Gov. Rick Perry vehemently opposes forcing Americans to carry health insurance — yet his home state leads the nation in the size of its uninsured population and ranks near the bottom on almost every measure of coverage. Full Story
The U.S. Supreme Court today refused to let Texas enforce its new abortion sonogram law while the measure is under appeal, following a similar ruling from a federal appeals court on Wednesday. Full Story
We'll be liveblogging throughout the weekend from The Texas Tribune Festival's health and human services track — which includes panels on the fight over federal health reform, whether Texas can cure cancer and what effect tort reform has had statewide. Full Story
Ramshaw, Root and Philpott track the governor on the campaign trail, Tan and Dehn on high school football concussions, and Murphy and yours truly on the partisan climates of each district under redistricting maps: The best of our content from Sept. 19 to 23. Full Story
One 2012 presidential candidate wanted to sell a government-run lottery to finance a health insurance program. He wanted to deregulate college tuition, and then freeze it. He proposed leaving the state's Rainy Day Fund alone — or, sending the money back to taxpayers. Hint: He's from Texas. Another hint: He's not Ron Paul. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry on Monday found himself under attack from an unfamiliar place — the right — in the latest GOP debate as his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination attacked him for being insufficiently conservative on key issues. Full Story
Credit:
Illustration by Emily Ramshaw / Bob Daemmrich / Todd Wiseman
El Paso's Democratic state representative on the media's portrayal of her hometown, why the grassroots is key to making gains for her party, and why she thinks immigration legislation will hurt Gov. Rick Perry on the campaign trail. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry took shots from all directions Wednesday in his first nationally televised debate as his opponents unloaded on the presidential front-runner again and again, seeking relevance in a line of questioning that largely centered on Perry. Full Story
Lawmakers are long gone from the statehouse, but their decisions have consequences that will be seen throughout the next two years. The Tribune's Thanh Tan spent the month of August explaining 31 ways Texans' lives are going to change. Full Story
Specialty services for thousands of Texans with disabilities are on the chopping block, yet another casualty of the significant budget cuts state lawmakers passed in May. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Attorney General Greg Abbott may well use a court ruling against the abortion sonogram law to their political advantage — to lure anti-abortion voters to the polls, and fuel their fire against so-called “activist” judges. Full Story
This week on the TribCast, Evan, Reeve, Ben and Thanh talk about Rick Perry's front-runner status and the new roadblock thrown in front of abortion sonogram legislation. Full Story
DAY 31 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: Nursing homes were spared the draconian cuts proposed by lawmakers at the beginning of the 2011 session. Still, despite growing caseloads and rising medical costs, they move forward with less state and federal support. Full Story
In his nearly 11 years as governor, Rick Perry has helped make Texas one of the most restrictive states for women seeking abortions. With every legislative session, and every election, his opposition has grown increasingly emphatic. Full Story
Credit:
Illustration by Caleb Bryant Miller / Todd Wiseman
DAY 29 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: The state has dramatically reduced support for nursing education, meaning Texas will continue to face a critical shortage of registered nurses. Full Story
DAY 27 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: Lawmakers didn't cut spending for the Texas HIV Medication Program, but it remains nearly $20 million short. Full Story
Credit:
UK Department for International Development
Tan on coming prison school cuts and online sales taxes, Root on Rick Perry's support for tax increases when he was a lawmaker, Ramshaw and Serafini on what "Perrycare" would entail, yours truly on the differences between Perry and George W. Bush, Philpott on the passions of the Paulites, Murphy and Seger unveil the Trib's Texas Public Schools Database, Hamilton on UT's answer to calls for improvements in higher ed, Galbraith on predictions that the record heat in Texas will be a long-term problem and Aguilar on the legal shootout over gun sales in Texas: The best of our best content from Aug. 22 to 26, 2011. Full Story