A Texas lawmaker said the magic words Thursday morning to a panel of exhausted and nearly hopeless state budget writers: he has found a “new revenue source without raising taxes.”
Economy
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Economy
Dueling Rallies: Cut Spending or Save Programs?
Texans on all sides of the budget equation rallied at the Capitol Wednesday for vastly different priorities.
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Economy
Thousands Rally for Smaller Budget Cuts
Thousands of protesters chanted “They say, ‘Cut back.’ We say, ‘Fight back'” as they marched to the Capitol this afternoon to rally against proposed budget cuts.
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Economy
Pitts Talks, Gently, of Adding Money to Budget
Less than two days after approving a state budget that cuts $23 billion from current spending, Rep. Jim Pitts says House leaders are already talking among themselves about how much more money they’d be willing to spend.
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Economy
House Budget Shrinks Spending, Slashes Services
The Texas House started with a $164.5 billion budget and ended with the same total. But lawmakers spent the better part of a weekend making changes inside the budget for 2012-13 before giving it their approval, 98 to 49.
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Economy
Liveblog: House Debates HB 1
We liveblogged the full debate over HB 1, the House version of the general appropriations bills for the next biennium, which passed late Sunday night 98 to 49.
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Economy
State Senators in Tricky Search for More Money
It’s not just that state Sen. Robert Duncan doesn’t like gambling. He doesn’t think he could get legalized casinos approved. But Duncan’s got a mission: Find $5 billion to $6 billion.
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Economy
Guest Column: A Last-Minute Plea to Minimize Harm
We cannot solve this budget crisis with blind, across-the-board cuts. There are better choices. If we return to the pragmatic political approach that once defined our politics, we will keep alive the tradition of each generation sacrificing for a better Texas.
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Economy
Video: Lawmakers React to Budget Bills; Look Ahead to HB1 Battle
State Reps. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio, and Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, react to the passage of HB4 and HB275, and preview of the upcoming battle over HB1, the House’s bare-bones general appropriations plan for the next biennium.
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Economy
Texas-Like Budget Debates Have Already Played Out Around U.S.
Heated debate over the state budget is already under way, but as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, similar fighting has been playing out for at least three years across the country.