Many themes we’ll see as the Legislature convenes are as historic as the Capitol’s pink dome, writes University of Houston professor Brandon Rottinghaus.
Robert Inks
Robert Inks was the night news editor at the Tribune from 2015 to 2018. Before joining the Tribune, Robert copy edited for several newspapers in and outside Texas. He also was a writer and editor for online global affairs website Stratfor and a project manager for newspaper publisher GateHouse Media. Robert is an Austin native and a UT-Austin graduate.
Posted inState Government
The Brief: Rep to file “celebratory gunfire” bill after hit by stray bullet
After being hit by a stray bullet fired into the air in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day, Rep. Rep. Armando Martinez, D-Weslaco, said Monday he’s planning to file a bill in the coming legislative session to reduce or prevent celebratory gunfire.
Posted in
2016 Year in Review
Trump the top topic for TribTalk in 2016
Election years in Texas are never for the faint of heart, but 2016 proved even more chaotic than usual — and everyone who wrote for TribTalk had an opinion on the direction the state and country are headed.
Posted inState Government
New in TribTalk: Protecting foster kids
Texans recognize that the problems at Child Protective Services are not with the hardworking people in the agency but are the natural result of legacy thinking, which trusts the state to institutionalize, engineer and manage families, writes Brandon J. Logan of the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
Posted inState Government
The Brief: Texas moves to end Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood
In a move that could affect thousands of low-income women, state health officials on Tuesday delivered a final legal notice to defund Planned Parenthood from the Medicaid program through which it provides family planning and women’s health services to the poor.
Posted inState Government
The Brief: Texas electors make Trump’s victory official
Thirty-six of Texas’ 38 electors voted for Donald Trump at a Monday afternoon meeting at the Capitol, enough to put the real estate mogul over the 270-vote tipping point to be confirmed as the next president of the United States.
Posted inState Government
The Brief: Texas electors set to cast presidential votes amid national attention
Texas’ 38 electors are set to meet at 2 p.m. Monday in the state Capitol to cast their votes for president, and the vote — generally a footnote in a presidential election — will be unusually closely watched this year.
Posted inState Government
The Brief: Texas executions, death sentences trend downward in 2016
This year, Texas is set to execute the lowest number of people in two decades, and juries in the state have handed out the second-fewest death sentences since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.
Posted inState Government
New in TribTalk: Fetal remains
The fetal remains rule move places an additional barrier on women who seek to exercise their constitutional right and represents another attempt to shame and restrict access to abortion care, writes Nancy Cardenas of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health.
Posted inState Government
New in TribTalk: Texas House power shifts
In 2015, Democrats were less frequently able to keep legislation they opposed off of the floor or gain majority backing for legislation they supported than in previous sessions, writes political scientist Mark P. Jones.
