At the Texas Education Agency's first appearance before the Senate since the release of a budget that reduces school funding by $9.3 billion, senators called for a "full picture" of the state's spending on public education. Full Story
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After three days of testimony and today's closing arguments, state Rep. Will Hartnett, R-Dallas, is expected to recommend a winner of the disputed HD-48 seat on Friday. Full Story
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Obesity cost Texas businesses $9.5 billion in 2009, according to a report released today by Comptroller Susan Combs. It could cost them $32.5 billion annually by 2030. Full Story
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He was an Army veteran and a Houston security guard who had never been arrested until February 2002, when a fight with his wife sent Timothy Adams into a suicidal spiral. During a stand-off with police, Adams fatally shot his 19-month-old son twice in the chest — landing him a spot on death row. Full Story
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For our latest TribLive conversation, I sat down with the chairman of the House Public Education Committee to talk about the coming cuts to public ed: how big they're likely to be, the prospect of tens of thousands of teacher and non-instructional-staff layoffs and whether new revenue sources are on the table. Full Story
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State Rep. Armando Walle, D-Houston, has filed three bills aimed at regulating the practice of ticketing students for misbehavior in public schools. Full Story
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El Pasoans are not supposed to shower today. Or wash dishes, or do the laundry. The city is in the third day of a severe water shortage, which was partly caused by last week's rolling blackouts. Restrictions may be lifted tonight. Full Story
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Your afternoon reading: Texas faces lawsuits over education cuts; bill targets "sexting"; and El Paso nears end of water crisis Full Story
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"Sexting" — sending or receiving pornographic images via cell phones — should be a criminal offense for teenagers, say Attorney General Greg Abbott and Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin. Full Story
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More money is not the answer to our current woes. Just as anyone managing a household budget knows, when a family’s expenses grow beyond its income, the solution is to cut back — particularly if its spending habits resemble the state's. Full Story
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We need a balanced approach that uses our reserves and adds revenue. And we have to start by casting aside wishful thinking; we are writing the 2012-13 budget, with higher costs and increased enrollment in education and health care services — not some past budget. Full Story
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We asked three big thinkers in the Capitol community — Talmadge Heflin, Eva DeLuna Castro and Bill Hammond — to tell us what they'd do if they had the power to take on the budget shortfall themselves. Full Story
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We must continue to fight to ensure that we implement cost-saving reforms that reflect Texas' commitment to prosperity and to economic growth. But our current budget shortfall isn't a time to be penny-wise and pound-foolish. Full Story
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The causes may have been explained away, but the fallout from last week's rolling blackouts may just be heating up. Full Story
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With just 56 students, Marathon ISD is one of the state's smallest. But its fate is critical to the West Texas town's survival. And if what is happening here works, it could serve as a model for other towns looking to shield their way of life from the death knell of school closures. Full Story
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State Comptroller Susan Combs may test that question. She is considering a run for lieutenant governor in 2014. Full Story
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For the latest installment of our nonscientific survey of political and policy insiders on issues of the moment, we asked whether a Republican who supports abortion rights can survive a statewide primary, whether the sonogram bill on the governor's list of emergency items addresses a real or a political problem, whether it will pass and what other issues of interest to social conservatives might win approval from this Legislature this year. Full Story
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The keepers of numbers over in the LBJ Building, north of the Capitol, have confirmed to lawmakers what they warned them about in 2006: The legislation that cut local school property taxes and revised the state's corporate franchise tax didn't balance, to the tune of $10 billion a biennium. Full Story