Senate Debates "Non-Tax Revenue"
The Texas Senate, digging publicly for money while it battles quietly over a proposed budget, approved a "non-tax revenue" bill that would make $4.3 billion available for spending over the next two years. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, Sen. Carlos Uresti, Sen. Robert Duncan and Sen. Dan Patrick review amendments to Senate Bill 16, the abortion sonogram bill.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Video: The Week in Texas Politics Recap: Apr. 25 to Apr. 29
No time to follow every twist and turn of the Texas Legislature? We've made it easier for you with our weekly recaps of the action under the dome. Full Story
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Perry Temporarily Gives Up His Personal Email Account
Anyone planning to email Gov. Rick Perry for the remainder of this session need not bother trying to reach him on his personal account. He won't be using it. Full Story
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![March 23rd, 2011 at the Frank Erwin Center.]()
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SB 4 Sparks Quarrel Between Shapiro, Teachers Groups
A bill authorizing a major rethink of teacher evaluation in Texas public schools has teachers organizations scuffling with Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Florence Shapiro, R-Plano. Full Story
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
House Gives Early OK to TxDOT Sunset Bill
Consider it a do-over. The House today tentatively approved the Texas Department of Transportation Sunset bill, the measure that last year sent lawmakers into a surprise special session. Full Story
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![State Rep. Linda Harper-Brown (l), R-Irving, discusses TXDOT sunset legislation with State Rep. Yvonne Davis, D-Dallas, at the Texas House on April 29, 2011.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
UT President, A&M Professor Tussle With TPPF
At a panel hosted by the Texas Public Policy Foundation today, Bill Powers, the president of the University of Texas, and Robert Strawser, an accounting professor at Texas A&M University and the speaker of its faculty senate, responded to the conservative think tank's proposed higher education reforms. Full Story
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The Midday Brief: April 29, 2011
Your afternoon reading: budget could hit Senate on Monday; Zaffirini may let higher ed bill die; House committee OKs yacht tax break Full Story
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Where Are Perry's Emergency Items?
With fewer than five weeks left in the regular session, none of Gov. Rick Perry's emergency items — voter ID, sanctuary cities, sonograms for women getting abortions, a federal balanced budget amendment, and eminent domain protection — have made it to his desk. Full Story
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![Gov. Rick Perry delivering his State of the State address on Feb. 8, 2011]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Senate Approves "Bath Salts" Ban
The Senate today passed a bill that would make it illegal to make "bath salts," a drug that can have effects similar to cocaine or amphetamines and can be bought legally online or in smoke shops. Full Story
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The Brief: April 29, 2011
Comptroller Susan Combs, whose office exposed the Social Security numbers and other data of millions of Texans, struck a decidedly new tone Thursday. Full Story
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Guest Column: The Case for Higher Ed Accountability
Taxpayers and students make considerable financial investments in Texas universities. As such, they deserve excellence in both teaching and research. Full transparency and accountability are needed to ensure that neither of those priorities is shortchanged. Full Story
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Accused Wait Years, Face Backlog to Fight Abuse Registry
More than 2,000 people listed in a statewide database of people who mistreat children are caught in a backlog of cases waiting for appeals, many with their careers and families hanging in the balance. Full Story
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![A 2011 photo of Melissa and Gary Gates with seven of their 13 children on the Gates' 150-acre property in Richmond, Texas. From left to right: Melissa, Marcus, Gary, Cassie, Sarah, Cynthia, Andy, Raquel and Lexi.]()
Credit: Todd Spoth -
Guest Column: What Would Elmer Kelton Say?
The greatest chronicler of drought and wildfires — the person everyone in Texas turned to for perspective at times like these — is no longer with us to make sense of it all. But according to his son, he'd see an a silver lining in all the devastation. Full Story
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Bill Aims to Expand Organ Registry, Save Lives
Lawmakers are hoping nonprofit organizations can do a better job of recruiting organ donors and saving lives. HB 2904 would transfer management of the state-run organ-donation registry from an agency to a new collaboration of nonprofits, a shift supporters say will reduce the number of Texans who die while waiting on the list. Full Story
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Senate Approves Major Homeland Security Bill
You wouldn't know it by the miniscule amount of debate Thursday, but the Senate approved what some lawmakers called the most significant piece of homeland security legislation filed this session, a measure civil liberty groups worry is a major encroachment on civil rights. Full Story
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![Texas Department of Public Safety patch worn on a uniform during an April 7, 2011 graduation ceremony in Austin.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
House Tentatively OKs New Juvenile Justice Agency
Texas youths who get crossways with the law could soon find themselves under the supervision of a new state juvenile justice agency whose main mission is to keep young offenders close to home and quickly headed in a more positive direction. Full Story
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![State Rep. Jerry Madden, R-Plano.]()
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House Democrats Applaud Senate's Budget Delay
House Democrats are applauding the Senate's delay in taking up what they call a “woefully inadequate” appropriations bill. Full Story
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Senate Approves Medicaid Savings Bill
The Senate unanimously approved Sen. Jane Nelson’s bill to find extensive cost savings in Texas’ Medicaid program, the primary health care provider for children, the disabled and the very poor. Full Story
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Combs: "I Am Responsible" for Security Breach
Comptroller Susan Combs now says she takes full responsibility for the data exposure. Some of her initial comments criticized the agencies that sent the data to her office. Today she says, "We're the last door. We're it. And as head of the agency, I am responsible." Full Story
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Senate OKs Teacher Evaluations
The Senate passed a bill today designed to ensure that all public school educators make the grade — by creating a teacher evaluation system. Full Story
Credit: Bob Daemmrich
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