News of the Week Outlook Uncertain for Payday Lending Legislation Consumer advocates hoped that 2013 would be the year for a serious effort to rein in the most egregious practices in the payday and auto-title lending industry — financial institutions that offer short-term loans to ... Keep Reading

  News of the Week Outlook Uncertain for Payday Lending Legislation Consumer advocates hoped that 2013 would be the year for a serious effort to rein in the most egregious practices in the payday and auto-title lending industry — financial institutions that offer short-term loans to ... Keep Reading

News of the Week House Budget Writers Back $500 Million More for Schools House budget leaders voted Thursday to send a supplemental budget bill to the House floor with $500 million more for public schools and payments to state agencies to cover costs related to last year’s wildfires. -Read full ... Keep Reading

News of the Week Houston lawyer stops payday loan bill Champagne was flowing at the bar of Austin's W Hotel, the posh and trendy nightspot favored by lobbyists and politicos after long days at the Texas Legislature. On this particular evening, a group of about 15 representatives of the payday ... Keep Reading

Weekly Summary Vouchers were top priority this week once more. Last week, the House passed an amendment to its budget banning the use of state funds for private schools. Sen. Dan Patrick’s crusade to pass SB 23, a tax credit scholarship program that would pay for certain students to attend ... Keep Reading

News of the Week Tax incentives for private schooling face dim prospects The prospects are dim for legislative proposals creating tax incentives to help public school students pay for private school, but that did not dampen the fervor of “school choice” supporters at the Texas Capitol on ... Keep Reading

  News of the Week Agenda Texas: Behind the Scenes of the Budget Debate The Texas House began its debate on a $193 billion budget bill Thursday morning. And as lead budget writer Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, laid out the bill, he reminded lawmakers of the shaky economic ground the state was on ... Keep Reading

News of the Week Agenda Texas: Behind the Scenes of the Budget Debate The Texas House began its debate on a $193 billion budget bill Thursday morning. And as lead budget writer Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, laid out the bill, he reminded lawmakers of the shaky economic ground the state was on just two ... Keep Reading

Water and schools were the focus of much of the discussion at the Capitol this week. The House passed Rep. Aycock’s HB 5, drastically changing the accountability system, graduation requirements, and end-of-course STAAR exams. Chairman Aycock says, “This bill gives all Texas students the ... Keep Reading