Fewer than one-third of Texas students entering four-year universities graduate within four years. A new report released on Thursday offers some ideas for improving that and other sobering higher education statistics.
April 2013
Posted inState Government
Bill Casts Light on Mental Health Care in Solitary Confinement
An estimated 25 percent of Texas inmates in solitary confinement suffer from mental health issues. A bill in the Legislature would create a task force to find out more about these prisoners and provide them with safer alternatives.
Posted in
Bidness As Usual
Legislators Dip Into Campaign Accounts to Boost Their Staff’s Pay
Lawmakers spend thousands of dollars from their campaign accounts to supplement the salaries of their staffs. It’s a legal and long-standing practice, but some ethics experts say it presents the potential for conflict.
Posted in
State Government
Legislators Facing Charges Can Get Courtroom Pass
While state code allows lawmakers due in court to delay their appearance while the Legislature is in session, most waivers for those charged with crimes result from simple agreements between the defense, prosecutors and judges.
Posted inState Government
The Brief: April 18, 2013
With a small Texas town still reeling from a massive plant explosion on Wednesday, details of the blast’s destructive toll are beginning to emerge.
Posted in
State Government
A Rumor of Peace
It’s a little funny to talk to people at the Capitol who have been steeled in a culture of political warfare about the outbreak of peace. Many differences remain, but those blood veins that were sticking out on everyone’s foreheads and necks in 2009 and 2011 have smoothed out. For the moment, Texas civics is downright civil.
Posted in
Health care
Galveston Public Housing Plan Moves Forward
After months of back-and-forth with the General Land Office over the rebuilding of public housing units demolished after Hurricane Ike, the Galveston City Council voted Wednesday to adhere to terms set by the land office.
Posted in
Politics
Agenda Texas: Bond Rating Battle
On the latest Agenda Texas, from KUT News and the Tribune: Texas lawmakers are poised to spend billions out of the state’s Rainy Day Fund, but some say tapping the fund will lower the state’s bond rating. So what’s the truth?
Posted in
Demographics
Bill Would Let Undocumented Immigrants Get Driver’s Permit
Members of the House State Affairs Committee on Wednesday seemed amenable to a bill that would allow undocumented immigrants a permit to drive after passing a background check and a driving test.
Posted inState Government
The Evening Brief: April 17, 2013
Your evening reading: U.S. Senate nixes Cornyn and Cruz gun measures after rejecting background check deal; state House passes texting-while-driving ban; Cornyn’s Texas office evacuated after mail scare