The Evening Brief: Jan. 3, 2014
Your evening reading: Stockman in gray area with Bitcoin; Azle-area residents sound off on earthquakes; experts in Canada saying giving up citizenship easier than Cruz makes it appear to be Full Story
The latest Kel Seliger news from The Texas Tribune.
Your evening reading: Stockman in gray area with Bitcoin; Azle-area residents sound off on earthquakes; experts in Canada saying giving up citizenship easier than Cruz makes it appear to be Full Story
All eyes are on the Travis County Courthouse this morning as the move to remove the county's top prosecutor, Rosemary Lehmberg, enters the definitive final stages. Full Story
Former Midland Mayor Mike Canon said Saturday he will challenge state Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, in next year's Republican primary. Full Story
We have liveblogged each of the sessions in The 2013 Texas Tribune Festival's Higher Education track. Sessions included panel discussions on the future of higher education in the state, what's happening at non-flagship universities, governance and the role of regents, and the fight over paying student-athletes. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry issued more than two dozen vetoes Friday, including a line-item veto that wipes out funding for the Travis County prosecutors who investigate government fraud and public corruption. He also vetoed a bill that would have had Texas law mirror gender wage protections in the federal Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. Full Story
Top Republicans say Texas Comptroller Susan Combs has teamed up with major oil company interests to fight reforms of species protection programs. Full Story
UPDATED: After the Senate concurred with amendments in the House, a bill adding restrictions and requirements for regents of the state's university systems is on its way to the governor's desk. Full Story
UPDATED: A divisive measure requiring the disclosure of certain unreported political donors passed the House on a 95-52 vote on Tuesday with little of Monday's debate. The measure now heads to Gov. Rick Perry. Full Story
The oil industry vigorously opposed efforts to list the threatened dunes sagebrush lizard as an endangered species. But three oil company lobbyists were given day-to-day oversight of the effort to save the reptile. Full Story
One Texan's transparency is another’s right to privacy, and people in politics generally find it easier to demand openness than to provide it. Full Story
Politically active nonprofits, which are playing an increasingly important role in state elections, would no longer be able to hide the identity of their major donors under a bill making its way through the Texas Legislature. Full Story
Amid mounting tensions between the University of Texas System and the Legislature, Senate Higher Education Chairman Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, is calling for Gov. Rick Perry to step in and calm the waters. Full Story
Sen. Kel Seliger, who co-chairs the Legislature's joint higher education oversight committee, said UT regents should have access to the information they have requested, but the committee wants to make sure it is being gathered and used appropriately. Full Story
State Sen. Kel Seliger, the Amarillo Republican who leads the Senate's Higher Education Committee, filed a bill Tuesday offering broad changes to student assessment and high school graduation requirements in the state. Full Story
Full video of my December 6 TribLive conversation with state Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, the chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee. Full Story
At this morning's TribLive conversation, state Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, the chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee, discussed the prospect of tuition reregulation and whether the state is adequately funding higher ed. Full Story
At the Trib's November 29 symposium on higher education at Texas A&M University, I talked tuition deregulation, changing demographics and other hot-button issues with state Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, the new chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee. Full Story
At our Hot Seat conversation at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, state Reps. Tom Craddick, R-Midland, and Tryon Lewis, R-Odessa, and state Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, discussed cuts to public and higher education and other by-products of the 82nd Session. Full Story
At last Friday's Hot Seat conversation at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, state Rep. Tryon Lewis, R-Odessa, and state Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, talked about the impact of cuts to public education. Full Story
At last Friday's Hot Seat conversation at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, state Reps. Tom Craddick, R-Midland, and Tryon Lewis, R-Odessa, and state Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, declined to endorse their party's likely 2012 presidential nominee. Full Story