Students Talk Sex at the Capitol
High school and college students from across Texas came to the Capitol today to talk sex ed with lawmakers. Full Story
High school and college students from across Texas came to the Capitol today to talk sex ed with lawmakers. Full Story
Abolishing the state's two existing juvenile justice agencies and creating one new department to prevent crime and treat and punish young offenders could save Texas up to $150 million, lawmakers said today. Full Story
The biggest hurdle getting an abortion sonogram bill passed this session may be good old-fashioned stubbornness. Full Story
Former state Rep. Jim Dunnam, D-Waco, is back in the game with a new Texas First Foundation he says will pursue policy solutions across party lines. Full Story
Your afternoon reading: Ron Kirk a contender for commerce secretary; Sunday liquor sales debated; Dick Morris calls Ron Paul "horrific" Full Story
The B-On-Time Loan Program offers sweet savings if you are a student. But if you are an institution of higher education, the program might be costing you anywhere from a few thousand to millions of dollars. Full Story
At the Tribune's New Day Rising symposium on Feb. 28, four political consultants talked about how the emerging Hispanic majority in Texas will impact voter turnout and candidates and campaigns in 2012, 2014 and beyond. Full Story
During Tuesday's Senate Education Committee meeting, senators considered legislation that could dramatically change the way school districts operate — including two bills that target the dreaded "unfunded mandates." Full Story
Deadlock over two competing bills could block abortion-sonogram legislation's path to the governor's desk. Full Story
We've updated our elected officials directory this week to include the names and e-mail addresses of legislative staffers in the 82nd session now that the House Research Organization has released a complete list. Full Story
Texas Democrats are advertising their displeasure with the budgets being proposed by Gov. Rick Perry and House and Senate leaders. Literally. Full Story
The Association of American Universities, widely considered the gatekeeper to coveted tier-one status, has strongly criticized the Texas A&M University System's new policy of tracking the money spent on and generated by each individual professor. Full Story
Texas history supporters came out in force today to tell the Senate Finance Committee why the Texas Historical Commission should be saved from a 77 percent budget cut. Full Story
Your afternoon reading: Supreme Court says Hank Skinner can sue; Perry makes Rainy Day plea; bad news for Craig James Full Story
At the Tribune's New Day Rising symposium on Feb. 28, former state demographer and former U.S. Census Bureau director Steve Murdock talked extensively about demographic change in Texas. Full Story
The U.S. Supreme Court has given Texas death row inmate Hank Skinner another chance at getting DNA testing done on evidence he says could prove he did not kill his live-in girlfriend and her two sons in 1993. Full Story
Today, Gov. Rick Perry will try to put the brakes on House Republicans, who appear readier than ever to tap the Rainy Day Fund. Full Story
To keep critical jail inspections going even as they cut funding to the agency that provides them, lawmakers are proposing that the counties pay for them. Full Story
A House committee may vote this week to spend more than $4 billion of the state's Rainy Day Fund to help close the state's current budget gap. As the fight heats up over whether to draw from the $9.4 billion fund, Matt Largey of KUT News takes a look at where all that money came from anyway. Full Story
For the latest installment of our nonscientific survey of political and policy insiders, we asked what it would mean to make deep cuts to public education, as proposed by the House, the Senate and the governor. Full Story