Bob Perry, a behind-the-scenes titan in the Texas political world, has died at the age of 80.
Politics
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Politics
Texas Weekly Newsreel: School Vouchers, Gambling, Drug Testing
This week in the Newsreel: An effort to legalize casinos is under way in the Texas Senate, Attorney General Greg Abbott wants a redistricting bill, and some lawmakers want to give drug tests to recipients of unemployment and TANF benefits.
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Politics
The Evening Brief: April 12, 2013
Your evening reading: Perry talks re-election, backs dedicated car sales tax for transportation funding; Stockman bumper sticker stirs controversy; Railroad Commission chairman apologizes for retweeting noose image
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Politics
Tackle Redistricting or Wait for the Courts?
Texas could trim the size of its court fights over redistricting by endorsing maps drawn by federal judges, but legislative leaders fear the harmony of the current session would evaporate in the process.
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Energy
Railroad Commission Chairman Apologizes for Retweeting Noose Image
UPDATED: Railroad Commission Chairman Barry Smitherman apologized on Friday for retweeting an image that showed a noose beside the names of Republican U.S. senators who had voted down a gun-control filibuster.
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Energy
House to Feds: Pressure Mexico to Release Water
The Texas House on Thursday voted to formally ask the U.S. State Department to apply pressure on the Mexican government to release water owed to Texas under the terms of a treaty signed in 1944.
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Politics
Polling Center: Education Cuts Mattered at the Ballot Box, if Not in the Polls
Polls might show a low interest in public education cuts made by lawmakers in 2011, but some of the candidates who ran in 2012 found a very receptive electorate.
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Criminal Justice
The Polling Center: Cruz Registers Tea Party Embrace of Gun Rights
Attitudes about gun control proposals among Texas Republicans provide a foundation for understanding Sen. Ted Cruz’s resistance to the apparent compromise taking shape in the U.S. Senate.
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Politics
The Brief: April 11, 2013
With gun and immigration bills gaining new momentum in Washington, the spotlight has again fallen on Ted Cruz.
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Politics
The Polling Center: Texans Conservative on Concealed Carry
It’s no shock that Texans tend to be more conservative when it comes to federal gun control measures. But Texans are also conservative in another, more literal sense when it comes to proposals seeking to reduce the requirements to carry a concealed handgun.