A Head Start on the Big Stuff
With eight weeks to go in the legislative session, lawmakers got a running start at their big issues: water, education and the budget. Full Story
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Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Cable and Satellite Providers Square Off Over Tax Break
Cable TV providers are asking lawmakers to let them out of $200 million in sales taxes to offset local franchise fees their satellite competitors don't have to pay. Some lawmakers are worried about the state programs that would go unfunded as a result. Full Story
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Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman -
Texas Lawmakers Fight Over Medicaid Expansion
Gov. Rick Perry and other top GOP leaders said Medicaid is broken, and adding more Texans to the program would bankrupt the state. Expansion advocates said it would reduce the state's uninsured population, largely on the federal dime. Full Story
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Leaders Make Case For, Against Expanding Medicaid Under ACA
The Texas rhetoric around a key tenet of federal health reform reached a high-water mark on Monday, with back-to-back press conferences at the Capitol featuring political leaders on both sides of the aisle. Full Story
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Texas Weekly Newsreel: Education, Water, Faith and Family
This week in the Newsreel: The Legislature makes progress on key education and water bills; Rep. Ron Reynolds, D-Missouri City, is busted for barratry; and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst bares his partisan teeth. Full Story
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Video: Amid Medicaid Expansion Debate, Kolkhorst's Health Care Math
State Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, the Republican chairwoman of the House Public Health Committee, gives a whiteboard math lesson in this video posted by Gov. Rick Perry's office. Full Story
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TribLive: Cigarroa and Sharp on Higher Ed Funding
At this morning's TribLive conversation, University of Texas System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa and Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp talked about the per-student decline in state funding of higher education and whether excellence is achievable on a lean budget. Full Story
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For Strama, Education Interests Hit Close to Home
As state Rep. Mark Strama, D-Austin, detailed his objections to House Bill 5 on Tuesday, what he did not mention is that whether students enroll in challenging courses and the number of state exams they must take could affect his livelihood. Full Story
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Tom Luce Resigns From CPRIT Board
Dallas attorney Tom Luce has resigned from the board of the embattled Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas to head the education-focused O'Donnell Foundation. Full Story
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The Brief: March 28, 2013
Key legislation aimed at easing the state's water woes took a major step forward on Wednesday. Full Story
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House Budget Spends More Than Senate's on Schools, Less on Medicaid
Both the House and Senate are proposing spending about $194 billion over the next two years. But there are key differences between the two plans. Full Story
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The Brief: March 27, 2013
The bizarre tale of a prison gang's plot to murder a Texas state senator has quickly come to an end. Full Story
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Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
The Evening Brief: March 26, 2013
Your evening reading: graduation requirements dominate education debate in House; state leaders reaffirm opposition to gay marriage; state representative booked into jail on barratry charges Full Story
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Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Reynolds Booked Into Montgomery County Jail
State Rep. Ron Reynolds, D-Missouri City, walked into the Montgomery County Jail on Tuesday morning to be booked on two counts of barratry. In a statement released Monday night, he maintained his innocence. Full Story
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Legislators Take Up Windstorm Insurance Reform Bills
Legislators, coastal residents and insurance leaders agree it will take a dynamic approach to reform the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association. The Senate Business and Commerce Committee discussed four TWIA bills Tuesday. Full Story
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Hot Seat: A Conversation with Fraser and King
At last Friday's Hot Seat conversation at Abilene Christian University, state Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, and state Rep. Susan King, R-Abilene, talked about public education, health care, water, the state budget and other issues in play in the 83rd session. Full Story
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Lawmaker Hopes to Boost Hispanic Civic Engagement
In an attempt to increase civic participation among the state's growing Hispanic population, state Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, has filed a bill to make legislative information from the state House available on the internet in Spanish. Full Story
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Transparency Bills Draw Strange Bedfellows
This session’s effort to make state government more transparent and ethical — spearheaded by some of the Legislature’s most conservative members and its most liberal ones — has attracted the strangest of bedfellows. Full Story
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Agenda Texas: Water Bill Hits the House Floor
On today's Agenda Texas from KUT News: Bills are flying out of committee and onto the House and Senate floor. This week the House will take up legislation that would fund the state's water plan with $2 billion from the Rainy Day Fund. Full Story
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Arrest Warrant Issued for Reynolds Over Alleged Barratry Scheme
Nearly a month after the Harris County DA dropped barratry charges against Rep. Ron Reynolds, the Montgomery County DA has issued a warrant for his arrest in connection with an alleged quarter-million-dollar kickback scheme. Full Story
Credit: Bob Daemmrich
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