Legislators in the House and Senate have reached an agreement on more property tax relief. But some critics worry the cuts aren’t sustainable forever.

A bill, Senate Bill 2722, aims to reform the distribution of toll road revenues in Harris County, potentially providing Houston up to $80 million over five years.

Republican lawmakers are considering a bill to strengthen the state’s ban on homeless encampments and speed up the eviction process.

Voting rights advocates worry that legislation approved by House and Senate committees could make it harder to get more people on the rolls.

The Texas Senate passed Senate Bill 2010, authored by Sen. Paul Bettencourt, to prevent local governments from using public funds for universal basic income programs like Harris County's "Uplift Harris."

This new legislation aims to restore property rights by streamlining the eviction process, ensuring that rightful owners can reclaim their properties swiftly and efficiently.

The Texas Legislature is considering bills that transit officials warn could hamper public transportation in the Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth regions.

The Texas Senate has passed a bill that will crack down on organized fuel theft rings across the state.

The Texas senate has passed a bill that would expand death penalty eligibility for individuals convicted of murdering children.

A new bill and joint resolution introduced in the Texas Senate by a Houston-area senator would give Texans the opportunity to vote on whether the state continues to observe Daylight Saving Time or Standard Time.

Senate Bill 985 would revise a 2023 law that raised the minimum number of voting locations. County election officials say they’ve struggled to comply with it.

The goal of the new legislation is to help drive down the cost of housing so that more Texans can afford homes.

House and Senate lawmakers plan to spend at least $6 billion on property tax cuts, but haven't yet agreed on how much relief should go to homeowners over businesses.

In a letter, Sens. Brandon Creighton and Paul Bettencourt said they found “numerous” violations of the law, but didn’t provide specifics.

With approximately 1 million students reported truant each year over the last four school years, concerns are rising about the effectiveness of truancy prevention measures.

The marquee proposal would increase the amount of a home’s value exemption from school taxes to $140,000 from $100,000. The legislation must win approval from the House next.

Local officials, school advocates and tax policy experts said such a proposal could have dire impacts on basic services.

Gov. Greg Abbott said cutting taxes is a top priority, however, state lawmakers don’t have as much money to plug into tax cuts as they did two years ago.

The 89th Texas Legislative Session is now underway, with lawmakers officially sworn in and a new Speaker elected. Already, legislators have introduced more than 2,500 bills, setting the stage for a busy few months ahead.

State lawmakers are looking at bringing more nuclear power to the Texas grid system using new technology.

A Votebeat analysis shows how such requirements risk disenfranchising key voter groups, including Native Americans and college students.

“We’ve got to get back to where there’s a way to handle truant kids, and part of that is the school districts have to be able to go knock on doors again," Sen. Bettencourt said in a statement.

Sen. Paul Bettencourt is asking a judge to look into a whistleblower's complaints after learning only one out of four water tanks are being used because the other three have rusted over.

Texas Republicans have been trying to reduce the state’s high property taxes for years, but some acknowledge eliminating them would be too expensive.

The county plans to ID eligible voters and send them registration forms. GOP officials say it’s an end-run around state law.

Texas’ Lt. Governor Dan Patrick criticized CenterPoint Energy for leasing massive rate-payer funded generators instead of mobile generators which could be used more effectively in emergency situations.

Housing advocates say Texas laws fall short when it comes to property trespassers but they warn changes could worsen the state’s evictions crisis.

The event had been threatened on two different occasions.

In the state’s larger counties, voters can now elect people to the agencies that appraise property values.

Justice John Devine’s comments at a conservative event are the latest to prompt concerns about his impartiality as a jurist.

Voters in Texas’ 50 largest counties will now elect new three members of their respective property appraisal district boards.

Have you checked out your property tax bill this year? Texas homeowners are noticing big savings thanks to legislation passed by lawmakers and voters. Investigator Amy Davis explains what to look for on your bill.

Texas lawmakers passed and voters approved several property tax bills last year. Those bills will be due at the end of the month, and it will save some hundreds of dollars.

The Republican Party of Texas is suing an attorney it claims it paid to help challenge the results of the 2022 elections in Harris County.

Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to soon sign an immigration enforcement bill into law. Senate Bill 4 was passed by the state House and Senate during the legislature’s 4th special session.

