In Texas, one arrest for possession of marijuana costs the taxpayer $2,000, takes the police officer off the street for about three hours, and fills a space in an already overcrowded jail system for at least one night. However, once House Bill 2391 goes into effect on September 1st, you'll no longer get immediately carted off to jail—it's now up to the officer's discretion to cite individuals found in possession of four ounces (a quarter-pound)......

Last Friday, Governor Rick Perry's office made it public that our Governor has vetoed -- among many other laws that have come to his desk from the Legislature this year -- House Bill 3457, a simple bill that sought to grant the State of Texas the power to prohibit the drivers of diesel school buses from allowing the engine to idle while the bus is parked "at a school or school event." The bill was......

Today, Governor Rick Perry officially recognized that when it comes to filmmaking, cash does indeed rule everything around us. After months of determined effort from the Texas Motion Picture Alliance, the Texas Film Commission, Rep. Dawnna Dukes and Sen. Bob Duell, Perry signed the dotted line on House Bill 1634, freeing up some $20 million in incentives to lure production crews--and the myriad jobs they generate--to the Lone Star State. The gaming industry also scores......

Hot on the heels of the Austin City Council rolling out the incentive red carpet to keep Friday Night Lights turned on, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 1634 this weekend, also known as the Texas Film Incentive Program. The bill, authored by Rep. Dawnna Dukes (Austin, represent!) and spearheaded by Sen. Bob Deuell (R-Greenville) along side our very own Governor Rick Perry, will set aside $20 million worth of incentives to entice future productions......

“Currently, students' voluntary religious expression is being treated as second-class speech, and sometimes worse, in public schools. School children are being censored and reprimanded at school, leaving them in fear of punishment for their religious beliefs. Due to hostility toward religious expression, children are being forced to defend their First Amendment rights in courtrooms all across Texas, and throughout the nation. “School districts' practices and policies continue to violate the free speech rights of students,......

Yesterday, on the floor of the Texas House of Representatives, Rep. Warren Chisum (R-Pampa) raised House Bill 2685, a bill that seeks to encourage couples to undertake "education courses" that would provide them with "the skills necessary to resolve marital conflicts, which will make for stronger marriages that are less likely to end in failure." Under this bill, Texans will be faced with an ultimatum under the law: take a State-designed marriage counseling course, or......

For those of you with the good sense to stay away from political news of late, you may want to actually pay attention to this one. As you are no doubt aware, somewhat-interested citizen, the Texas Legislature convenes every two years. During this six-month gallivant through the time-honored traditions of glad-handing, grand-standing, good-timing, soap-boxing and general ballyhoo, various bills are brought up for debate and possible passage. Thousands of bills are filed every session, but......

We're big fans of universal accessibility and all, but we were a little confused when we saw this bit in today's edition of PopBitch: A proposed new law in Texas would permit blind people to go hunting with guns. Needless to say, we immediately surfed over to BillHop.com to see what this could possibly be about, but came up empty. BBC News turned out to have the full scoop. Representative Edmund Kuempel (R-Seguin), vice chair......

One look at austinwirelesscity.org will give you a thorough list of wireless hotspots in this peach of a town. It doesn't take an astrobiologist to see that in Austin, at least, Internet access is fast becoming inevitable. In the state legislature, some folks don't see it that way. If House Bill 789 is passed, no Texas city would ever be allowed to connect its citizens to the Internet. We don't know about you, but we......