Texas Tribune TribCast

On this week's TribCast, Evan talks with Ross, Patrick and Morgan about the politics of the Planned Parenthood videos and this week's Senate Health and Human Service Committee hearing, the latest on Attorney General Ken Paxton and that Collin County grand jury, and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz's beef with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

On this week's TribCast, Emily talks with Evan, Alana and Julian about the Sandra Bland death investigation in Waller County, Chapo Guzman's escape from a Mexican prison and Donald Trump's impending visit to the Texas-Mexico border.

Straus, R-San Antonio, was first elected to the Texas House in a special election in February 2005. He was elected speaker of the House in 2009 and won a fourth term in that post for the 84th legislative session. His district includes the Bexar County communities of Alamo Heights, Olmos Park, Terrell Hills and northeast San Antonio. Straus previously served on numerous campaigns for federal, state...

On this week's TribCast, Emily talks with Ross, Patrick and Jay — complete with a tin foil hat — about Jade Helm, Rick Perry's reported income and Gov. Greg Abbott's decision to veto a bill opposed by a Scientology group.

On this week's TribCast, Emily talks with Evan, Ross and Morgan about Attorney General Ken Paxton's legal troubles, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's split with his grassroots advisers and what to do with Confederate monuments on the Capitol grounds.

On this week's TribCast, Emily talks with Ross, Patrick and Alexa about the U.S. Supreme Court decisions on gay marriage and abortion, Ted Cruz's new memoir and his ongoing spat with Karl Rove.

On this week's TribCast, Emily talks with Evan, Ross and Jim about the contents of Gov. Greg Abbott's emails and Texas voters' perceptions on everything from presidential hopefuls to gay marriage and marijuana.

On this week's TribCast, Emily talks with Evan, Ross and Jay about the Texas Monthly Best & Worst list, the San Antonio mayoral race, some big departures from the Texas Legislature and Jeb Bush's presidential announcement.

Members of the 84th Legislature rode off into the sunset on June 1 leaving plenty of memorable moments in their trails. Listen to our recap of some of those moments as part of a special episode of Texas Standard.

On this week's TribCast, Emily talks with Matthew, Alana and Patrick about Rick Perry's campaign swing through Iowa, Ted Cruz's fundraising visit to the border and House Speaker Joe Straus' recap on the legislative session that was.

On this week's TribCast, Emily talks to Evan, Ross and Patrick about the drama — or lack thereof — in the 84th Texas Legislature, Dan Patrick's political future and Rick Perry's big announcement.

In this week's TribCast, Emily talks to Evan, Ross and Morgan about Tuesday's mega-night in the Texas House, from parliamentary tricks and brokered deals to ethics, campus carry and abortion insurance.

On this week's TribCast, Emily talks with Ross, Aman and Jim about negotiations on a massive legislative deal, Gov. Greg Abbott's first veto and former Gov. Rick Perry's forthcoming presidential announcement.

In this episode of Budgetline, Aman and Ross explore riders — descriptive items in the state budget meant to direct agencies how to spend state money. Often, they're a place where budget writers sneak policy and legislative instructions into state law.

On this week's TribCast, Emily talks with Evan, Ross and Jim about the ongoing drama over hidden cameras in the Lege, negotiations on a tax cut deal, and the ag commissioner's effort to return deep fryers and soda machines to public schools.

On this week's TribCast, Emily talks with Evan, Ross and Patrick about a group secretly recording lawmakers in the Capitol, the flap over Gov. Greg Abbott's response to a U.S. military exercise and this profile of state Rep. Jonathan Stickland.

In this episode of Budgetline, an occasional TribCast series on the Texas budget, Aman and Ross explore the place at the end of the budget where unfunded items go. While it's charitably referred to as "the wish list," budget watchers say it more often serves as "the cemetery," or "where dreams go to die."

In this week's episode of The Ticket, a co-production of the Tribune and KUT, Jay and Ben break down the presidential campaign announcement speech of Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and talk with Mathew Dowd, who directed George W. Bush's 2004 re-election campaign.

On this week's TribCast, Emily chats with Ross, Aman and Alexa about a resurgence of anti-abortion legislation, the House-Senate fight over tax cuts and the voter ID courtroom battle.

In this episode of Budgetline, an occasional TribCast series on the Texas budget, Aman and Ross sit down with Senate Finance Chairwoman Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, who voted against her first state budget in 1993 as a freshman senator and is now in charge of writing that most essential piece of legislation.

Welcome to the first-ever episode of The Ticket, a co-production of the Tribune and KUT, focused on the 2016 presidential election. This week, the Trib's Jay Root and KUT's Ben Philpott talk with former Texas GOP Chairman Steve Munisteri, who's now working for Rand Paul, and dissect Sen. Ted Cruz’s presidential announcement speech at Liberty University.

On this week's TribCast, Emily talks with Evan, Ross and Jay about pre-K reform drama, the House's resident dissenter, inter-chamber squabbles and Gov. Greg Abbott's role in all of it.

In this week's TribCast, Emily talks to Evan, Ross and Morgan about the gun battle that wasn't, the budget negotiations to come, a "non-voucher" school choice pitch and the reasons why Hillary Clinton needs Texas.

In this week's TribCast Emily talks with Evan, Julian and Alexa about the fight over in-state tuition for kids of undocumented immigrants, the San Antonio mayoral race and bills aimed at transgender Texans' use of public bathrooms.

In this episode of Budgetline, an occasional TribCast series on the Texas Budget, Aman and Ross explore the state's fuzzy limits on how fast the state budget can grow, what counts and what doesn't, and how the politics work.