The Bonnen Tape Is Tawdry, Shocking, and Kinda Funny
The secretly recorded meeting between Dennis Bonnen and Michael Quinn Sullivan shows how Texas political operators talk behind closed doors.
The secretly recorded meeting between Dennis Bonnen and Michael Quinn Sullivan shows how Texas political operators talk behind closed doors.
The growing controversy around Bonnen's quid pro quo is about much more than palace intrigue. Fundamentally, it concerns unethical, possibly criminal, behavior on the part of the speaker.
House Speaker Dennis Bonnen offers a masterclass in how to lose friends and alienate your allies in just a few easy steps.
MQS isn't the most trustworthy person in Texas politics, but Bonnen has done a poor job offering an alternative narrative about what transpired.
We reached out to prosecutors for all 254 Texas counties to ask whether they will still prosecute marijuana cases.
On Monday, the Senate passed a proposal to add four more writing tests and tie school funding directly to third-grade test results.
Despite Representative Celia Israel’s emotional, personal testimony, her bill to curtail the discredited practice has little chance of becoming law.
A step towards a less partisan future. Or at least a furrier, friendlier one.
The Legislature remains far from allowing recreational use, but baby steps toward decriminalization could come this session.
The $119.12 billion two-year estimate is the first step in the Texas Legislature's budgeting process.
The Associated Republicans of Texas co-chair is out to prove that clashing with Dan Patrick doesn’t make you a Republican In Name Only.
This city in West Texas was the largest in the country without a presence from the controversial health clinic.
During a summer with record heat and record power usage, supply is keeping up with demand.
The nation’s high court will consider whether Texas legislative and congressional districts discriminate against minorities.
What could follow Nutella banana crepes? A "war on Texas BBQ."
The law’s long legal journey is likely still beginning, but the sanctuary city law's opponents can mark this one down as a win.
A small Texas border town defies a crackdown on immigration.
The festival—which has had its own issues around immigration this year—declined.
The Rooster Teeth CEO Matt Hullum takes a quick break from directing ’Lazer Team 2’ to talk about the future of the film incentives program.
The attention from SXSW—and a new bill in the legislature—seek to address a problem that may not be broken.
Even if you hate messing with your clock every year, don’t get too excited.
When is advice a conflict of interest?
The changes might actually do more to protect police officers than the Police Protection Act.
He’s not wrong about that, but is this an opportunity to reconsider gambling laws?
On the eve of Voting Rights Act's anniversary, a federal court ruled Texas's voter ID discriminates.
The Legislative Budget Board is correct about the limits of the line-item veto—but Governor Abbott has plenty of power.
The latest “news” about the Texas attorney general.
He tipped his hand by backing the governor over the Lege.
On Monday, per WFAA, the state’s top law enforcement official will be charged with multiple felonies.
A look back at two other attorney-generals who ran into trouble.
Occam’s razor, y’all.
America’s flaws are inevitable, but so are our virtues.
The lieutenant governor responds to our selections.
Even if they weren’t distorted by politics, they’re too reductive to be reliable.
Governor Greg AbbottOf all the leaders entering the legislative session, the biggest question mark centered on Greg Abbott, the first new governor in Texas in fourteen years. The attorney general since 2002, he led the Republican ticket last November and walloped Democrat Wendy Davis in the
Evan Smith raises a few points of order.
A preview of the ten best and ten worst legislators of the Eighty-fourth Legislature.
Illustrations by Nicki Longoria. Click to enlarge.Elsewhere in this month’s issue, our political team considers which state legislators have earned our respect and which ones remind us why the stately granite building at Twelfth Street and Congress Avenue has long been the butt of countless jokes
Our legislator in chief assesses a spring marked by pre-K budgets, the open carry debate, border security, and a certain kerfuffle over Jade Helm.
The Legislature is leaving unspent $18 billion that could go to further tax cuts or repairs to infrastructure or even, perhaps, to education.
Breitbart Texas has opted not to release the videos made with hidden cameras by the American Phoenix Foundation after all, leading to questions about what was really on them.
At first glance, yes. On closer inspection, probably not.
Practitioners face an unreasonable set of regulations in Texas, and they’re about to change that.
Well then.
The Senate Health and Human Services Committee sent a bill that would severely tighten restrictions on receiving a confidential abortion as a minor to the Senate floor.
No offense to Michael Quinn Sullivan, but he’s never even won a Republican primary runoff, has he?
In the waning weeks of the 84th Texas Legislature, abortion remains a hot topic in the Capitol. Where do things stand—and where are they going?
The Senate has already lost the fight over tax cuts.
The people behind the hidden camera investigation of the Legislature have more of a history of political activism than of journalism.
More than twenty anti-LGBT bills have been filed this session, but these legislative efforts are facing some unlikely opposition.