All three of Gov. Greg Abbott's University of Texas System regent appointees were confirmed by the Texas Senate on Wednesday. Two of the appointees drew a small number of dissenting votes.

Texas House budget writers put the final touches Thursday on a two-year budget that offers a different approach to boosting funding for transportation from the Senate.

The House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety voted out a sweeping border security bill on Wednesday. Before the vote, House members were assured on the measure's limits.

State Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, made headlines after calling attention to the removal of a "Former Fetus" sign outside his office put up to protest the presence of Planned Parenthood supporters on Wednesday. The rep who removed the sign, House Administration Chairman Charlie Geren, said the next day that the House is "not a college dormitory."

Senators tackling state procurement reform learned at a hearing Wednesday that the current state contracting system is so fragmented that no one knows the total value of the state's current contract.

As legislators considered several early education bills Tuesday afternoon, testimony was dominated by a debate over what standards school districts should meet to get additional state funding and whether districts should offer full-day or half-day programs.

Four Democrats have filed to run in the March 31 special election for House District 124, the Bexar County seat formerly held by now-Sen. José Menéndez.

A Mexican Mafia hit man convicted for his part in the 1998 capital murder of a San Antonio woman was executed Wednesday evening, leaving the state prison system with only enough drugs for one more execution.

Texas House leaders unveiled a plan Tuesday to shore up the state's chronically underfunded retirement system for employees that requires workers to pay more into the system, but gives them a pay raise to offset the cost.

Disclosure: Planned Parenthood is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Texas Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.