UPDATED: The Texas Senate voted unanimously Wednesday to pass Senate Bill 11, which would require applicants to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program to pass a drug test to receive benefits.
Austin
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State Government
Senate Passes Measure That Requires Drug Tests for Welfare Applicants
UPDATED: The Texas Senate voted unanimously Wednesday to pass Senate Bill 11, which would require applicants to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program to pass a drug test to receive benefits.
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Criminal Justice
Proposal: Allow Private Firms to Provide Mental Health Services in Jails
Private mental health care providers would be allowed into select jails to attempt to restore inmates to competency under a proposed pilot program. The restored inmates would then be able to stand for trial.
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State Government
Texas Roads Paved With Taxes, Tolls and Debt
Voters want better roads. Lawmakers want happy voters. Roads require taxes, tolls, debt or some combination of the three, which is why conservative officeholders are using those three dirty words.
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Politics
Texas Weekly Newsreel: Medicaid Expansion, the Budget and CPRIT
This week in the Newsreel: Gov. Rick Perry says no again to Medicaid expansion, the Texas House starts debate on a new state budget and the Senate approves CPRIT reform legislation.
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State Government
The Playlist: We Can Work It Out
This week’s news-inspired playlist is entirely dedicated to Thursday’s budget debate in the Texas House. To set the stage, we begin with Stevie Wonder singing “We Can Work It Out.”
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State Government
Video: Grant Recipients Monitoring CPRIT Debate
A proposed overhaul of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas has made it through the state Senate. It’s not clear whether the House is ready to do the same for the agency. Those who have seen the benefits of CPRIT firsthand are closely watching what happens.
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Economy
A House Less Susceptible to Political Stampedes
In 2011, state lawmakers fresh from a Tea Party election surge were hypersensitive to the opinions of and instructions from conservative activists. But as Thursday’s House budget debate showed, this session isn’t quite the same.
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Health care
Reluctance to Expansion of Health Care in Texas Has a Familiar Ring
If the state government’s resistance to expanding Medicaid sounds familiar, it’s because something like this happened when George W. Bush was governor, and conservatives were wary of the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
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State Government
House Drops Whitmire’s Capitol Smoking Ban in Preservation Bill
Updated: The House on Monday passed Senate Bill 201 without any debate, and without Sen. John Whitmire’s amendment to prohibit smoking on Capitol grounds. Whitmire has said he will fight for his amendment when the two chambers reconcile differences in a conference committee.
