Republican leaders in Texas want the Legislature to take up redistricting this session. That’s a bad idea, writes Matt Angle, director of the Lone Star Project.
Austin
Posted in
Public Education
Charter Bill Brings New Faces to Education Debate
As lawmakers work on charter school legislation, lobbyists better known for their work in other areas have been showing up regularly at education committee hearings.
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State Government
Plenty to Spend, and Plenty of Anxiety About It
Two years ago, lawmakers couldn’t find the money they needed to run the government they had promised their voters. Now they have the money — and a completely different set of political problems.
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Health care
TribuneFest: Health Care and the 83rd Session
At the Trib’s April 25 symposium on higher education at the University of Texas at Austin, state Reps. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, and John Zerwas, R-Simonton, talked about Medicaid, mental health and more.
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Criminal Justice
Texas Weekly Newsreel: West, the Lottery and the Rainy Day Fund
In this edition of the Newsreel: The conversation in West turns to regulation, the Senate wants to ask voters to use Rainy Day Fund money, the House undoes the state lottery and then puts it back together, and some Texas prosecutors are in hot water.
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Bidness As Usual
Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggar Man, Lawmaker
Giving up 20 weeks of every other year to serve in the Texas Legislature is a lot easier if you don’t have to worry about the paycheck you’re missing at home. It is easier, in other words, if you’re rich.
Posted in
State Government
Perry Withdraws Texas Prison Board Nomination
Gov. Rick Perry withdrew his nomination of Annette Raggette of Austin to the Texas Board of Criminal Justice on Wednesday afternoon, citing conflict-of-interest concerns.
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Public Education
TribLive: A Conversation About School Finance
On April 19, I talked with former House Public Education Committee chairmen Rob Eissler and Kent Grusendorf, former vice chairman Scott Hochberg and attorney David Thompson about the perennially unresolved question of how the state should fund public education.
Posted in
State Government
The Love-Hate Relationship With Transparency
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.
Posted in
Public Education
Texas Weekly Newsreel: Testing, Texting, Taxes
In this edition of the Newsreel: A Senate committee approves an education bill cutting some current requirements for high school diplomas, the House wants to make texting and driving a crime, and the governor calls for tax cuts.
