The starting gun for the debate over gambling fires this morning: Gaming interests inside and outside Texas are asking lawmakers to expand legal wagering to include either resort casinos, slot machines at race tracks, or some combination.
Austin
Posted inState Government
Making Nice
A brief meeting in a judge’s chambers Wednesday cut short a brewing turf war between HillCo Partners and two former lobbyists it had sued after they quit and took a stable of clients with them.
Posted inState Government
The Weekly Tribcast: Episode 36
Topics in this week’s TribCast include the Green Party’s ballot access battle, lobbyists suing lobbyists and whether the Farm Bureau will sway any voters in the race for Texas governor.
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Health care
TribBlog: Broke and Broken
Rural health advocates asked state lawmakers Wednesday to help pay for improvements to rural hospitals in up to 42 Texas counties. Without state help, they said, the rural hospitals have no hope of doing necessary renovations to catch up to federal and state hospital codes.
Posted inState Government
TribBlog: It’s Over, Says HillCo
HillCo Partners dropped its lawsuit against Brandon Aghamalian and Snapper Carr this afternoon — the surprise result of a hearing scheduled today to address HillCo’s request for a temporary restraining order.
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State Government
Sunset Finishes Workers’ Comp Fixes
State lawmakers on the Sunset Advisory Commission make final remarks after the panel unanimously approves changes to the Division of Workers’ Compensation’s medical quality review process.
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State Government
After Sunset
Sunset Advisory Commissioners unanimously approved a series of changes to the troubled Division of Workers’ Compensation at the Texas Department of Insurance on Tuesday, but not before aggressively rewriting the Sunset staff’s original recommendations to improve the division’s medical quality review process.
Posted inState Government
TribBlog: Focused Advocacy Responds
The defendants in the HillCo lawsuit filed their answer in court today, denying all charges against them and calling them “meritless.”
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Energy
TribBlog: Uribe’s Glamour Shot
“I don’t know whether to be flattered or to be creeped out.”
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State Government
The Lobby Wars
HillCo’s lawsuit against two of its departing partners is threatening business as usual in the insular world of the Texas lobby, raising the specter of open combat in an industry that prefers to settle its fights behind closed doors. But as its allegations make plain, HillCo believes that two rogue employees are the ones who crossed the line, turning competition for clients into espionage and biting down hard on the hand that fed them.
