It’s no secret the Texas Department of Transportation is broke. Texas Transportation Commission Chair Deirdre Delisi tells the Tribune’s CEO/Editor-in-Chief Evan Smith just how broke the agency is.
The Road Funding Hole
Posted in
Health care
TribBlog: Half of Texans Support Suing Over HC Reform
The latest Rasmussen poll reports 56 percent of likely Texas voters support suing the federal government to stop health care reform from becoming law.
Posted inState Government
The Brief: April 21, 2010
Today, the Texas Ethics Commission votes on a rule reacting to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision allowing corporations to spend money in elections.
Posted in
Health care
Slipping Through the Cracks
What’s in an IQ score? For autistic or profoundly mentally ill Texans: everything. A growing number of disabled young adults are considered too high-functioning for state care services, but their families say they’re too dangerous to go without them. Admission to state-supported living centers is limited to disabled people with IQs under 70 — and community-based care is generally capped at an IQ of 75.
Posted in
State Government
Slideshow: Borderline IQ
What’s a mother to do when her autistic, suicidal son is too dangerous to live on his own — but has too high of an IQ to qualify for state care services? A day with Karen Bartholomeo and her adopted son, Cameron.
Posted inState Government
The Ditch: Not the I Word!
When the recession hit and people stopped shopping, sales tax dollars dried up quickly, contributing to the multibillion-dollar shortfall that lawmakers will soon face. What to do? Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune contemplates a hugely unpopular alternative.
Posted in
Energy
Fort Stockton vs. Claytie
A West Texas town is challenging an oil tycoon and former GOP gubernatorial nominee over the depletion of its municipal water source. Whether David defeats Goliath is up to an 11-member groundwater conservation district.
Posted in
Demographics
TribBlog: Border Rep. to Congress: “We Are at the Tipping Point”
Border lawmakers are asking Congress for hundreds of millions of dollars for border security before “the violence unfolds across the Rio Grande.”
Posted in
Health care
Dewhurst: “Dramatic” Increase in Taxes Possible
Lt. Governor David Dewhurst says the state will have to “dramatically increase taxes” or undergo major cut backs in programs like public safety or education as a result of federal health care reform.
