The latest budget news from The Texas Tribune.
Sound economic policy was sacrificed on the altar of short-term political gain in the George W. Bush administration. This buying of political support with taxpayers’ money brings to mind the words of Alexis de Tocqueville in Democracy in America: “The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.” Full Story
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When the George W. Bush administration turned out to be a failure, “conservatism” got the blame — even though Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney (like so many others who served alongside them) had been part of the anti-Reagan wing of the Republican Party. Full Story
Eva Guzman hung on to her recently secured spot on the Texas Supreme Court with a robust lead over Rose Vela, her challenger from the 13th Court of Appeals. Full Story
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Eleven employees in the state's treasury division got $360,000 in bonuses last year. Full Story
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Introducing the House Select Committee on Transportation Funding. Full Story
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Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White asks Texans, "Do you think you're getting your money's worth out of state government?" Full Story
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Budget crunching, the EPA offends Texans, early voting is underway, and gay couples still can't get ... a divorce. Full Story
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More than 373,000 Texans went uncounted by the 2000 census, resulting in a loss of $1 billion in federal funds. With eight of the nation's 50 hardest-to-count counties right here in our state, the coming 2010 census is a cause for concern — and an apparent lack of attention by elected officials is making matters worse. Full Story
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State agencies are expected to submit their budget cuts today. Full Story
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Early voting begins, state agencies scramble to cut spending and a Clinton antagonist moves back to Texas. Full Story
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If editorial boards had the last say, next month’s primaries would be a moot point and gubernatorial candidates could have spent Valentine’s Day eating stale candy like the rest of us. Some of Texas’ largest newspapers weighed in last weekend on their choice for governor and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and former Houston Mayor Bill White grabbed the lion’s share. Full Story
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Hu, Philpott, and Ramsey on the Democratic gubernatorial debate, the pre-game, the post-game, and the highlight reel. Thevenot on the push for accountability in persistently low-performing schools. M. Smith on the Republican assault on sitting Republican appellate judge. Hamilton on a county with more than one Tea Party trying to claim conservative voters. With lawmakers staring down a growing budget crunch, Aguilar looks back at the last one for instruction. Grissom finds that U.S. Border Patrol has quietly stopped a program to deport illegal immigrants through Presidio. Ramshaw reports on a West Texas nurse who got into and out of criminal trouble for complaining about a doctor she worked with. The second University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll finds Rick Perry and Bill White with big leads in their respective party primaries. Rapoport found herself in the eye of the storm, traveling with Debra Medina on the day the candidate unexpectedly and disastrously made national news when Glenn Beck asked her on his radio shows about the attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11. The best of our best from February 8 to 12, 2010. Full Story
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Your afternoon reading. Full Story
Sales tax collections fell by double digits, again. Full Story
Doctors, patients, non-profits, and industry leaders lined up to testify today before the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Their message: Texans cannot afford any more cuts. Full Story
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Charlie Wilson dies, sales tax revenues are down and an April runoff still looks likely. Full Story
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The Texas Department of Health and Human Services is holding a public hearing today to present proposed cuts to its budget and to hear feedback. The five-percent reductions are in response to a request for state agenices to slash costs in light of a projected multibillion-dollar state budget shortfall. Ben Philpott, who's covering Texas politics and policy for KUT News and the Tribune, says lawmakers have also started looking for ways to increase revenues. Full Story
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission has released its best bets for how to meet the 5 percent budget reduction requested by Gov. Rick Perry and other state leaders. Full Story
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How will lawmakers deal with a budget shortfall of at least $11 billion — and maybe several billion more — in the next legislative session? In all likelihood, by doing what they did in 2003, when things were almost this bad. Full Story
Texas lawmakers are expecting to find a hole in the state budget — anywhere from $11 billion to $17 billion, maybe even more — when they return to Austin a year from now. That’s the worst forecast since 2003, when they responded to a $10 billion shortfall with reductions in major programs and hikes in various fees. The Texas Tribune’s Julian Aguilar reports on how cuts back then could guide the Legislature's work in 2011. Full Story