The $18 billion property tax-cut package is aimed squarely at lowering school district property taxes, which make up the lion’s share of a Texas landowner’s property tax bill.

Whitbeck admits the offer is no longer being offered but remained upbeat about it.

Democrats, however, said their GOP colleagues “caved” to outside pressure in voting to acquit and return Ken Paxton to his job as attorney general.

The Texas Supreme Court denied Harris County’s request to temporarily block the implementation of Senate Bill 1750 on Sept. 1, which will abolish the Harris County Election Administrator’s Office, the Harris County Attorney’s Office said on Tuesday.

Gov. Greg Abbott will ceremonially sign the largest property tax in Texas history, which was passed during Special Session #2 of the 88th Texas Legislature on Wednesday in New Caney.

If you talk to homeowners about property taxes right now in Texas, almost everyone will tell you they’re way too high.

The package could land on Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk by the end of the week. Voters must pass the plan in a constitutional election in November for it to take effect in the 2023 tax year.

After months of debate, Texas lawmakers announced a deal Monday for a record-breaking $18 billion property tax cut to homeowners.

Harris County sued Texas over legislation that abolishes the county’s elections administrator position, Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee announced Thursday.

A stalemate among Texas’ top Republicans has dragged on for months. Tax-cut proponents in the House and Senate made their first pitches to end the impasse Wednesday.

With several hundred bills awaiting action by the governor, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called the veto threat an affront to Texans and the legislative process.

A bill filed by State Sen. Paul Bettencourt would help bring consistency to how truancy is handled by school districts across the state. After passing the Senate 30-1, Senate Bill 1630 was recently voted out of a House committee and is now headed to a vote in the House.

State Senators have proposed three bills that, if passed, could lower property tax bills this year. Senator Paul Bettencourt joins Amy Davis to explain the bills and what they could mean for people in Texas.

Lowering property tax bills, water meter mistakes, waiting for windows

The proposals target the taxes homeowners pay and require school districts to lower their tax rates.

Housing advocates, builders and real estate experts agree that the state simply isn’t building enough homes to keep up with its booming population and economic growth.

Cuts to school property tax bills. Bigger tax benefits for homeowners. A controversial idea to limit property tax growth. Here’s what you need to know about the brewing property tax debate at the Texas Legislature.

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan’s proposal reveals the different roads the Texas House and Senate want to take on property taxes — and the fight that might emerge between the two chambers this session.

Senators in the finance committee asked questions Monday about the pros and cons of basing the amount of money that schools get per student on enrollment instead of attendance. Districts say the change could mean millions in additional funding.

The state has spent $4 billion on border initiatives in the past two years, including $40 million to bus migrants out of Texas into Democrat-led cities.

State policymakers have mapped out familiar territory early in the legislative session, with Democrats seeking to expand voting access and Republicans pledging to make elections more secure.

The Robb Elementary School shooter had hundreds of unexcused absences, and a House investigative report noted it was unclear whether any attempts were made by the school district to find out what was happening in the teen’s life before he was involuntarily withdrawn.

Sen. Paul Bettencourt has filed a bill in response to the recent spike in catalytic converter theft insurance claims in Texas, according to a release.

Time to go to work for Texans.

While the Legislature will soon start its new session, some laws passed in 2021 are just now taking effect.

Gov. Greg Abbott announced that he has called for an investigation into the widespread election problems in Harris County on Nov. 8.

Members of the Harris County Republican Party held a news conference on Thursday to discuss the problems that occurred with the Harris County Elections Administrator on Election Day.

Voters living in the area of Katy Independent School District will soon vote on a tax rate election (TRE.) It would keep the rate the same and the school district says the extra money they gain would help some staffing shortages.

As we count down to election day in two weeks, and with early voting already underway, Harris County election officials are laying out their plan for avoiding the issues that plagued the 2020 election cycle.

Allegations in an elections audit by the Secretary of States office were echoed to KPRC2 by Senator Paul Bettencourt ahead of the upcoming November election.

After eight students and two teachers were murdered at Santa Fe high school in 2018, state legislators passed more than a dozen laws. None of those laws prevented Uvalde and pressure is mounting for lawmakers to address lingering gaps in school security.

Beginning September 1, anyone who applies for a car dealer license in Texas must be fingerprinted and go through a thorough background check.

