The Brief: March 4, 2015
Senate budget writers in the middle of what they are describing as "Tax Relief Week" expressed remorse en masse at having created the business margins tax in 2006. Full Story
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![Senators Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen and Craig Estes, R-Wichita Falls, listen to DPS Director Steve McCraw testify Dec. 1, 2014 at the Legislative Budget Board meeting at the State Capitol.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
State Urges Judge to Keep Immigration Plan on Hold
The Texas attorney general’s office said Tuesday that President Obama’s own actions should convince a federal judge to keep a controversial immigration plan on hold. Full Story
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![President Obama talked about the U.S. economy in a speech on July 10, 2014, at the Paramount Theatre in Austin.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Senators Show Interest in Ditching Margins Tax
As a key Senate committee prepares to hear public testimony on tax cut proposals Wednesday, senators expressed strong interest in repealing the state's unpopular margins tax on businesses, which has raised $4.7 billion annually. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman / Paul Hudson -
Texas Households on Food Stamps Almost Tripled Since 2000
In 2013, 1.3 million Texas households received food stamps — up from 505,968 in 2000, according to figures released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. Full Story
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![Tiger Whitehead and his children Logic and Domnick, who used SNAP and the Sustainable Food Center Farmer's Market double dollars coupons, shops at the farmer's market at 2835 East MLK Blvd. in Austin on March 19, 2013.]()
Credit: Spencer Selvidge -
Congress Fully Funds Homeland Security
The 8,900 U.S. Border Patrol agents stationed on Texas’ border with Mexico can clock in next week knowing they’re still going to get paid after Congress on Tuesday voted to fund the Department of Homeland Security through September. Full Story
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![U.S. Border Patrol agents patrolling in the Rio Grande Valley.]()
Credit: Julian Aguilar -
Conservative Group's Robocalls Target UT Admissions Report
After a recent report showed that some University of Texas at Austin applicants received help securing admittance over the admissions office’s objections, conservative activists are calling Texans at home and asking them to take action. Full Story
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![UT President Bill Powers speaks during a UT Board of Regents meeting on July 10, 2014.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
GOP Group Targets Gohmert on Homeland Security Funding
After a week of legislative chaos over funding the Department of Homeland Security, a Republican group is running ads in U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert's East Texas district, looking to build support for a DHS funding bill. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, is shown at the annual alumni Aggie Muster on April 21, 2012, at Camp Leatherneck in Afghanistan's Helmand Province.]()
Credit: Lance Cpl. Catie D. Edwards -
Patrick Unveils First Round of Education Proposals
Virtual learning, A-through-F school ratings and teacher quality were among the topics covered by broad slate of education reform bills announced by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Education Chairman Larry Taylor on Tuesday. Full Story
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![New Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick emphasizes school choice as one of his top legislative priorities at a Texas Tribune event on Jan. 27, 2015.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
State Waits for Directions to Declassify Colonias
The state has worked for decades to halt the proliferation of colonias, but it has no way to declassify communities that have outgrown the colonia description. Full Story
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![A young girl plays outside her home in the Pueblo de Palmas colonia near Mission, Texas, on Aug. 29, 2013.]()
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Analysis: A Desire for Tax Cuts and a Call for Restraint
As state officials rush to announce tax cuts, a former mayor now in the Senate is pleading for a little restraint and a return to pay-as-you-go government. Full Story
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![Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, is congratulated by Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, in passing changes to Senate rules on Jan. 21, 2015.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Conservatives Join Push to Pay Care Workers More
Personal attendants help the elderly and disabled with daily tasks ranging from rising and eating to bathing and going to the bathroom. For that, the state pays them about $8 an hour. Gov. Greg Abbott and some fiscal conservatives want to raise their wages. Full Story
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![People with disabilities protest at the Texas Capitol against budget cuts to home and community-based services on March 1, 2011.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
New in Trib+Health: Changes on Tap at Med Schools
In this week's edition of the Trib+Health newsletter: Changes ahead for medical schools, most parents favor vaccines for preventable diseases and an interview with Bruce Meyer, executive vice president for health system affairs at UT Southwestern. Full Story
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Vaccine Debate Puts Spotlight on State Registry
When patients in Texas turn 18, they have to give the state permission to keep their vaccination records in its electronic registry. Otherwise they're expunged. But some lawmakers and doctors are attempting to change that. Full Story
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The Brief: March 3, 2015
In a House committee hearing on Monday, one witness sought to redefine the climate change debate as one with clear implications to national security. Full Story
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Ahead of Netanyahu Speech, Cruz Weighs In
During an event that had an unmistakable political charge, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz spoke Monday about how a nuclear Iran presents an existential threat to Israel. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz on the Republican stage election night Nov. 4, 2014.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
New Sheriff Arrives at Troubled Health Agency
The new chief watchdog for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission told lawmakers Monday he plans to right the embattled department by going after fraud and waste outside and inside the $37 billion state social services empire. Full Story
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New in TribTalk: Simpson on Drug Laws
"I don’t believe that when God made marijuana he made a mistake that government needs to fix," writes state Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview. Full Story
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More Troopers, Less Surging Under GOP Border Bill
The border security bill unveiled by House Republicans on Monday is supposed to end the sporadic surges and establish a systematic, consistent state law enforcement presence on the border. Full Story
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![State Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, discusses his border security bill.]()
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Former Land Commissioner Bob Armstrong Dies at 82
Bob Armstrong died Sunday night at age 82. He served as land commissioner for 12 years, and later at the U.S. Department of the Interior. "He was a lover of Texas," says one of his successors. Full Story
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![Three former Texas land commissioners — (l-r) Jerry Patterson, Bob Armstrong and Garry Mauro — at the swearing-in ceremony of Land Commissioner George P. Bush on Jan. 2, 2015. Armstrong, 82, died March 1, 2015.]()
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At Hearing, Climate Change Called a "Threat Multiplier"
A Democratic state lawmaker on Monday kicked off efforts to force a discussion about climate change in Texas, but he faces an uphill battle in a state where most Republican leaders don't believe it is a problem. Full Story
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![Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, during a Texas Tribune event on Feb. 21, 2013.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera
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