Amid an ongoing scandal over how the state awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to a private company, the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday approved Senate Bill 20, which would overhaul the state’s contracting processes.
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.
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Health care
Post-Scandal, Lawmakers Changing Gears on Health Agency
As the state’s largest health agency reels from a scandal over how it awarded contracts to private vendors, lawmakers on Wednesday said they are slowing down on their ambitious — and controversial — plan to restructure it.
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Criminal Justice
Texas Sues Feds Over Benefits for Same-Sex Couples
The state of Texas is suing the Obama administration for giving medical leave benefits to certain same-sex couples, according to an announcement Wednesday from Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Bill Would Bar Doctors From Asking About Guns
State Rep. Stuart Spitzer is afraid the federal government can use medical records to identify gun owners. Over the objections of the medical community, he has filed a bill that would prohibit doctors from asking patients whether they own a firearm.
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Health care
Competing Bills Filed Over End-of-Life Care for Pregnant Women
Lawmakers have filed two competing bills about who should have the authority to decide whether to terminate a brain-dead pregnant woman’s life — a preview of what promises to be a fiery legislative battle over end-of-life medical care in Texas.
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Politics
“Former Fetus” Signs Cause Stir at Capitol
Signs identifying some state lawmakers as former fetuses are generating controversy at the Capitol.
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Politics
House Panel Endorses Texting-While-Driving Ban
A bill that would ban texting while driving passed its first legislative hurdle Tuesday when lawmakers voted it out of the House Transportation Committee.
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Health care
GOP Lawmaker: Women “Will Die” Without Cancer Screening Funds
State Rep. Sarah Davis on Tuesday warned that proposed changes to a women’s health program — intended to gut funding for Planned Parenthood clinics — would put women’s lives in danger.
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Health care
Conservatives Join Push to Pay Care Workers More
Personal attendants help the elderly and disabled with daily tasks ranging from rising and eating to bathing and going to the bathroom. For that, the state pays them about $8 an hour. Gov. Greg Abbott and some fiscal conservatives want to raise their wages.
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Health care
GOP Leaders Say They Won’t Expand Medicaid
Leading Texas Republicans on Monday asked the Obama administration for greater flexibility to administer Medicaid — a move that has gotten little traction in the past — while reiterating that they would not participate in an expansion of the program under the Affordable Care Act.