Houston-area lawmakers weigh-in with how they would like to see the budget surplus spent on.

The propositions on the May 7 ballot would lower property taxes by shifting more public school costs to the state. But the measures’ language can be hard to understand.

The Harris County Republican party is holding a press conference Wednesday to call for an independent elections overseer following the resignation of Harris County Elections Administrator Isabel Longoria.

The Harris County Republican Party announced that it has filed a lawsuit against Harris County Elections Administrator Isabel Longoria during a press conference Monday afternoon.

Harris County Republican Party Chairman Cindy Siegel is joining Texas State Senator Paul Bettencourt, HCRP Legal Counsel Steve Mitby and the Party’s Legal Team to discuss the widespread problems and legal action addressing what they claim is a failure of Election Administrator Isabel Longoria to properly manage the primary election.

Harris County election officials won’t have primary election results by the statutory deadline due to damaged ballots, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s office.

Ten months ago, millions of homes and businesses were plunged into darkness and more than 100 Texans lost their lives when our power grid failed at the height of a historic winter storm.

If voters approve the measure next year, it will raise the state’s homestead exemption from $25,000 to $40,000 for school district property taxes, netting the average homeowner about $176 in savings.

Democrats criticized Republicans for “targeting” a North Texas district that had been trending Democratic and for not drawing any new districts where people of color would represent a majority of eligible voters.

Tax relief for property owners joins a packed to-do list for Texas lawmakers — which includes redistricting, COVID-19 vaccine mandates and a spending plan for $16 billion in federal stimulus dollars.

The bill, approved by the Senate and never considered by the House, would have allowed state and local party chairs to file requests to launch audits, but Republicans say the legislation would not have spawned a debacle akin to the controversial review underway in Arizona.

The Houston Public Library’s Central branch in downtown Houston will reopen soon, but one group has been told they will no longer be welcome there.

Several Texas lawmakers were briefed Wednesday on the status of our state’s power grid. Gov. Greg Abbott also spoke about the recent calls for energy conservation after several power generators went offline for unexpected maintenance.

Officials discussed election fraud and how they want to prevent it. Abbott has mentioned a number of times, especially during the 2020 election, that election fraud is “very real” and happens in different ways. Abbott did, however, say that former President Barack Obama prosecuted a voter fraud scheme in South Texas where cocaine was used to pay voter harvesters. “Election fraud is unacceptable.”AdA small group carrying signs protested against Senate Bill 7 outside Bettencourt’s office, calling the proposed bill voter suppression. “We should be focused on making voting more accessible and stop trying to create obstacles and distractions with unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud,” Turner said.

HOUSTON – After two days and two hearings, Texas state senators and representatives will begin deciding how to reform the embattled Electric Reliability Council of Texas, ERCOT, which manages the flow of electricity across our state. Magness testified ERCOT is asking each of the 185 power plants that went down during the storm to provide specific reasons for the outages. Nye testified his list did include natural gas facilities, but he learned during the storm his list was not the most current. Garland Power and Light COO Tom Hancock told state senators the company invested in a robust winterization effort following the 2011 winter storm that caused similar problems in Texas. Hancock said as a result none of the natural gas facilities in their territory went offline.

HOUSTON – Texas Senate and House hearings are only the beginning of the investigations into our state’s power grid failures during a blistering winter storm. Ten days after the winter storm blanketed Texas, Anderson still has no water in her Yorkdale neighborhood home in Northwest Houston. Like millions of Texans, Anderson lost power as temperatures dropped, pipes in the ceiling froze and then cracked. Hearings in the House and Senate will start the work to get those answers. We should have taken action then, what prevented that from happening, why did we not take the action?”

Here are things to know for Tuesday, Feb. 2:1. Legislators have promised to back a so-called “heartbeat bill” that would bar abortions before many women know they are pregnant. Anti-abortion advocates have urged them to challenge the Roe v. Wade decision that established the right to an abortion. Registration for Memorial Hermann COVID-19 vaccine drive-thru clinic in Sugar Land for those 65 and older now openMemorial Hermann has partnered with Fort Bend County to offer a COVID-19 vaccine drive-thru clinic at Smart Financial Centre in Sugar Land Wednesday, Feb. 3 to Saturday, Feb. 6. Additionally, the BBB warns that photos of COVID-19 vaccination cards shared on social media can help scammers create phony versions.

