Add four East Texas state representatives to Rep. Ken Paxton’s list, bringing the McKinney Republican closer to a dozen-and-a-half votes in his quest for 76. Paxton is challenging Speaker Joe Straus for the top job.
2010
Posted inState Government
The Midday Brief: Dec. 21, 2010
Your afternoon reading: Texas nets four; Chisum wants a caucus vote; and a court halts the Willingham trial
Posted inState Government
TribBlog: Court Says Judge Can’t Continue Willingham Inquiry
Judge Charlie Baird abused his discretion when he didn’t recuse himself from considering a motion challenging his authority to conduct a court of inquiry in the Cameron Todd Willingham case, according to a ruling issued today.
Posted in
State Government
TribBlog: Force Play
The next speaker of the Texas House should be chosen by the Republican Caucus instead of the full House, says state Rep. Warren Chisum, and he has prepared a letter with 10 signatures that he says will force a caucus vote.
Posted in
Demographics
TribBlog: Texas Getting Four in Congress
Texas will get four extra seats in the U.S. Congress in the decennial apportionment process, bringing the total to 36, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today.
Posted in
Health care
TribBlog: A Medicaid Crisis?
Texas’ Medicaid program is in a “state of financial crisis,” according to an analysis of caseload and costs published by the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank. It’s the latest addition to the debate over whether Texas should drop out of the federal Medicaid program.
Posted in
Health care
TribBlog: Christus CEO On Tort Reform
Dr. Thomas Royer, president and CEO of the Christus Health System, says that if an error occurs at the hospital, the patient should be financially reimbursed — but not with limitless settlements. He has blogged a response to Sunday’s Texas Tribune/New York Times article on the effects of tort reform on the safety of Texas emergency rooms.
Posted inState Government
The Brief: Dec. 21, 2010
Add another job for the Legislature come January: election arbitrator.
Posted inState Government
On Your Left
Despite its relatively low number of people who walk and bike to work, Texas ranked 10th-highest among states in fatality rates for bicyclists and pedestrians in a recent survey. Lawmakers who worked on a failed 2009 measure to create a buffer zone, giving bicyclists more room on the road, will try again in 2011.
Posted in
Politics
Dick Trabulsi: The TT Interview
The president of Texans for Lawsuit Reform on why the group spends spend so much money on state elections, what it still wants from the Legislature, what he thinks the trial lawyers on the other side are after and what’s wrong with the Democrats these days.
