The Texas public school finance system, responsible for underwriting the education of the nation’s second-largest student population, is notoriously byzantine. Here’s our layman’s guide to figuring it out.
Topics
Posted in
Economy
House Budget: All the Amendments
The House is scheduled to take up the full budget on Friday, and members filed more than 400 pages of amendments in advance of that debate. Here’s the full set, in searchable, electronic form.
Posted in
State Government
The Weekly TribCast: Episode 73
In this week’s TribCast, Evan, Ross, Reeve and Ben discuss statements by the Legislative Budget Board, the situation with gambling bills, and the saga of Willie Nelson.
Posted in
Economy
Lawmakers, Policy Experts Spar Over LBB Jobs Analysis
Lawmakers and lobbyists continue to spar over the accuracy of a recent Legislative Budget Board analysis of the effect House Bill 1 could have on jobs in the state of Texas.
Posted in
Demographics
Proposed Guest-Worker Program Gets Mixed Reviews
Proposed legislation that would establish a state-run guest worker program would legally satisfy the state’s appetite for cheap labor but not grant amnesty to people already in Texas illegally, according to the bill’s author.
Posted in
Energy
Legislators Take Up the Great Plastic Bag Debate
This week, committees in both chambers heard testimony about bills to encourage recycling of plastic grocery bags. But environmentalists fear that the legislation would prevent local communities from banning plastic bags altogether, as three Texas cities have done.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Lawyers Allege Texas Executes Prisoners With Illegally Obtained Drugs
Lawyers for two Texas death row inmates today asked state and federal law enforcement to investigate whether prison officials illegally obtained death penalty drugs the state used in nearly all of its 466 executions.
Posted in
State Government
Bill Could Punish TSA Agents for Pat-Downs
TSA agents could be charged with misdemeanor crimes for intrusive pat-downs of Texas travelers, under a bill filed by Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview, and co-authored by more than 40 other lawmakers.
Posted in
Health care
Advocates Rally to Retain State Health Funds
Hundreds of people rallied at the Capitol today to urge lawmakers to maintain state spending on Medicaid and CHIP, the health care programs for children, the disabled and the very poor.
Posted inState Government
The Midday Brief: Top Texas Headlines for March 30, 2011
Your afternoon reading: House gives early OK to eyewitness identification bill; Senate passes K2 ban; Ron Paul planning trips to key states
