As the state’s largest health agency reels from a scandal over how it awarded contracts to private vendors, lawmakers on Wednesday said they are slowing down on their ambitious — and controversial — plan to restructure it.
Jane Nelson
Posted in
State Government
Property and Business Tax Cut Measures Head to Full Senate
The Senate Finance Committee voted Tuesday to send proposals cutting property taxes and business taxes to the full Senate, though some senators questioned whether the property tax cuts could be better spent in other ways.
Posted in
State Government
Senators Worry State Contracting is Too Decentralized
Senators learned at a hearing Wednesday that the current state contracting system is so fragmented that no one knows the total value of the state’s current contracts.
Posted inState Government
The Brief: March 11, 2015
State contracting has become one of the signature issues of the legislative session, but finding a fix won’t be easy.
Posted in
Contract High
Lawmakers Vying to Bring More Transparency to State Contracting
Texas lawmakers consider different approaches to transforming the state’s unwieldy, loophole-ridden system of contract oversight into something that can be properly tracked, analyzed and, when needed, restrained.
Posted in
Economy
Senate Tax Cut Plan Draws Several Critics at Hearing
There’s a lot of ways you can spend $4.6 billion in tax cuts, and the Senate Finance Committee learned Wednesday that a wide range of special interest groups think the current proposal could use some work.
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State Government
Patrick: Exempt Tax Cuts, Debt Payments From Spending Cap
Senate leaders joined Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to announce a plan to allow lawmakers to cut property taxes and pay down the state’s debt without busting the state’s politically charged spending cap.
Posted inState Government
The Brief: March 4, 2015
Senate budget writers in the middle of what they are describing as “Tax Relief Week” expressed remorse en masse at having created the business margins tax in 2006.
Posted in
Economy
Senators Show Interest in Ditching Margins Tax
As a key Senate committee prepares to hear public testimony on tax cut proposals Wednesday, senators expressed strong interest in repealing the state’s unpopular margins tax on businesses, which has raised $4.7 billion annually.
Posted in
State Government
Analysis: A Desire for Tax Cuts and a Call for Restraint
As state officials rush to announce tax cuts, a former mayor now in the Senate is pleading for a little restraint and a return to pay-as-you-go government.
