Lawmakers, scrounging for cash in a tight-fisted legislative session, agreed to dip into the state’s savings account and to make use of an accounting trick using funds set aside last session for highway projects.
Edgar Walters
Edgar Walters worked at the Tribune from 2013 to 2020, most recently covering health and human services. Before that, he had a political reporting fellowship with the Berliner Zeitung, a daily newspaper in Berlin. He is a graduate of the Plan II Honors Program at the University of Texas at Austin, where he worked as an editor for The Daily Texan. When not in the newsroom or at the Capitol, he could be found on the volleyball court, standing 6 feet, 7 inches tall.
Posted in
State Government
Senate budget writers approve bill to plug two-year-old funding holes
The Texas Senate Finance Committee has voted to spend about $800 million in state funds to cover a Medicaid shortfall in the current two-year budget.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas Sen. Carlos Uresti indicted on fraud, bribery charges
A federal grand jury handed state Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, two indictments Tuesday: one for his involvement in a now-bankrupt company accused of misleading investors and another for alleged bribery surrounding a government contract.
Posted in
Health care
State fraud investigator forced to resign over ties to Iraqi government lobbying
Stuart Bowen, inspector general for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, resigned amid revelations that he was moonlighting for a private firm that provided services for the government of Iraq.
Posted in
State Government
Texas House votes to cut business tax that funds public schools
The Texas House on Thursday approved a proposal that would phase out an unpopular business tax that provides funding for public schools.
Posted in
Economy
Texas House to debate franchise tax cut that would hit public schools
Businesses dislike the franchise tax because they say it’s overly complicated and can punish them in less-prosperous years. But critics warn the tax cut would harm public schools and other government programs.
Posted in
State Government
Senate budget “unambiguously” unconstitutional, House leadership says
In a letter sent Tuesday, an attorney for two House leaders urges Attorney General Ken Paxton to side against a $2.5 billion accounting trick proposed in the Texas Senate’s version of the state budget.
Posted in
Public Education
Texas made a school district take in more students. But will it help fund them?
As lawmakers debate possible reforms to the school finance system this week, they might decide whether to continue offering extra funds to districts like Texas City ISD, which last year was forced to annex a struggling district next to it.
Posted inState Government
How do the Texas House and Senate budgets compare?
Both chambers have passed state budgets that spend around $218 billion but significant differences remain. With just a few weeks to go before the end of the session, here’s a look at the key sticking points.
Posted in
Health care
House lawmakers take a stab at funding for trafficking victims
A Texas House member’s proposal would cut $3 million from Gov. Greg Abbott’s homeland security budget and give it to victims of human trafficking.
