The Evening Brief: April 8, 2013
Your evening reading: prospects dim for bill that would cut early-voting period; Carona touts gambling measure ahead of committee hearing; Craddick says he meant to vote against anti-voucher amendment Full Story
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Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Carona Sets the Stage for Hearing on Gambling Measure
"You never really know when a major issue like this will find a break or an opportunity to be passed," state Sen. John Carona said Monday of proposed legislation that could lead to the legalization of casino gambling in Texas. Full Story
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Bill That Cuts Early-Voting Period Likely to Be Pulled
A bill that would slash the number of days allowed for early voting is likely to be pulled after scathing testimony Monday from opponents who said the bill was discriminatory and retrogressive. Full Story
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Credit: Amy Qualls-McClure -
Texas Roads Paved With Taxes, Tolls and Debt
Voters want better roads. Lawmakers want happy voters. Roads require taxes, tolls, debt or some combination of the three, which is why conservative officeholders are using those three dirty words. Full Story
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Credit: Bill Jacobus -
The Medicaid Expansion Merry-Go-Round
Republican legislators who want to use federal Medicaid expansion dollars are struggling to find common ground between the Perry administration in Texas and the Obama administration in Washington. But they're trying. Full Story
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Four UT System Regents Call for Special Meeting
Amid heightened tensions with state lawmakers, four University of Texas System regents have called for a special meeting of their board, likely to be held this week. Full Story
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The Playlist: We Can Work It Out
This week's news-inspired playlist is entirely dedicated to Thursday's budget debate in the Texas House. To set the stage, we begin with Stevie Wonder singing "We Can Work It Out." Full Story
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Texas Weekly Newsreel: Medicaid Expansion, the Budget and CPRIT
This week in the Newsreel: Gov. Rick Perry says no again to Medicaid expansion, the Texas House starts debate on a new state budget and the Senate approves CPRIT reform legislation. Full Story
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Video: Grant Recipients Monitoring CPRIT Debate
A proposed overhaul of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas has made it through the state Senate. It’s not clear whether the House is ready to do the same for the agency. Those who have seen the benefits of CPRIT firsthand are closely watching what happens. Full Story
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Credit: Todd Wiseman -
For Budget Vote, House Had a Women's Health Negotiator
One lawmaker is getting much of the credit for restoring family planning funding to the House budget without the usual floor fight: state Rep. Sarah Davis, R-West University Place. Full Story
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A House Less Susceptible to Political Stampedes
In 2011, state lawmakers fresh from a Tea Party election surge were hypersensitive to the opinions of and instructions from conservative activists. But as Thursday's House budget debate showed, this session isn't quite the same. Full Story
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TribLive: A Conversation About Transportation
Full video of Aman Batheja's 4/4 TribLive conversation with state Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, and state Rep. Larry Phillips, R-Sherman. Full Story
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Reluctance to Expansion of Health Care in Texas Has a Familiar Ring
If the state government's resistance to expanding Medicaid sounds familiar, it's because something like this happened when George W. Bush was governor, and conservatives were wary of the Children's Health Insurance Program. Full Story
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Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman -
Agenda Texas: Behind the Scenes of the Budget Debate
On the latest Agenda Texas, from KUT News and the Tribune: While there was plenty of action on the floor as the House debated a budget bill on Thursday, we took a look at the work being done outside of the chamber. Full Story
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![Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, has left the House, and would-be successors are lining up.]()
Credit: Bob Daemrmich -
The Brief: April 5, 2013
A few bursts of drama punctuated an otherwise tame day of debate over the House budget on Thursday. Full Story
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House Drops Whitmire's Capitol Smoking Ban in Preservation Bill
Updated: The House on Monday passed Senate Bill 201 without any debate, and without Sen. John Whitmire's amendment to prohibit smoking on Capitol grounds. Whitmire has said he will fight for his amendment when the two chambers reconcile differences in a conference committee. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
House Members Prepare for Long Budget Debate
Texas House members are expected to debate well into the night Thursday as they take up the lower chamber's budget proposal, which includes 267 amendments. Full Story
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The Brief: April 4, 2013
A marathon budget debate today may keep House lawmakers at the Capitol past midnight. Full Story
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Project Explores Effect of Family-Planning Cuts Across Texas
A new website and database released by the Texas Policy Evaluation Project explores the impact of cuts made in 2011 to state family-planning services, breaking down information on the county and district level. Full Story
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Data App: Ethics Explorer
With the addition of more than a dozen statewide elected officials to our Lawmaker Explorer — including Attorney General Greg Abbott and Comptroller Susan Combs and the state's railroad commissioners and Supreme Court justices — we're renaming it the Ethics Explorer. Full Story
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