The topic was a budget request from a state agency. The exchange grew emotional when a lawmaker pressed for answers about a strategic plan that praises diversity.

Texas lawmakers are banding across the aisle after Texas Rep. Brian Harrison's targeted questioning made an expert testifier cry during a committee hearing.

A usually mundane House Appropriations Committee hearing became tense as a Republican lawmaker probed members of the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), including two Black officials, about their hiring practices and accusing them of discrimination.