The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality safeguards the state’s natural resources, but this week a federal judge found the agency responsible for the deaths of 23 whooping cranes — a ruling with potentially wide-ranging consequences. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/WhoopingCranes.jpg)
A day into his run for land commissioner, Republicans are already feeling bullish about George P. Bush. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/GeorgePBush.jpg)
The House Insurance Committee heard debate Tuesday on a bill that would prohibit the coverage of elective abortions in minimum state health plans, and would require women to opt into and pay more for abortion coverage. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Smithee12CMS.jpg)
John Massey, the board president of the University of Texas Law School Foundation, said in a legislative hearing on Tuesday that the organization made "mistakes" in the operation of its now-defunct forgivable loan program. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/03/12/_01F7559.jpg)
Your evening reading: George P. Bush announces candidacy for land commissioner; Senate panel approves prosecutor accountability bill; Dewhurst trying to woo major gun manufacturer to Texas Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/George-P-Bush-2.jpg)
Two lawmakers have filed legislation that would allocate state funding for education programs that exempt veterans or their dependents from tuition payments. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/f9020240a31b8656aa09d1f9c65fb731/BD%20INC%20Van%20de%20Putte%2001%202011)
As gun control discussions heat up at the state and federal level, it's open season on firearm manufacturers' business. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is hoping to bag Beretta USA — currently based in Maryland — and bring it to Texas. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Dewhurst-2.jpg)
George P. Bush told state election officials Tuesday he will run for land commissioner in 2014. He had previously filed papers required for anyone raising campaign funds in the state, but hadn’t officially specified what office he might seek. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/Groege-P-Bush.jpg)
A day after the premiere of a documentary about his tragic wrongful conviction, exoneree Michael Morton sat before a Senate panel and pleaded with them to approve a law that would ensure accountability for prosecutors. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/bce733f35178779863cded8ff67137d6/BD%20INC%20Morton%20SB825%202013)
As state legislators consider what “a Texas solution” to Medicaid expansion would look like, others have begun addressing the question of how Medicaid expansion would affect the state budget and local taxes. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/03/05/D54H6034.jpg)
For this week's nonscientific survey of insiders in government and politics, we asked whether state judges are paid enough, and whether judicial salaries should be unlinked from lawmakers' own pensions. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/inside_intelligence-logo-Hahn-sponsorship.jpg){kind=logo}
House members unanimously approved a bill largely devoted to addressing a shortfall in Medicaid. Health providers for poor children and the disabled in Texas won't get paid starting Thursday unless Gov. Rick Perry signs the bill soon. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/b869b88e4ffe4bd0903bcc3e576758af/BD%20INC%20Straus%20Pitts%2002%202011)
Criminal defense lawyers who have led the fight against reciprocal discovery proposals in Texas are renewing their battle cries. The lawyers say the measure is unnecessary, expensive and wouldn't prevent wrongful convictions. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/0ee7eeb58cd8f863459efe1f6e208623/DO%20NOT%20USE%20Duncan%20Morton%20Ellis%202013)
Climate change may be a settled science for many researchers, but as a recent forum at the University of Houston Law Center showed, the debate among some scientists in Texas is still raging. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/82958f558958c0a737fdb6399b6d989d/BD%20INC%20Climate%20Map%20Portrait%202012)
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, the state's largest health insurance provider, is launching a campaign aimed at getting Texans enrolled in health plans through an online marketplace created by federal health reform. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/03/11/Be-Covered-Docs.jpg)
As soon as November, Texans could vote on whether to impose term limits on statewide officials. Under a proposal that would first require approval from the Legislature, certain offices would be limited to two consecutive four-year terms. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/CapitolSandtimer.jpg)
University of Texas at Brownsville President Juliet García, Antioch University Chancellor Felice Nudelman and Steven Mintz, of the University of Texas System's Institute for Transformational Learning, discuss rapid changes facing higher education. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/Screencap.jpg)
Protesters on Monday attempted to turn up the heat in the simmering legislative debate over public education in Texas. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/AustinHighHallway.jpg)
Ask any of the estimated 2,700 members of the American Federation of Teachers who came out Monday for the group's lobby day, and they’ll tell you their top priority is restoring the $5.4 billion in cuts made last session to public education. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/Ed_Rally2.jpg)
Amid a broader legislative push to help former prisoners re-enter society, state lawmakers on Monday were encouraged to limit the legal liability of businesses that hire ex-prisoners. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/02/16/PEP_SLIDE011.JPG)