Legislation has to go through committees before the entire House or Senate can have a look. It’s a way of dividing up the work and getting things straightened out as much as possible before they get the full treatment from the Legislature. But there’s a pecking order involved. And that’s when the COW gets called in.
Austin
Posted in
Economy
TribBlog: Senate Starts Right Away on Budget
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst announced he will name the Senate’s committees on Thursday or Friday of this week, with one exception. He wants the Senate Finance Committee to get going right away, and named that panel this afternoon.
Posted in
Economy
TribBlog: Senate Would Cut $28.8 Billion from Budget
The Senate’s version of a starting state budget is, at $158.7 billion, $2.3 billion bigger than the House’s, but still would chop overall state spending by $28.8 billion, or 15.4 percent, from current levels.
Posted in
Economy
A Chicken Little Budget
Whatever budget lawmakers eventually approve will serve as the working blueprint for the state for the two years starting in September. But the budget released last week isn’t a blueprint — it’s a political document. It marks the shift from the theoretical rhetoric of the campaigns to the reality of government.
Posted in
State Government
The Weekly Recap: Jan. 17 – Jan. 21
Take a look back at the top political news from Jan. 17 to Jan. 21.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Science Commission Members Frustrated With Willingham Investigation
Members of the Texas Forensic Science Commission expressed concerns today about the progress — or lack thereof — in the case of convicted arsonist Cameron Todd Willingham before ending a yet another meeting without a decision about the evidence that was used to send the Corsicana man to the death chamber in 2004.
Posted in
State Government
Climbing the Ladder
What happens if Gov. Rick Perry or Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst decide to run for federal office and win, creating a vacancy — or two — in Texas? That sound you hear is a herd of GOP pols rushing to update their resumes.
Posted inState Government
On the Records: Charting the 2010 Campaigns
The 2010 political campaigns are over, but looking back at the fundraising and spending that financed them is now fully possible thanks to records made public by the Texas Ethics Commission after Tuesday’s filing deadline.
Posted in
State Government
ICYMI: The Senate Two-Thirds Debate
In case you missed it, we mashed up Wednesday’s speeches for and against the Texas Senate’s hallowed “two-thirds rule,” which senators ultimately preserved. Members voted to keep an exception to the rules that allows a simple majority to consider changes to voter identification laws.
Posted in
Higher Education
A Plea For Fairness
Every chancellor of a university system in Texas knows — down to the exact, excruciatingly precise percentage point — how much worse higher education fared than other agencies when their current budgets were cut. With the state facing a massive budget shortfall in the next biennium, the chancellors know they’re in for another round. But this time they’re adamant that they not bear a disproportionate share of the pain.
