Does the GOP have a Joe problem?
The Brief: June 18, 2010
Posted in
Economy
Face-Off: The Shortfall
While the right and left don’t agree on much, both sides stipulate that the state’s budget mess is a multibillion-dollar problem. In the debut of our new video series, the executive director of the progressive Center for Public Policy Priorities, former state district judge Scott McCown, and the director of the Center for Fiscal Policy at the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation, former state Rep. Talmadge Heflin, debate the best way to dig us out of the hole — and how we got into it in the first place.
Posted in
Environment
Takeover Imminent
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has tweaked some of its air quality rules in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s attempt to wrest control of Texas’ permitting authority. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune has this report.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Cuts That Cost
After shocking abuse was uncovered at Texas Youth Commission facilities in 2007, lawmakers successfully overhauled the state juvenile justice system. Three years later, advocates worry that budget woes will halt that progress.
Posted in
Economy
Scott McCown vs. Talmadge Heflin
The executive director of the progressive Center for Public Policy Priorities and the director of the Center for Fiscal Policy at the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation, debate the best way to dig out of Texas’ multi-billion-dollar budget shortfall.
Posted in
State Government
2010: WFAA: Harper-Brown Under Ethics Cloud
Tribune news partner WFAA-TV reports that state Rep. Linda Harper-Brown, R-Irving, and her husband are driving cars owned by a highway contractor doing millions of dollars in business with the state. All the while, Harper-Brown sits on the influential House Transportation Committee.
Posted in
Health care
TribBlog: Gallego Wants “Fight Club” Investigation
State Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, has asked the House Committee on General Investigating and Ethics to review how the Department of Family and Protective Services licenses, reviews and oversees residential treatment centers for foster kids.
Posted inState Government
White: Perry Works Seven Hours A Week
As Gov. Rick Perry tours China as part of an economic development trip, his opponent, Democrat Bill White, is accusing the governor of working an average of seven hours a week. “Leadership starts at the top,” White said, promising to put in more hours on the job if he’s elected.
Posted in
Energy
TribBlog: Joe Barton Says Sorry to BP Chief [Updated]
U.S. Rep. Joe Barton apologizes to BP chief executive Tony Hayward, saying that the $20 billion escrow account for spill victims set up by the White House and BP on Wednesday amounts to a “shakedown.” Later Thursday, he retracted his apology to BP, and apologized himself.
