86th Legislature Increases School Funding, Sets Limits on Local Property Tax Raises

Updated 5 days ago

Texas legislators grappled successfully, and at last, with two major issues that have hounded state government for years — school finance reform and property tax relief — in the 86th legislative session that ran from Jan. 8 to May 27, 2019.

Following a tight-fisted and rancorous session in 2017, lawmakers unanimously agreed during a more collaborative gathering to a historically high $250.7 billion two-year budget, enabled by revenue expectations from record oil production and economic growth.

The two big goals, to provide more money for schools and tamp down local tax escalation, were achieved with an $11.6 billion package that allocated $6.5 billion in new state money for public education, mandated a teacher pay raise, funded full day pre-kindergarten, and offered $5.1 billion to buy down local property taxes.

88th Legislature Report: Impeachment Trial

Updated 5 days ago

Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton is the first Texas statewide elected official in 106 years to face an impeachment trial and the first to beat the charges. On Sept. 16, 2023, after a historic 10-day trial, the Texas Senate acquitted Paxton on 16 allegations of abuse of office, bribery and obstruction of justice. Another four articles were dismissed.

Paxton was returned to office after being suspended when the Texas House voted 121 to 23 to send impeachment charges to the Senate on May 29, 2023, with 60 of 85 Republicans voting to impeach. Unlike in the House, the Senate voted to acquit largely along party lines. Twenty-one senators had to approve at least one article to convict him. The closest votes -- on 12 articles -- were 14 to convict and 16 for acquittal. Only two Republicans voted with Democrats.

Republican Sens. Kelly Hancock of North Richland Hills and Robert Nichols of Jacksonville attributed their votes to testimony and evidence. Others, however, said the prosecution failed to prove its case based on whistleblower accusations. There was no “smoking gun.”

Political analysts suggested other reasons for the acquittal. They included Paxton’s ties to Republicans in the Senate where he once served and his wife served during the trial, fear of political retribution by hard-right allies of Paxton and former President Trump in the next GOP primary, and allegiance to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who announced his personal views after the trial.

88th Legislature: Tax Cuts, Border Security, and Impeachment

Updated 5 days ago

The Texas Legislature rarely meets without generating some drama, and 2023 gatherings were no exception. Yet, despite intrigue aplenty in the 88th biennial session and subsequent special sessions, lawmakers were able to pass the largest two-year budget ever and, in a second special session, a record-breaking property tax cut.

The usual chaotic end to the 140-day regular session was complicated by the unexpected delivery of 20 articles of impeachment by a House investigative committee against Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton. Two days before adjournment sine die May 29, 2023, the Republican-dominated Texas House voted overwhelmingly (121 to 23) to impeach the embattled 3-term Republican state official, long mired in legal and ethical challenges. His fate would depend on a later Senate trial.

Before that, the House voted to expel State Rep. Bryan Slaton, R-Royse City, after an internal investigation determined he had engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with a 19-year-old aide after furnishing her with alcohol.

Both actions were historic. Only one statewide elected official had ever been impeached and removed from office, Gov. James Ferguson more than 100 years before. Slaton was the first House member ousted since 1927.

87th Legislature: Winter Storm Uri and a 6-Week Abortion Ban

Updated 5 days ago

In short, the 87th session of the Texas Legislature was unlike any other, with the regular session addressing unparalleled challenges, and the aftermath casting Texas into the national spotlight.

Lawmakers convened for the biennial five-month session on January 12, 2021, under a unique set of circumstances: in the midst of a global coronavirus pandemic that created health and economic issues, and less than a week after protesters stormed the nation’s Capitol over a disputed presidential election, raising security and political concerns. Add to that, social and racial unrest across the nation.

Then a brutal winter snowstorm in February left more than 4.8 million Texans without electricity and water for days during a power blackout, resulting in an estimated at least 200 deaths, billions of dollars in damage to homes, farmers and businesses, and the exposure of a vulnerable electrical grid and regulatory system.