LBB Right on Rainy Day Fund, Lawmakers Admit
House and Senate leaders have come to the same painful conclusion: spending from the Rainy Day Fund is subject to the constitutional spending limit. They disagree on what to do now. Full Story
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Senate Finance Approves $195.5 Billion Budget
The budget approved Wednesday by the Senate Finance Committee is 2.9 percent bigger than the estimated size of the current two-year budget. It includes about $8.9 billion more than the first draft Senate leaders unveiled in January. Full Story
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With Deadline Looming, House Sends Medicaid IOU Bill to Perry
House members unanimously approved a bill largely devoted to addressing a shortfall in Medicaid. Health providers for poor children and the disabled in Texas won't get paid starting Thursday unless Gov. Rick Perry signs the bill soon. Full Story
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UT/TT Poll: Texans Favor Surcharge to Help State Pay for Water Projects
Water is a top issue with lawmakers, if not quite there with voters, according to the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. And voters prefer adding a surcharge, based on water usage, to help pay for water projects. Full Story
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Republican Senator Proposes Tax Hike for Transportation
State Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, wants Texas voters to approve a constitutional amendment to temporarily increase the state sales tax to pay off the Texas Department of Transportation's debt. Full Story
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Senate Sends $6.6 Billion Budget Bill Back to House
The Texas Senate on Tuesday sent a $6.6 billion supplemental bill back to the House after Democrats in the upper chamber were assured that efforts to restore some funding to schools will be considered later. Full Story
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In Hunt for Roads Funds, Texas Won't Model Va.
Texas lawmakers hope to follow in Virginia's footsteps this session and revamp the way they fund transportation. While Virginia opted to cut gas taxes and raise sales taxes, Texas is looking at other options. Full Story
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![Both Texas and Virginia have amassed billions of dollars in debt over the last decade in order to fund transportation. In February 2013, Virginia lawmakers overhauled how the state funds transportation by cutting gas taxes and raising sales taxes.]()
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Medicaid Expansion Confounds Conservatives
Expanding the state's Medicaid program under the federal health care law makes fiscal sense to some politicians for whom it doesn't make political sense. Full Story
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House Passes Bill to Address $4.5 Billion Medicaid IOU
With little debate on Thursday, House lawmakers passed House Bill 10, an emergency supplemental appropriations bill that needs to get to Gov. Rick Perry's desk by next month to avoid bills owed to medical workers going unpaid. Full Story
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![House Appropriations Chair, Rep. Jim Pitts R-Waxahachie with a big smile as he votes on House supplemental bill HB 10 on February 21st, 2013]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
TribCast: Testing, Immigration and Bill Powers
Morgan, Ross, Julian and Evan discuss the public education debates now playing out at the Capitol, the prospect of comprehensive immigration reform and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst's emotional defense of UT-Austin President Bill Powers. Full Story
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Credit: Todd Wiseman -
Emergency Services Agency Can't Spend Cash Earmarked for It
The agency that oversees the state’s 911 system and poison control centers has both too much money and not nearly enough. What’s more, every Texan with a phone is paying to keep it that way. Full Story
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![Recalled products, natural threats, choking hazards, and items that could cause emergencies when large amounts are ingested by children, are displayed at the South Texas Poison Center in San Antonio. Miguel Fernández, managing director of the center, is reflected in the display case glass.]()
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First Impressions
The Texas House is about to hold its first debate, and on a spending bill, to boot. It will pass, because it must. But watch how they work. Full Story
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Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Straus on Priorities; More Campaign Woes for Dewhurst
The speaker of the House dampens expectations for vouchers, tax breaks and transportation without ruling any of those things out. And the lieutenant governor unpeels another layer of problems he says arose from a campaign manager's embezzling. Full Story
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House Might Restore Some Education Cuts to Current Budget
Members of the Texas House are in talks to add some money to public education in the current two-year budget. The Texas Legislature cut $5.4 billion from education last session. Full Story
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Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Plan Emerging for Legislature to Pay IOUs
As they do every two years, state lawmakers are preparing to pay billions in lingering bills. What is usually an easy process could become challenging as House Democrats plan to push to restore public education cuts made in 2011. Full Story
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Texas Weekly Newsreel: School Finance and the War Between the States
In this edition of the Texas Weekly Newsreel: The state's school finance system is ruled unconstitutional, committee hearings kick off at the Capitol and California Gov. Jerry Brown dukes it out with Rick Perry. Full Story
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TribLive: Straus on the Budget
At Wednesday's TribLive conversation, House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, talked about the likelihood of withdrawals from the Rainy Day Fund and whether the state can meet its obligations under the spending cap. Full Story
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TxDOT Tells Lawmakers Funding Crisis Around the Corner
The Texas Department of Transportation is two years away from a severe drop in funding unless lawmakers find more cash, agency officials said at a budget hearing Monday. Full Story
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Good Times or Bad, the Budget Remains Tight
When money was tight two years ago, the state's top budget writers employed cutbacks and accounting tricks to balance the budget. Money is flowing again, but the budget folks are still finding it easy to say no. Full Story
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Budget Surplus May Not Stretch Far
At first glance, the first drafts of the House and Senate budgets leave billions of dollars on the table. A closer look shows there may not be as much left as many have hoped. Full Story
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Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman
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