House lawmakers are considering a plan to privatize all of Texas’ state jails for low-level felony offenders, a move they say could save the state up to $40 million.
Sylvester Turner
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Health care
Advocates Rally to Retain State Health Funds
Hundreds of people rallied at the Capitol today to urge lawmakers to maintain state spending on Medicaid and CHIP, the health care programs for children, the disabled and the very poor.
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Demographics
House Lawmakers Prepare for Intense “Sanctuary Cities” Debate
House lawmakers are gearing up for a battle as emotional and time-consuming as Voter ID when they take up legislation addressing another one of Gov. Perry’s emergency items — abolishing sanctuary cities, which could hit the House floor as soon as next week.
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Criminal Justice
Report: Hundreds of Youths in Adult Prisons
Judges across the state, and particularly in Harris County, are sending youth offenders to adult prisons even when they have few prior offenses, according to a study by a University of Texas criminal justice expert.
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State Government
3.2 Billion From Rainy Day
Texas House Appropriations committee approves use of 3.2 billion of rainy day fund for 2011 budget.
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Public Education
Texas Politics Recap: 3/7 to 3/11
No time to follow every twist and turn of the Texas Legislature? We’ve made it easier for you with our weekly recaps of the action under the dome.
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Economy
Texas Tribune Weekly Rundown
The Texas Tribune’s rundown of capitol politics for the week of March 7-11, 2011.
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State Government
Lights Out for Seniors, Poor
State Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, is concerned about budget cuts to a program that discounts utility bills for the elderly and those with low incomes.
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State Government
Budget Writers Spare Historical, Arts Agencies — For Now
Two agencies that Gov. Rick Perry has suggested suspending funding for — the Texas Historical Commission and the Texas Commission on the Arts — came before House Appropriations this morning. And lawmakers didn’t seem particularly apt to shutter them.
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Criminal Justice
The Big House Isn’t Big Enough
At today’s hearing of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, Sheriff Adrian Garcia will be grilled about efforts to control overcrowding at Harris County’s four jail facilities, which have seen a dramatic population spike. At the urging of Houston lawmakers, Garcia will be pressed to explain why he wants to keep housing more inmates than the facilities can accommodate, and why some recommendations by the county’s own consultant for ways to reduce its jail population have gone unheeded.
