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The latest economy news from The Texas Tribune.

  • Voices of the Mentally Ill

    By Brandi Grissom

    As lawmakers consider cutting community-based mental health care services by about 20 percent in the 2012-2013 budget, the Texas Tribune talks with mentally ill Harris County Jail inmates and with consumers who use community-based services to stay out of jail and off the streets. Full Story 

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    Credit: Todd Wiseman

  • Mental Health Cuts Would Strain Local Jails

    By Brandi Grissom

    Proposed reductions in community-based mental health treatment, experts say, will mean more mentally ill Texans are likely to end up on the streets, in emergency rooms and behind bars, where it will cost local taxpayers even more to care for them. Full Story 

    Jail officials across Texas are worried that state budget cuts to community-based mental health care services will mean more mentally ill inmates in their facilities.
    Credit: Todd Wiseman

  • Perry: Protect Rainy Day Fund

    By Elise Hu

    Gov. Rick Perry told lawmakers Tuesday he is against tapping the state's $9.4 billion Rainy Day Fund to close the budget shortfall: “That approach would not only postpone tough, necessary decisions." Full Story 

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  • Perry to Push Colleges to Offer $10,000 Degree

    By Ross Ramsey

    Gov. Rick Perry will challenge the state's colleges and universities to offer a $10,000 bachelor's degree, including books, in his State of the State speech later this morning, according to sources familiar with some of the proposals. Full Story 

    Word cloud aggregate of Rick Perry's State of the State speeches from 2001 to 2009.
    Credit: Graphic by Ryan Murphy

  • Senators Grill Education Agency Over Cuts

    By Morgan Smith

    At the Texas Education Agency's first appearance before the Senate since the release of a budget that reduces school funding by $9.3 billion, senators called for a "full picture" of the state's spending on public education. Full Story 

    Texas Commissioner of Education Robert Scott speaks at the TASA midwinter conference in Austin, Texas February 1st, 2011
    Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera

  • Jail Officials: Mental Health Cuts Hurt Everyone

    By Brandi Grissom

    Slashing funds for community-based mental health care will hurt taxpayers and degrade the quality of life for thousands of mentally ill Texans and their families, Harris County Jail officials told Texas budget writers today in written testimony for the Senate Finance Committee. Full Story 

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    Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman

  • Texas Won't Secede — But It Won't Shut Up Either

    By Ross Ramsey

    Texas leaders aren't talking about secession, after an outbreak of conversation a couple of years ago. But the germ of the idea remains in the anti-federalist talking points that fueled Gov. Rick Perry’s re-election campaign last year and provided the outline for his book, Fed Up! Full Story 

    A coalition of Tea Party groups rally against President Obama on Jan. 16, 2009, at the Texas Capitol.
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • Artistic Development

    By Reeve Hamilton

    Creative industries — from advertising to dance companies to book publishing — generate $4.5 billion per year in economic activity for Texas, according to a new report released by the Texas Cultural Trust in association with the Texas Commission on the Arts. The report features projects in communities like Amarillo, El Paso, Rockport, Texarkana and the tiny, north central Texas town of Clifton, population 3,795. “It’s more than fluff,” says Amy Barbee, the Trust's executive director. “We want to tell the story that the arts truly are economic development.” Full Story 

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    Credit: Todd Wiseman

  • Mental Notes on Budget Cuts

    By Ben Philpott, KUT News

    For community mental health and retardation centers like Round Rock's Bluebonnet Trails, cuts in the state budget will have a direct effect on the number of people they serve — and help keep in school or employed and out of state hospitals and emergency rooms. For KUT News and The Texas Tribune, Ben Philpott reports. Full Story 

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  • The Pre-K Predicament

    By Morgan Smith

    Just how important is full-day pre-kindergarten for the state’s youngest and most disadvantaged kids? Is it more important than after-school tutoring? Than canceling music and art classes? As public school officials brace for a proposed $10 billion less in state funding, that’s one decision they'll have to make. “It's choosing between bad and worse and bad and bad,” says one superintendent. “It's definitely not a good day when we are sitting around talking about whether class size going up could help salvage all-day pre-K, or vice-versa.” Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman