No time to follow every twist and turn of the Texas Legislature? We’ve made it easier for you with our weekly recaps of the action under the dome.
Austin
Posted in
Guides
Texplainer: Do Capitol Offices Select Their Own Hold Music?
Anyone in the habit of calling state legislators has probably had the pleasure and/or pain of the hold music to which staffers must occasionally subject them. Is the music the lawmakers’ choice, or is it out of their hands?
Posted in
Public Education
Legislators and the Great Balancing Act of 2011
Legislators have to choose between mobs — one under the Gadsden Flag with the snake and motto “Don’t Tread on Me”, the other a recent phenomenon under signs like, “If you can read this, thank a teacher.”
Posted in
State Government
VIDEO: Will 90 Lawmakers Approve Tapping Rainy Day Fund?
Does tapping the Rainy Day Fund have 90 House votes to move on to the Senate — and how much will the process of getting there damage the even bigger task for lawmakers of setting the next biennium’s budget?
Posted in
Higher Education
UT System Reassigns O’Donnell: “We’re Listening”
Top officials at the University of Texas System said in an interview Wednesday that they are moving quickly to allay the concerns regarding the direction of UT, starting with the reassignment of Rick O’Donnell.
Posted in
Higher Education
Six Degrees of Jeff Sandefer: Reform and Texas Higher Ed
The recent hiring of Rick O’Donnell as a special adviser to the board of regents at the University of Texas System has some observers — worried about the implications for the University of Texas at Austin — playing connect the dots.
Posted in
Higher Education
Prominent UT Alumnus Warns of “Degradation” at University
Prominent University of Texas alumnus Gordon Appleman says recent changes at the UT System Board of Regents “seemed important enough to where I ought to do something rather than sit by and watch it happen.”
Posted in
State Government
Election Contest Committee Sides With Howard
The House Election Contest Committee unanimously voted today to uphold Rep. Will Hartnett’s determination that Donna Howard won the long-disputed HD-48 seat.
Posted in
State Government
3.2 Billion From Rainy Day
Texas House Appropriations committee approves use of 3.2 billion of rainy day fund for 2011 budget.
Posted in
State Government
Appropriations Votes to Spend $3.1 Billion From Rainy Day Fund
Late Tuesday afternoon, the House Appropriations Committee voted 27-0 to move HB 275 to the floor. The substitute bill authorizes the state to draw down about $3.1 billion from the Rainy Day Fund.
