The chairman of the political science department at Rice University recently ranked Texas House members’ partisanship based on their 2009 legislative votes. Our interactive chart highlights what he describes as Texas’ increasingly polarized political environment.
Austin
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State Government
TribBlog: New Doc at Workers’ Comp
After the exodus of at least half a dozen employees and swirling questions about its lack of enforcement against unscrupulous doctors, the Division of Workers’ Compensation has put a new man in charge of the investigations. The former executive director of the Texas Medical Board, Dr. Donald Patrick, started Monday.
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Health care
TribBlog: Not That Kind of Shot
What do college students and preschoolers have in common?
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Criminal Justice
Data App: Personal Finance
Politicians, candidates and other state officers are required to disclose their personal finances, to discourage conflicts of interest and, according to the law, “strengthen the faith and confidence of the people of this state in state government.” Yet getting these documents isn’t easy, so we’ve put all 3,070 available online.
Posted inState Government
Pat Dixon: The TT Interview
Texas Libertarian Party Chairman Pat Dixon helped get the Party on the ballot in 2004 and to keep it there ever since. He talked with The Tribune about Libertarians, how they relate to the two major parties in Texas, what’s going on with the Green Party right now, and whether third parties stand a chance in state elections.
Posted inState Government
TT Interview: Pat Dixon 7/7
The Texas Libertarian Party chairman talks about the Party, how it relates to the two major parties in Texas, what’s going on with the Green Party right now, and whether third parties have a chance in state elections.
Posted inState Government
TribBlog: TEA’s Scott “Happy to Scrap” Projection Measure [Updated]
Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott has been taking heat for ducking questions from reporters and a legislator regarding the Texas Projection Measure, the magic formula that last year suddenly moved thousands of Texas schools into higher state rating categories with little underlying achievement gain by students. He finally took questions from the Tribune, walking a fine line between defending the formula’s much-maligned statistical validity and saying it wasn’t his idea in the first place and, as he put it, “I’m happy to scrap it” if legislators and other critics have a big problem with it.
Posted in
Energy
Alternating Current
Since 1999, when then-Gov. George Bush signed a law that deregulated the Texas electricity market, a debate has raged about whether and how much the move has benefitted ordinary Texans. Who’s right?
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Higher Education
TribBlog: Not OK With the KKK
University of Texas President Bill Powers has decided it’s time to rid the campus of a name that is a reminder of white hoods and racist atrocities: Ku Klux Klan leader William Stewart Simkins.
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State Government
Faking the Grade
Last school year, the Texas Education Agency implemented a new “growth measure” purported to reward schools for improving student performance — even if they still fail state tests. The effect on state accountability ratings was immediate and dramatic: The number of campuses considered “exemplary” by the state doubled, to 2,158. But a new analysis shows the projections of future student success may be wrong as much as half the time.
