Rick Perry

Texas House members are urging Gov. Rick Perry to call for reforming various governmental programs during the special session.

Rep. Greg Bonnen, R-League City, is hoping the governor will call for lawmakers to change the funding structure for the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, a quasi-governmental group that provides reduced-rate insurance coverage against a hurricane.

At the start of the legislative session, Gov. Rick Perry outlined several agenda items, one of which was over $1 billion dollars in tax cuts for businesses.

A bill calling for additional transparency and effectiveness of those tax cuts was added as an amendment, but taken off when voted on in the Texas House and also faced the threat of a veto by the governor.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is causing a stir at the capitol after issuing a list of things he’d like to see during a special session.

Dewhurst said there are several key items that he felt lawmakers should have been able to address this session:

A Democratic senator was able to add a last-minute provision to the last of Gov. Rick Perry’s business tax cut bills calling for more oversight and monitoring of the program. 

Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, was able to add his provision to House Bill 500, which provides  Texas small businesses with $600 million in tax cuts.

The attachment bill would have the Texas Comptroller review the businesses receiving a tax cut to be sure such cuts were effective.

A group of protesters managed to infiltrate Gov. Rick Perry's speech announcing the latest bill that awards tax cuts for Texas small businesses. 

Moments after the Senate gave the final passage of a bill awarding over $600 million in tax cuts for small businesses, Perry made the announcement at the Austin Chamber of Commerce.

After meeting for hours behind closed doors, House Democratic leaders declined the Republican deal on the state’s budget bill.  

Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, the vice-chair of the Democratic Caucus, said House Democrats are unified in their stance against the budget in its current form, which promises $3.2 billion for education funding.

The likelihood of fixing Texas roads seems slim as Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, a leader of transportation in the House, withdrew his bill from the floor.  

The bill would have raised the state’s registration fee $50 to help pay for roads, but that was lowered to a $15 increase as the bill was debated. 

Rep. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, who authored House Bill 160, which mandates Gov. Rick Perry pay back the state for travel and security expenses incurred during his presidential campaign, got his chance to talk to Perry about it face to face.  

Gov. Rick Perry said details are coming in about the destruction in West, Texas and there is still an on-going search and rescue effort for missing families near the blast site.

"We know there were 75 residencies that are either going to have minor to substantial damage, up to and including being pushed off their slabs, and you have a school that has a substantial amount of damage," Perry said.

In 2006 the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality was called out to the plant.

At times house members were shouting over each other as they debated HB 63, a bill that would outlaw the practice of texting while driving.