Nothing scares the good men and women of state agencies more than one word: Sunset. But where did the Sunset Commission get its name?
Guides
Looking for information on how to prepare for a weather emergency? Or do you have questions about Texas politics? The Tribune offers several resources, such as explainers, guides, and articles to provide answers and equip Texans with the right context. You can browse our collection of articles to understand how Texas politics and policies affect you.
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Texplainer: What Happened to SO 6?
The DMV numbers and assigns each plate to each state office, from the governor on down. So how come I’ve never seen State Official 6 on the road?
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Guides
Texplainer: Can the Lege Overrule Perry on Education Money?
Gov. Rick Perry has said he can’t sign an application to receive $10 billion in federal education aid because it requires an assurance he cannot constitutionally make: that the Lege will not use the money to offset state funding of public education.
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Texplainer: Will My Electricity Bill Go Up Because of the Blackouts?
Lots of Texans are asking that question in the wake of last week’s electricity mess, and nobody’s going to be happy with the answer, which is: “It depends” (if you ask the electricity industry); or “Yes” (if you ask consumer advocates).
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Texplainer: Could Texas Fire Up Old Sparky?
The short answer is yes — and no. It’s still around, and would work if it was plugged in. But it can’t be used for executions in Texas anymore.
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Texplainer: What’s a Tier-One University?
There’s no universal definition but essentially, the term refers to the country’s top research-focused universities. While there are specific benchmarks to be considered part of that group, some aren’t clear or rely purely on perception.
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Guides
Texplainer: Where Do I Park at the Capitol?
There are almost 1,600 parking choices when you come to see your lawmakers in action under the pink dome — though a fraction of them get reserved for special interest groups.
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Texplainer: What is Chubbing?
If there’s one thing that politicians are good at, it’s talking. And chubbing is a kind of talking that’s used to stall legislation in the Texas House. While state representatives do have the power to talk something to death, this session it will be harder to do than in the past.
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Texplainer: When Did Texas Actually Secede?
Most media organizations put the date of Texas secession as Feb. 1, 1861 — 150 years ago today. But the reality was a little more complicated.
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Guides
Texplainer: What is UTIMCO?
The simple answer: It’s the acronym for University of Texas Investment Management Company, a nonprofit company with a single client, the University of Texas System (and, to a lesser extent, the Texas A&M University System). With the universities it serves under pressure not to hike tuition rates even though fewer state dollars are flowing their way, the company’s performance will be under intense scrutiny this session — and UTIMCO officials are still recovering from last session’s showdown over their generous bonuses. To explain all this for us, we called in an expert: CEO Bruce Zimmerman.