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Ross Ramsey co-founded The Texas Tribune in 2009 and served as its executive editor until his retirement in 2022. He wrote regular columns on politics, government and public policy. Before joining the Tribune, he was editor and co-owner of Texas Weekly. He did a 28-month stint in government with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Before that, he reported for the Houston Chronicle, the Dallas Times Herald, as a Dallas-based freelancer for regional and national magazines and newspapers, and for radio stations in Denton and Dallas.
Picture this day in the Texas House: A major education overhaul, a new business tax (and several other taxes) to pay for it, a vote on property appraisal caps, another on a statewide property tax, and a vote on expanding gaming in Texas to allow high-tech slot machines and dog and horse tracks. Full Story
Can you remember a particular State of the State speech? That's not meant as a slap at Gov. Rick Perry — we're just noting the historical significance of the form. What's useful about these spiels is that they tell you what direction a governor hopes a Legislature will take. It's where Perry said he wanted a reexamination of some death penalty issues four years ago, for instance. This year, his list was devoid of surprises, but gave listeners a sense of his direction. Some highlights: Full Story
Two weeks ago, the smart guys were betting there'd be $1 billion to $2 billion in red ink in the state's starting budget. Instead, it's in the black, though it will probably swing from one inkwell to the other in the next few weeks. Full Story
Piece number one fell into place Monday, when Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn announced the state's financial fortunes have improved over two years ago and the ugly budget fight that ensued then might be avoided this time around. Budgeteers, nervous about Strayhorn's steady political attacks on Gov. Rick Perry, were braced for worse news. Instead, her numbers were within a hair's breadth of their own predictions about state income. Full Story
Everybody in School Finance Land seems to agree the state needs a new "broad-based business tax" to help buy down local property taxes. You can hear those four words from Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, and from House Speaker Tom Craddick. You'll hear them a lot more over the next six months. Full Story
This is the last issue of Texas Weekly for 2004. We're taking two weeks off and will return in the first week of January, in time for the government and political fun to begin all over again. Thanks for your support this year: We appreciate your business and wish you a wonderful holiday season. Full Story
A kind of inertia surfaces in the parlor speculation of political people that follows every big election. Top-of-the-ballot stuff is so well trodden that you can talk about whether She will challenge Him and everybody in Texas knows what you're babbling about. But while most eyes are focused on two of the state's top officeholders, other ambitions are being stoked. No one has declared for anything yet — except for Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson and Gov. Rick Perry, the only two statewides who say they'll definitely seek reelection — but trial balloons fill the sky. Full Story
Three Republicans who apparently lost on Election Day are officially questioning the results, contending the numbers at the bottom of the ledgers in those contests don't reflect the legal votes. A fourth who was considering a challenge decided to let it rest. Full Story
U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and other federal officeholders might be able to use their federal accounts for state races after all. That big fat federal appropriations bill kicked out of Congress in the last few hours before Thanksgiving includes a change in campaign finance law that would allow candidates to transfer money from their federal campaign accounts to state accounts. Full Story
To recall the business half of an old curse, these are interesting times in Texas politics and government. The Texas Legislature is coming back for a regular session in January, faced with the usual stuff. There's a state budget to write, difficult even when everything's humming and it's not. They have business fights to referee: workers' compensation insurance, tort reforms (particularly asbestos), and health insurance for people on the job. The state's health and human services safety net for children and adults is so fouled up that the state agency in charge has been indicted. The agency that oversees that and all other HHS programs is in the middle of a complex and controversial reorganization. Pour on local issues, pet legislative issues, social issues and so on that make up the rest of a regular session and you have a busy time. But that's normal. Look at what else is in the in-box: Full Story