under first budget drafts unveiled Monday by majority Republicans in the Texas Legislature, who called the bills careful starting points that limit spending and will likely amplify their calls for tax... more »

• Highlights from the Texas Capitol

  January 10, 2013 4:35 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Gov. Rick Perry insisted Thursday that many of the nation's 49 other governors would love to be able to boast that their states have experienced the employment and economic success that Texas has including New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Addressing a conservative policy orientation, Perry again celebrated... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  January 9, 2013 5:53 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Gov. Rick Perry says the time has come for Texas to look at tax relief again. But he's not yet saying for whom or how. Emboldened by a resurgent Texas economy, Perry on Wednesday repeated his call for the Republican-controlled Legislature to tackle tax relief this session,... more »

• Highlights from around the Capitol

  January 8, 2013 4:32 PM

  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Gov. Rick Perry began resurrecting his national political image Tuesday, promising as the Texas legislative session opened to keep embracing tea party values, beat back government spending and fiercely oppose abortion while also keeping an eye on rising in-state political stars like George P. Bush. America's longest-serving... more »