Signing anti-tax pledges — as both of the leading Republican candidates for governor have now done — warms the hearts of gambling promoters. Not because Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison suddenly become proponents of casino gambling, but because gambling often gets stuck in a threesome with program cuts and tax increases and that setup is what made it legal to bet on bingo, horses, dogs, and the lottery in Texas. Full Story
Most elected officials greet a chairmanship with some excitement. Gail Lowe, the Lampasas Republican who recently became the chair of the State Board of Education, is approaching her new title with some apprehension. Full Story
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States are struggling mightily to fund Medicaid services in one the deepest recessions in recent history, according to a 50-state health care study released by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. States, many of them strapped by budget shortfalls, overwhelmingly reported being saved by the federal stimulus package, and said without it, they would have been forced to make serious cuts in Medicaid eligibility. Full Story
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Just days before it was set to review a case in which the state has been accused of executing an innocent man, Gov. Rick Perry replaced the chairman and two other members of an independent state forensics panel. Full Story
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More than two-dozen people have asked Gov. Rick Perry to appoint them to replace former Texas Supreme Court Justice Scott Brister, who resigned recently to return to private practice. Full Story
The executive director of the state's data and information technology agency stepped down last month. Brian Rawson, who spent the last three years overseeing the state's data consolidation and telecommunications efforts for the Department of Information Resources, will run "statewide data initiatives" for the Texas Education Agency. Full Story
Wedding bells rang for state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, this weekend in the tiny old mining town of Shafter, near Big Bend National Park. Full Story
El Paso District Judge Bill Moody said Monday that he plans to make a third run for the Texas Supreme Court. Full Story
Monday is K-Day. If Kay Bailey Hutchison quits before then, the election to replace her can be held on November 3. If she quits after that date, the replacement race will be held later. Full Story
Kay Bailey Hutchison rebounded in the most recent poll from Rasmussen Reports, but one of Gov. Rick Perry's hottest arguments rests on the rhetoric of "I'm from Austin; she's from Washington." And while the latest polling has the two gubernatorial candidates locked in a tight race, it's a contest that initially — almost a year ago — was polling strongly in Hutchison's favor. Full Story
The leader of Texas' largest business group said Wednesday that Gov. Rick Perry's new election promise to crackdown on employers who hire undocumented workers would be unfair and untenable. Full Story
The State Auditor says the Texas Education Agency’s process for monitoring average daily attendance in public schools needs a few adjustments. Full Story
Border officials say their communities aren't being overrun with "lawless hordes" of Mexican drug runners and people smugglers, and they said Gov. Rick Perry is painting an inaccurate scary picture of their home. Full Story
It may not be Mad Men, but the State Board on Education will begin broadcasting its meetings online on Wednesday. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry and former New York Mayor and GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani are traveling the state this week, touting anti-gang legislation and state border security efforts. Full Story
AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry gave Texas border sheriffs another $2 million for a virtual border wall of web cameras that in its first full year failed to meet nearly every law enforcement goal his office originally set. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry is expanding Operation Border Star, a multi-agency border security effort he launched in 2007, sending teams of Texas Rangers and National Guard troops to curb border crime and prevent spillover violence from Mexico. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry gave Texas border sheriffs another $2 million for a virtual border wall of web cameras that in its first full year failed to meet nearly every law enforcement goal his office originally set. Full Story
It's the Labor Day break, a traditional starting point for political adventurers (as opposed to explorers) who will face the judgment of primary voters in six months. Full Story
Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, won't face another challenge from wealthy El Paso businessman Dee Margo in 2010, but freshman Rep. Joe Moody might. Full Story