Updated at 3:03 p.m.: With another video from the first day.

Texas lawmakers kicked off the 2019 legislative session Tuesday, the first of 140 days of debate over hundreds of bills, only a fraction of which will become law.

The House and Senate gaveled in at noon, after which the House voted for a new speaker. After being drafted by dozens of Republicans in late October, Angleton GOP Rep. Dennis Bonnen secured enough votes to declare the race finished.

We've written about the daunting task ahead of Bonnen, who'll have to walk a fine line between giving enough to keep political bases happy and giving too much.

All of our recent coverage leading up to the session is available on our new interactive site, Texas Tracker: Your Guide to the State Legislature. If you're a Dallas Morning News subscriber, you can customize the feed by clicking the issues you want to follow, and you'll see only posts matching those topics.

And remember that ABC News cartoon that helped us all learn how a bill becomes law? In the spirit of Schoolhouse Rock, we'll be releasing videos that will help inform you about how the Legislature works, how it's different from Congress, who the leaders are and what they're up to. You can find the first installment in the series here.

Austin correspondent Lauren McGaughy took video of Gov. Greg Abbott addressing the Senate on Tuesday:

And here's Abbott speaking in the Texas House:

.@GovAbbott says Speaker @RepDennisBonnen will be great not only for the House, but for all of Texas. #txlege pic.twitter.com/UBxahod0sa — Texas Politics (@DMNPolitics) January 8, 2019

McGaughy also appeared with Gromer Jeffers Jr. to discuss the first day and the upcoming session.

We’re live — again! — from the first day of the 2019 meeting of state lawmakers. #txlege https://t.co/JnjN4R3jS4 — Lauren McGaughy (@lmcgaughy) January 8, 2019

To follow our Austin reporters, see their Twitter feeds below.

Robert T. Garrett

Lauren McGaughy

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