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The latest budget news from The Texas Tribune.

  • Arlene Wohlgemuth: The TT Interview

    By Ross Ramsey

    The former budget-slashing Texas House member and current executive director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation on how she reads the mood out there, what reductions in state spending should be on the table, whether cost-shifting to local school districts is a plausible option, why lawmakers should forget about new sources of revenue, the trouble with Medicaid and what members of the Republican near-supermajority in the Legislature must do to keep the confidence of voters — and get re-elected. Full Story 

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  • The Weekly TribCast: Episode 55

    By Elise Hu

    In this week's TribCast, Evan, Ross, Elise and Ben discuss the latest in the race for House speaker, ongoing budget woes and how governing may prove a lot harder than campaigning come January. Full Story 

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  • The End of Pork?

    By Ben Philpott, KUT News

    U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison says she will join U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in calling for a ban on all Congressional earmark spending. In the past, both used the controversial budget maneuver to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars back to Texas. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • Guest Column: Put Up or Shut Up

    By Bill Ratliff

    If major-party leaders are not willing to make tough-love decisions on the ballooning national debt, and if the Tea Partiers are not willing to endorse painful measures, the American people must ask them, "Okay, what is your solution?" Full Story 

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  • TribBlog: Cuts and Caps

    By Ross Ramsey

    Lawmakers want state agencies to cut another 2 to 3 percent from their current budgets — on top of the 5 percent cuts that were already ordered. The Legislative Budget Board — comprised of members of both the House and Senate, along with the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the House — also adopted a spending cap for the next budget. Full Story 

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  • "Grandiose Cuts" to Higher Education?

    By Elise Hu

    The session hasn't started yet, but the battles have. In a heated exchange over possible cuts to higher education at a post-election debrief, Democratic consultant Matt Angle spars with Gov. Rick Perry's campaign manager, Rob Johnson. Full Story 

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  • Size Matters

    By Ross Ramsey

    How big is the state’s budget shortfall? It all depends on who's doing the math. A big number means the coming session will be all about what’s cut — what programs and services won’t be offered. A smaller one puts lawmakers in the position of deciding, in hard times, what they can add to current spending. Full Story 

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  • A Tsunami of GOP Bills

    By Ben Philpott, KUT News

    Monday was the first day that state lawmakers could file bills for the 2011 session. As Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, the substance of the legislation is a reflection of conservative success on Election Day. Full Story 

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    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

    By Evan Smith

    Our wall-to-wall Election Day coverage — complete results up and down the ballot and county by county, the all-hands-on-deck Trib team on the Republican tsunami, my conversation with George W. Bush's media adviser and Rick Perry's pollster about what happened on Tuesday, Stiles and Ramsey on what 194 candidates spent per vote this election cycle, Hu on how the GOP rout will affect the substance of the next legislative session, Hamilton on the Texas Democratic Trust's unhappy end, Ramshaw and Stiles profile the new arrivals at the Capitol in January, M. Smith on what's next for Chet Edwards and Ramsey and me on six matters of politics and policy we're thinking about going forward — plus Thevenot and Butrymowicz on a possible solution to the high school dropout problem: The best of our best from Nov. 1 to 5, 2010. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • Majority Rules

    By Elise Hu

    Whether you call it a wave, a rout or a tsunami, one thing is clear: Republicans in the Texas House won a massive mandate for conservative bills — and budgeting — in the coming legislative session. Full Story 

  • Beyond Election Day

    By Ross Ramsey and Evan Smith

    Yes, yes, the governor’s race: It’s tended to suck all the air out of the room this election cycle, hasn’t it? But there’s an undercard as well, and even if it’s received scant attention by comparison, don’t think it doesn’t matter. To the contrary, the outcome of races other than the one at the top of the ballot has serious implications for a great many matters of politics and policy that will affect and should interest every single Texan in the near term. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • Where They Stand: The Governor's Race

    By Ben Philpott, KUT News

    In the absence of a real debate between Gov. Rick Perry and his Democratic challenger, Bill White, Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune has created the next best thing: a mash-up of their answers to questions asked Friday by the Tribune's Evan Smith during one-hour interviews of the candidates sponsored by the Trib, KUT and Austin public television station KLRU. Full Story 

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  • TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

    By Evan Smith

    Ramsey on whether Bill White at the top of the ballot helps Houston-area candidates, Aaronson and Stiles present a treemap of Texas political ads, Stiles and Ramsey on the latest campaign finance filings, Aguilar on the Laredo mayor's race, Hamilton on anonymous tweeters who make mischief, Ramshaw interviews a disability rights activist with a thing for iPads and bibles, Hu on the accidental release of Rick Perry's "secret" schedule, M. Smith on the bitter back-and-forth over a voter registration effort in Harris County, Philpott's micro-debate on education between two House candidates, Grissom on this week's twist in the Cameron Todd Willingham investigation and, in our latest collaboration with a big-city Texas newspaper, Stiles, Grissom and John Tedesco of the San-Antonio Express News on what kind of Texans, exactly, are applying to carry concealed handguns: The best of our best from Oct. 4 to 9, 2010. Full Story 

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  • The Weekly TribCast: Episode 49

    By Elise Hu

    In this week's skirmish, topics include campaign cash, the latest polls in the governor's race, the hotbed of Texas House activity in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and the consequences of the budget crisis. Full Story 

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