Capital Highlights by Ed Sterling W hile the Memorial Day holiday was observed across Texas, lawmakers stayed busy at the state Capitol, voting on key bills in the final three days of the 86th Texas Legislature’s 140-day regular session. Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Denni...

Prior to sine die in late May, Texas legislators agreed to fund all-day pre-kindergarten for qualifying children, all part of an effort to improve the education and availability of childcare across the state. House Bill (HB) 3, authored by Dan Huberty (R-Humble), also known as the school finance ref...

Jane Nelson, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, on Jan. 22 said she would follow an aggressive agenda to deliver a budget ready for floor debate by the end of February. “There are a lot of things this committee and the full Senate will decide to add, subtract, change, before we actually recommen...