Fort Hood renamed after Korean, Vietnam war hero

It’s official. Fort Hood, named for a high-ranking Confederate officer in the Civil War, has been renamed Fort Cavazos, in honor of native Texan Richard E. Cavazos, the country’s first Hispanic four-star general.

Clock ticking on moving bills

The clock is ticking on getting bills out of the House and to the Texas Senate, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick warned last week in a story in the Austin American-Statesman. Patrick presides over the Senate and is worried many bills that have made it out of House committees but have not gone before the full chamber will not be considered before the session ends.

House OKs $4.5 billion for teacher pay raises

The Texas House last Thursday passed two education-related bills, one that allocates $4.5 billion for teacher pay raises and another to increase the annual per-student base funding from $6,160 to $6,300 – a 2.3% increase.

Senate, House begin budget reconciliation process

The Texas Senate unanimously approved a $308 billion two-year budget last week, the Austin American-Statesman reported. The next step is to reconcile that budget with one passed earlier by the Texas House.

Dueling tax proposals in the Lege

House OKs $302 billion budget 

Texas leads nation in jobs added

The Lone Star State continues to lead the nation in jobs added with 58,200 new positions in February, bringing the state to nearly 14 million total nonfarm jobs, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. February also marked two full years of uninterrupted job growth in the state.

Senate passes tax cut package

The Texas Senate last week unanimously approved a $16.5 billion package to lower property taxes and inject billions of dollars into public schools.

Bill would require fentanyl education

The death of a Leander High School graduate from a fentanyl overdose has prompted state Rep. Terry Wilson, R-Georgetown, to file a bill that would require 10 hours of education annually concerning the dangers of the drug to students in sixth grade and up, the Austin American-Statesman reported. 

House pushes armed officer at all schools

Under legislation prioritized by House Speaker Dade Phelan, every Texas school would have an armed police officer, and aspiring teachers would receive extra support.