In the closing days of his last term in the Texas House, former state Rep. Bill Zedler, R-Arlington, used his legislative authority to obtain confidential records from the Texas Medical Board, The Texas Tribune has learned. His reason? To defend doctors who he believes were wrongly the subjects of misconduct investigations by the board, which licenses the state’s physicians.
Austin
Posted in
Politics
The Weekly TribCast: Episode 46
In our first TribCast recorded in front of a live studio audience, Evan, Ross, Elise and Ben discuss the results of the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll, Gov. Rick Perry’s new TV ad and the state’s looming budget deficit — is it even bigger than we thought?
Posted inState Government
Ads Infinitum: White Campaign on the Silver Screen
It may feature small actors, but the newest political ad for Democratic gubernatorial Bill White is destined for the big screen.
Posted inState Government
TribBlog: Riddle on “Godless” Liberalism
“I tend not to hold back,” said state Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, at a Wednesday morning TribLive event. True to her word, she went on to denounce what she referred to as the “liberal, progressive, godless way.”
Posted in
Congress
TribBlog: McCaul Addresses Reporting Error
U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, says his failure to report millions in stock transactions on financial disclosure reports from 2008 and 2009 resulted from a clerical error made by his accountant.
Posted in
Demographics
TribBlog: UT’s First Majority-Minority Class
For the first time in the school’s history, the freshman class at the University of Texas has more minority students than white students.
Posted inState Government
White on the Looming Debate Deadline
Wednesday is the Gov. Rick Perry-issued deadline in a long-running standoff over Bill White’s tax returns. Perry has said he won’t debate White unless the Democrat releases tax returns from the mid-1990s by Sept. 15. White explains in a news conference Tuesday why he won’t release the returns. If the standoff continues, this will be first time in 20 years that candidates for Texas governor haven’t met in a televised debate.
Posted in
Economy
Mind the Gap
Texas lawmakers will have their hands full filling a budget hole in 2011 of $18 billion or more, but the projected shortfall is great political fodder for candidates of both parties in 2010. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports.
Posted in
State Government
Explaining Closed Cases
In this clip from Monday’s testimony, Commissioner Rod Bordelon of the state Division of Workers’ Compensation explains why he dismissed several cases against doctors that a physician review panel had already sent to enforcement. Under questioning, he admits he looked into the process and subsequently shut it down after a call from state Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler.
Posted in
Politics
Perry by 6 in Volatile Race
Gov. Rick Perry leads Bill White 39 percent to 33 percent in the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll, whose most interesting finding is a restless electorate dissatisfied with conventional choices up and down the ballot. In the governor’s race, 22 percent of respondents said they were undecided about which candidate to support with only seven weeks to go in the fall campaign. Third-party candidates are capturing enough of the vote to affect the outcomes of some statewide contests. And 31 percent of respondents — nearly one in three Texans — consider themselves part of the Tea Party movement.
