The numbers prove it: State government is shrinking. Many attribute the drop in state jobs to the budget cuts lawmakers passed last legislative session. But agencies had been preparing for the deficit by dropping employees for more than a year.

In his October 2010 interview with the Tribune, Gov. Rick Perry defended the state's record retentions policy, which permits his office to destroy e-mails after seven days.

Urban luxuries — say, running water — aren’t guaranteed everywhere in Texas. The state Department of Rural Affairs helps rural Texans get basic amenities, but the agency is on Gov. Rick Perry's budget chopping block. 

For the latest installment of our nonscientific survey of political and policy insiders on issues of the moment, we asked whether colleges can deliver on Gov. Rick Perry's prompt for a $10,000 bachelor's degree.

Did it just get easier for governmental agencies in Texas to delay releasing public information? 

The Texas Ethics Commission and the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts are opening up more of their data to the public at no charge.