HOUSTON – Senator Paul Bettencourt and Crime Stoppers of Houston held a press conference on “Caitlynne’s” bill filing on Personal Recognizance Bonds (PR bonds) Monday. The bill would prevent defendants from release on multiple PR bonds. The press conference started at 10 a.m. at the Crime Stoppers of Houston Building and included several community leaders/officials. “Too many of our citizens have become victims of violent crime by habitual offenders who are continually released back to the community often on multiple PR bonds,” said Crime Stoppers of Houston CEO Rania Mankarious. According to Andy Kahan with Crime Stoppers, since 2018, 90 victims have been killed in Harris County by defendants released on various PR and low-dollar felony bonds.

Friday’s announcement of proposed Senate Bill 252 comes after Channel 2 Investigates first exposed secret massive art collection being warehoused on the taxpayers’ dime, “Legally what this bill means is that I don’t think that what Precinct One Commissioner is doing is legal. I don’t think you can take a private Art collection, house it, spend public money, do private tours, I don’t think that is the right thing under the Texas Code,” said Bettencourt. The state senator out of District 7 doesn’t believe the actions taken by Ellis and his office is legal. Bettencourt said this bill is to ensure accountability at the state level if the Ogg’s office does nothing. Bettencourt indicated he cannot speak to federal operations, but he can speak to the state and its laws.

Students in the Houston Independent School District -- the state’s largest school system -- are struggling academically and struggling far more than normal. It’s survival mode.”In a statement to KPRC 2, HISD confirmed that 42% of their students failed one or more classes in the first grading period of the fall, which was six weeks long. That grading period was nine weeks long and all in-person instruction. “Additionally, to support students who are facing academic challenges, interventions are in place during the school day. Also, high school students can attend virtual online classes for credit recovery.”Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a known critic of the school board, believes any solution needs to be hyper-focused on the students.

HOUSTON – The Harris County’s toll road system is described as one of the best and most financially successful urban toll road systems in the country. The system, which includes the Sam Houston Tollway, Hardy Toll Road, Westpark Tollway, Tomball Tollway, and Katy Freeway Toll Lanes, covers 128 miles across the county. In 1983, Harris County voters approved the Hardy and Sam Houston toll roads with the intent that the toll money would be used for expansion, maintenance, and improvements. But last month, Judge Lina Hidalgo, along with County Commissioners Rodney Ellis and Adrian Garcia, passed a new measure from the Harris County Toll Road Authority, or HCTRA, to create a publicly funded corporation to fund the system. “Our tolls should be spent on the people of Harris County,” Hidalgo said.

HOUSTON As Anthony Campbell puts it: Power runs a long way.Thursday night, parts of The Woodlands and Conroe, found out this truth the hard way. The loss of power the result Hurricane Lauras powerful landfall 200 miles away in Cameron, Louisiana, two nights ago. Man, I was really surprised, said Campbell in regards to the devastation in Louisiana linked to power outages in Montgomery and Galveston counties. In order to avoid losing the whole grid for the region, they redirected power away, which produced the blackouts in Texas. Entergy reported back at normal operations by Friday afternoon, with less than 200 customers in Conroe and The Woodlands still experiencing issues.

Now, some homeowners are calling on the Harris County Appraisal District to cut taxpayers some slack. Taxpayers’ plea for relief“Here’s your stimulus check for $1,200; and here’s your bill for $4,000 for your property tax,” quipped retired southwest Houston homeowner Ed Hobson. “We have to follow the state tax code.”Barnett said the tax code requires that properties in Harris County be appraised on Jan. 1 of every year. Rather than changing the tax code and laws, he said taxing and other government agencies will have to be flexible. What you can do if your property appraisal increasedLike every year, you can protest your appraisal online using iSettle or iFile.

Schools across the state now have access to a list of teachers who have crossed the line with students in the past. The Texas Education Agency rolled out the ‘Do Not Hire Registry’ this week which serves as a database for employers. Also, it created a registry of individuals who are not eligible for hire in a Texas public school based on misconduct or criminal history. In 2017 the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 7 which addressed inappropriate teacher student relationships and added more penalties. This piece of legislation, Senate Bill 1256 was amended to Senate Bill 3 and cost about $1.7 million.