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.
Politics
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University of Texas/Texas Tribune Polls
UT/TT Poll: Voters Want Budget Cuts but Don’t Like Options
By more than 2 to 1, Texas voters believe lawmakers should solve the state’s shortfall by cutting the budget, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll, but they’re divided on specific cuts.
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Energy
Energy or Railroad: Are the Politics Different?
What’s in a name? The Texas Railroad Commission — and the elected officials who run it — may soon find out.
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Health care
Facing Budget Crisis, Should Texas Be in the Cancer Business?
To solve the state’s budget crisis, lawmakers are considering sweeping cuts to almost everything, from school funding to child welfare services. But a $300-million-a-year cancer institute championed by Gov. Rick Perry and Lance Armstrong has so far escaped the budget knife.
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Politics
House Committees Named
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.
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Politics
What They’d Do About the Budget Shortfall
We asked three big thinkers in the Capitol community — Talmadge Heflin, Eva DeLuna Castro and Bill Hammond — to tell us what they’d do if they had the power to take on the budget shortfall themselves.
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Health care
Castro: Start by Casting Aside Wishful Thinking
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.
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Health care
Heflin: Most Sensible Solution Is Reduced Spending
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.
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Politics
Few Obstacles Face Voter ID in the Legislature
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.
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Politics
Dan Neil on His Election Contest
Republican Dan Neil discusses his election contest against state Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin.