Speaker Joe Straus appointed members to committees today, shuffling the assignments in a Texas House where one in four members is a freshman and where Republicans have a two-to-one numerical advantage.
Austin
Posted in
Higher Education
Students Rally for UT Funding
Cries of “Texas fight” and “It’s 8:45, and we’re still underfunded” rang across a crowd of nearly 100 students, who marched to the Capitol this morning to rally for adequate funding for the University of Texas.
Posted in
Public Education
Texas Democrats Blame Republicans for Budget Blues
Gov. Rick Perry’s State of the State speech on Tuesday was part pep rally, part budget proposal, with a dash of national politics. And, as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, Democrats weren’t charmed.
Posted in
Public Education
State Democrats Accuse Perry of “Ponzi Scheme”
State Democratic lawmakers responded to Gov. Rick Perry’s State of the State address Tuesday, calling his budget proposals a “Ponzi scheme.”
Posted in
Economy
Perry: Protect Rainy Day Fund
Gov. Rick Perry told lawmakers Tuesday he is against tapping the state’s $9.4 billion Rainy Day Fund to close the budget shortfall: “That approach would not only postpone tough, necessary decisions.”
Posted in
Public Education
Doggett Responds to Perry Jabs
That “certain Texas congressman” whom Gov. Rick Perry called out in his address today for blocking federal education money responds. U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett says Perry’s jibe “says less about the state of the state and more about his own state of denial.”
Posted in
Higher Education
University of Texas President Bill Powers Hospitalized
University of Texas President Bill Powers has been hospitalized with a pulmonary embolism.
Posted in
Economy
Perry to Push Colleges to Offer $10,000 Degree
Gov. Rick Perry will challenge the state’s colleges and universities to offer a $10,000 bachelor’s degree, including books, in his State of the State speech later this morning, according to sources familiar with some of the proposals.
Posted in
State Government
Visualizing Rick Perry’s State of the State
Gov. Rick Perry has delivered five previous State of the State speeches. Has his emphasis on certain words and themes changed over the years? We created word clouds of the past addresses to find out.
Posted in
Economy
Senators Grill Education Agency Over Cuts
At the Texas Education Agency’s first appearance before the Senate since the release of a budget that reduces school funding by $9.3 billion, senators called for a “full picture” of the state’s spending on public education.
