The Midday Brief: February 12, 2010
Your afternoon reading. Full Story
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TribBlog: Tax Revenues Continue to Fall
Sales tax collections fell by double digits, again. Full Story
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2010: 100k Jobs or I'll Quit!
Farouk Shami's latest promise. Full Story
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The Brief: February 11, 2010
Charlie Wilson dies, sales tax revenues are down and an April runoff still looks likely. Full Story
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
From Bust to Boom
The recession has caused a spike in enrollment at two-year schools like Austin Community College, which now educates more than 40,000 students — within striking distance of the great behemoth, the University of Texas at Austin. Full Story
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Credit: Jacob Villanueva -
TribBlog: HHSC Making The Cut
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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The Last Time Around
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
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Democratic Gubernatorial Debate: Liveblog, Video, Audio
In their first and probably only televised debate, Bill White sounded experienced, as you'd expect of a three-term mayor of Houston, while wealthy hair care magnate Farouk Shami was more passionate, more animated, and much more prone to political mistakes. Full Story
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On the Records: Sunrise?
The Texas Ethics Commission and the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts are opening up more of their data to the public at no charge. Full Story
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![Susan Combs, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, speaks with a member of the audience during TribLive, a monthly conversation with public officials held by the Texas Tribune.]()
Credit: Jacqueline Mermea -
Department of Public Stimulus
The Department of Public Safety, which is struggling financially, is planning to use $16 million of the federal stimulus dollars that Gov. Rick Perry begrudgingly accepted to plug a hole in the border security budget. The decision follows a mandate by Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, and House Speaker Joe Straus that state agencies cut 5 percent out of their budgets to meet an anticipated shortfall. Full Story
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On the Records: Combs Studying Open Data
Her office is studying efforts to release raw data in New York and San Francisco for ideas. Full Story
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![Evan Smith speaks to the crowd during TribLive, a monthly conversation with Texas public officials.]()
Credit: Jacqueline Mermea -
Burned Orange
A clash over a beloved campus music club at UT-Austin portends the gnashing of teeth at schools statewide as a budgetary winter threatens to envelop higher education. Full Story
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Credit: Jacqueline Mermea -
No Experience Necessary
Few members of the State Board of Education have finance expertise. Should we be concerned that they manage the investments of the $23 billion Permanent School Fund? Full Story
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Credit: Jacob Villanueva -
Ticked
The worst outbreak of fever-tick infestations in South Texas in four decades has ranchers and animal-health officials scrambling to prevent not just a loss of billions to the state cattle's industry but an outright ban on our cattle. Full Story
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TribBlog: Where's the Stimulus?
Texas ranks poorly among the states when it comes to letting taxpayers know how it's using federal stimulus dollars, according to a report released today by several nonprofit public interest groups. Full Story
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Their State of the State
Governors across the country have been delivering their state report cards in January — but not in Texas, where the State of the State address is only given during odd-numbered years, when the Legislature is in session. Ben Philpott, reporting on politics for KUT News and the Tribune, asked people from different sectors of the economy to offer their own outlook for Texas in 2010. Full Story
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The Midday Brief: January 22, 2010
Your afternoon reading: Full Story
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The Midday Brief: January 19, 2010
Your afternoon reading. Full Story
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Latinos and the Pay Gap
In Texas, they earn 35 percent less than their Anglo counterparts — a disparity that's bigger here than elsewhere. Is it because of education, age, discrimination, or some combination of the above? Full Story
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Credit: Jacob Villanueva -
The Tuition Time Bomb
It costs an average of 63 percent more to attend a four-year state school today than it did in 2003 — and that's still not enough to keep pace with bulging university budgets. Some policy makers see the higher education business model on the cusp of collapse. Full Story
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Credit: Jacob Villanueva
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