As the 87th Texas legislative session resumes after a two week adjournment, efforts to ban taxpayer-funded (TPF) lobbying are back in the spotlight. Considered priority legislation by the Republican Party of Texas, bills were once again filed by State. Rep. Mayes Middleton (R—Wallisville) in the House, and State Sen. Bob Hall (R—Edgewood) in the Senate.

The last campaign finance reports to be filed by Texas state-level candidates before Election Tuesday were due October 26 to the Texas Ethics Commission. With that latest update, all available pre-election campaign finance data for the 2020 election cycle is now included in Transparency USA’s Texas database.

We’ve all been thinking about nothing except coronavirus news. But whether we are paying attention or not, the 2020 election season is moving forward. Here’s a quick five minute explainer to bring you up-to-date about all things related to the money in Texas politics. Check out these top ten takeaways about what’s happening so far for 2020: