DAY 6 of our 31-day series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: Mental health funding was spared draconian cuts, but some who rely on the state for intellectual disability aid will lose services. Full Story
Aaronson examines the Texas jobs "miracle," Root on how Rick Perry built his financial portfolio, Tan and Wiseman on Perry vs. Ron Paul, Philpott on how budget cuts will affect a mental health provider, yours truly on a House freshman who was less than impressed with his first legislative experience, M. Smith on public schools charging for things that used to be free, Hamilton on a new call to reinvent higher education, Grissom on a rare stay of execution, Galbraith on the end of a Panhandle wind program, Aguilar on the increase of legal immigration into the U.S. and Texas: The best of our best content from July 25 to 29, 2011. Full Story
Mental health service provider Bluebonnet Trails escaped budget cuts that would have shut off services to more than 2,000 people. That number turned out to be less than 500, but as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, the cuts still hurt. Full Story
File this in the "this hasn't happened yet?" category: The Texas Legislature has taken one big step toward banishing the "R" word from state statutes. Full Story
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
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
As lawmakers consider cutting community-based mental health care services, the 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