The Latest Breaking News from the Texas House

As of April 9, Ballotpedia has tracked 185 election-related bills in the Texas House of Representatives since the beginning of the year. Of the 185, Ballotpedia tracked eight from April 3-9. Republicans sponsored five, while Democrats sponsored three. Five of eight bills are below:   

The proposal for the 2024-25 budget cycle includes $142.1 billion in general revenue spending — about $5 billion higher than the proposal approved last week by the Texas House — at a time when lawmakers have a historic $32.7 billion surplus at their disposal this session.

House Bill 1 is being debated on the floor of the lower chamber, where representatives are hammering out details on the next two years of state spending.

A Texas House vote earlier in the day suggests Senate Bill 8 might be short of the votes needed to pass in the lower chamber. Senators also passed a bill on Thursday that would give teachers a one-time bonus.

Passage of a school choice measure is anything but a sure bet, as there is little evidence that the governor has been able to convince rural Republicans in the Texas House — who have for years been a reliable firewall — to drop their opposition.

As of March 26, Ballotpedia has tracked 94 election-related bills in the Texas House of Representatives since the beginning of the year. Of the 94, Ballotpedia tracked 36 from March 20-26. Democrats sponsored eight, while Republicans sponsored 28. Five of 36 bills are highlighted below:   

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Senate on Tuesday gave its initial approval to a bill that would restrict competition in collegiate sports by transgender athletes.