It’s not hard to find strange bedfellows in the Texas Legislature when the bills start flying. Republicans and Democrats frequently cross the aisle to support legislation that they feel will help their constituents. As Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, the same could be true as lawmakers try to figure out how to balance the state budget during the upcoming legislative session.
Politics
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Posted in
Economy
A Taxing Problem
It’s not hard to find strange bedfellows in the Texas Legislature when the bills start flying. Republicans and Democrats frequently cross the aisle to support legislation that they feel will help their constituents. As Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, the same could be true as lawmakers try to figure out how to balance the state budget.
Posted in
Demographics
Congressional Clout
For the seventh consecutive decade, Texas will gain seats in the U.S. House of Representatives after the decennial apportionment process, which means extra clout after the 2012 elections. With Republicans in control of redrawing the state’s congressional districts — and adding the four new seats — they stand to benefit the most.
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Politics
Equal, But Not the Same
Lawmakers will spend the next six months drawing political maps for Texas, doing their decennial readjustment to make sure each district has the same number of people. But when they’re done, some parts of the state will still get more political attention than others, and the voters have only themselves to blame.
Posted in
Demographics
Now the Fun Begins
Texas won big Tuesday with the release of 2010 census data. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune takes a look at the numbers, which will have legislators redrawing state maps to add four new congressional seats.
Posted in
Demographics
TribBlog: Texas Getting Four in Congress
Texas will get four extra seats in the U.S. Congress in the decennial apportionment process, bringing the total to 36, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today.
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Politics
Dick Trabulsi: The TT Interview
The president of Texans for Lawsuit Reform on why the group spends spend so much money on state elections, what it still wants from the Legislature, what he thinks the trial lawyers on the other side are after and what’s wrong with the Democrats these days.
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Politics
The Defectors
After announcing they were defecting from the Democratic Party, state Rep. Allan Ritter, R-Nederland, and state Rep. Aaron Peña, R-Edinburg, were welcomed by Texas Republican leaders at a Tuesday afternoon press conference.
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Politics
The Way Forward
Six weeks after the drubbing their party took at the hands of voters, surviving Texas House Democrats find themselves at a crossroads — on style and substance, politics and policy. With massive budget cuts looming, will they effectively sit out the session and force Republicans in the majority to have all the blood on their hands? Will they participate just enough to soften the blow in the areas they care about the most: education and health care? Can they hold together a solid 51-vote bloc on key legislation? Where exactly should they go from here? And who will lead them?
Posted in
Economy
Sell It Like It Is
Republican leaders in the Texas Legislature are insisting that it will be a no-new-taxes session. In response, one Democratic lawmaker is pushing to expand the definition of the word “taxes” to include fees. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports.