The Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday approved a bill to reform the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas and the “scope-of-practice” bill that would increase the prescriptive power of advanced practice nurses.

A decision by the Texas Railroad Commission has paved the way for an open-pit coal mine to begin operating on the Texas-Mexico border. Opponents of the plan are weighing their options, which include making a request for another hearing.

The new chairman and vice chairman of the Texas Ethics Commission board on the state’s disclosure rules, their efforts to prioritize certain types of ethics complaints and the reforms they anticipate in the 83rd legislative session. 

There will be no pay raise for legislators this year. The Texas Ethics Commission, at the urging of Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Joe Straus, declined to raise the per diem payments lawmakers get when they're in session.

Texas prisons are running low on hygiene products that are not considered necessities for inmates, including toothpaste and deodorant. Family members and inmates are frustrated as state officials try to find a contractor.

A little-noticed piece of the fiscal cliff deal approved by Congress this week could mean a windfall for the new Formula One racetrack in Austin. The so-called NASCAR tax credit allows racetracks to potentially write off millions of dollars in costs.