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The latest politics news from The Texas Tribune.

  • Liveblog: Reform or Bust?

    By Emily Ramshaw

    We liveblogged this morning from the Austin Club, where the subject of today's TribLive was health care: the costs — and solutions — for Medicaid, payment reform in Texas vs. the federal health overhaul, and what kind of hit Texas' neediest patients will take. Full Story 

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  • Garnet Coleman: The TT Interview

    By Emily Ramshaw

    The Democratic state representative from Houston on his Republican colleagues' quest for a federal Medicaid waiver, the problem with block grants and what realistically the feds could do to help Texas and other states. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • House Committees Named

    By Ross Ramsey

    Speaker Joe Straus appointed members to committees today, shuffling the assignments in a Texas House where one in four members is a freshman and where Republicans have a two-to-one numerical advantage. Full Story 

    House Speaker Joe Straus, R-Alamo Heights, in January 2011.
    Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera

  • Heflin: Most Sensible Solution Is Reduced Spending

    By Talmadge Heflin

    More money is not the answer to our current woes. Just as anyone managing a household budget knows, when a family’s expenses grow beyond its income, the solution is to cut back — particularly if its spending habits resemble the state's. Full Story 

    Former state Rep. Talmadge Heflin is the director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Fiscal Policy.

  • Castro: Start by Casting Aside Wishful Thinking

    By Eva DeLuna Castro

    We need a balanced approach that uses our reserves and adds revenue. And we have to start by casting aside wishful thinking; we are writing the 2012-13 budget, with higher costs and increased enrollment in education and health care services — not some past budget. Full Story 

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  • Few Obstacles Face Voter ID in the Legislature

    By Ross Ramsey

    Both sides cite stats and research papers to support their positions, with Democrats saying the photo voter ID law will suppress minority voting, and Republicans saying it won't do anything but stop fraud. Whatever it is, it's on its way into the law books. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • Disputed Howard-Neil Contest Goes to the House

    By Ross Ramsey

    Travis County Republican Dan Neil lost his first race for elective office in November by just 12 votes. Now he's asking the Texas House of Representatives to declare some of the voters in that election ineligible and to put him in first place and state Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, in second. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • Lawmakers Propose Raiding Auto Theft Fund

    By Brandi Grissom

    House and Senate budget writers have proposed closing a little-known state agency that helps prevent and solve automobile theft and burglary. The catch? While they’re planning to kill the agency, they're not planning to stop collecting the fee you pay to keep it going. Full Story 

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    Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman

  • Fair Game?

    By Ross Ramsey

    Are families out of bounds in politics? A newspaper columnist's recent unflattering piece on Anita Perry has what passes for a Royal Court at the Capitol debating that question. Full Story 

    Inaugural of Texas Governor Rick Perry on the south steps of the Texas Capitol 01-18-11.
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • The Kids Aren't All Right

    By Matt Largey, KUT News

    The budget draft filed last week provided the first glimpse at the kind of deep cuts that state agencies could see in the next biennium. As Matt Largey of KUT News reports, advocates are particularly worried about what the final budget could hold for the agency that protects children from abuse and neglect. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • The Revenue Guesstimate

    By Ross Ramsey

    Lawmakers are waiting for Comptroller Susan Combs to forecast exactly how much money the state will collect between now and August 2013 so they can write a two-year budget that spends no more than that. It's not exactly like opening the envelopes at the Oscars, but the Capitol community will be hanging on her every word. If history is a guide, her estimate of revenues will be closer to the bull's eye than the Legislature's estimate of spending. But this is a dark art; accuracy can be elusive. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman/Bob Daemmrich