Texas House approves $302.6 billion state budget with tax cuts and teacher and state employee raises
After a marathon debate, the bill will head to the Senate, where lawmakers have been crafting their own version of the spending plan. Full Story
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![State Rep. Mihaela Plesa, D-Dallas, rushes to the front of the House floor during budget discussions at the state Capitol on April 6, 2023.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
In abrupt retirement letter, an investigations director decries Texas’ “untenable” child welfare agency
Sharon Fonvielle-Baughman said Texas Department of Family and Protective Services leadership has failed to support the special investigators division, a unit created in 2005 to handle the most high-risk cases. Full Story
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![Sharon Fonvielle-Baughman, director of special investigations at the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, resigned on Thursday, March 23, 2023.]()
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Jennifer Shuford named commissioner of Texas public health agency
The infectious disease doctor has been at the helm of the department in an interim capacity since the fall, replacing longtime commissioner Dr. John Hellerstedt following his retirement. Full Story
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![Dr. Jennifer Shuford has been appointed commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services.]()
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Texas will resume inmate transportation after completing review of convicted murderer’s escape
The review came after Gonzalo Lopez escaped on May 12 and eventually killed five people. Full Story
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![The Texas Department of Criminal Justice William G. McConnell Unit at Chase Field in Beeville on Nov. 1, 2013.]()
Credit: Jennifer Whitney for The Texas Tribune -
T-Squared: Introducing our new salaries explorer
The Texas Tribune is excited to launch a new and revamped version of our Government Salaries Explorer. Full Story
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Credit: Photo Illustration by Ben Hasson / Texas Tribune -
Search the Government Salaries Explorer
The Texas Tribune's database of compensation for Texas state employees has been revamped. It includes detailed data for all of the 113 agencies in state government and every position at each of those agencies. Full Story
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Gov. Greg Abbott orders state agencies to reduce licensing regulations, cut fees
Abbott has set a Dec. 1 deadline for agencies to tell his office how they plan to limit regulations, reduce fees and, "where appropriate," remove licensing barriers for people with criminal records. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott on the House floor during the House School Finance plan deliberation on April 3, 2019.]()
Credit: Emree Weaver/The Texas Tribune -
Texas demographer: Census citizenship question isn't necessary
Responsible for providing population projections for the state, Lloyd Potter said citizenship information is not needed “for the purposes of the census." Full Story
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Credit: Emily Albracht for The Texas Tribune -
Texans are waiting for birth and death certificates amid health agency understaffing
The backlog — exacerbated by the state's switch in January to a new computer system for processing records — comes as the short-staffed Texas Department of State Health Services vies for a boost in funding. Meanwhile, families anxiously wait. Full Story
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![Jennifer Lambrecht holds a portrait of her deceased grandmother, Gerda Hughes, on Feb. 14, 2019.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott closes state agencies Wednesday to mourn George H.W. Bush
In his order, Abbott encouraged Texans to gather and pay their respects to the 41st president. Full Story
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![President George H.W. Bush at the White House after he addressed U.S. troops defending Saudi Arabia, on August 29, 1990.]()
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Electricity complaints filed by Texans reach three-year high, report says
Despite showing an uptick in electricity complaints this year, a report released by the Texas Coalition for Affordable Power also shows that complaints and inquiries have generally decreased over the past decade. Full Story
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![Electricity transmission lines in Houston.]()
Credit: Dave Fehling NPR StateImpact / KUHF Houston Public Radio -
After $7 million legal fight over air conditioning, Texas prison system touts new heat safety policies
Following a legal settlement, the prison system has added temporary air conditioning to one unit and made other statewide changes. But the road to change wasn't cheap. Full Story
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![Inmates shuffle past new fans in the Darrington prison's main hallway on a hot July day.]()
Credit: Jolie McCullough / The Texas Tribune -
Texas employees get Friday off to celebrate "Confederate heroes"
State employees have the day off on Friday for Confederate Heroes Day, which has a controversial history in Texas. Full Story
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![The Confederate Soldiers' Monument on the south lawn of the state Capitol in Austin.]()
Credit: John Jordan for The Texas Tribune -
Texas health regulators overrun by "several hundred" rats at Austin headquarters
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission has a $60,000 vermin problem, and is hiring private exterminators to deal with an estimated "several hundred" sewer rats in the building. Full Story
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Revisit our series on the state's preparedness for emergency evacuations
The evacuation ahead of Hurricane Rita in 2005 was marked by crowded roads and frustrated residents. But state officials say they're better prepared now. Read our seven-part "Road From Rita" series from 2015, done in collaboration with the Beaumont Enterprise. Full Story
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![Fleeing before Hurricane Rita hit land on Sept. 24, 2005, evacuees faced a separate disaster on roads like Interstate 10. The chaotic evacuation contributed to more deaths than the storm itself. Officials say they are better prepared for the next evacuation.]()
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Key lawmaker wants ethics reform on special session agenda
State Rep. Sarah Davis will ask Gov. Greg Abbott to put ethics reform on the agenda of the ongoing special session and said focusing on ethics would restore trust in the Legislature at time when it's diminishing. Full Story
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![State Reps. Sarah Davis, R-West University Place, and Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Miller on transgender ban: Military no place for "social experimentation"
A tweet by President Donald Trump asserting that transgender people would no longer be able to serve in the U.S. military garnered the support of at least one Texas official: Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller. Full Story
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![Sid Miller, who was elected agriculture commissioner in November 2014, is shown at Day 3 of the Texas Republican Convention in Fort Worth on June 7, 2014.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Sarah Davis wants more information about "misconduct" at TABC
The chair of a House oversight committee wants more information about potential "misconduct" that occurred at the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Full Story
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![State Rep. Sarah Davis, R-West University Place, chairwoman of the Committee on General Investigating and Ethics, holds up a TABC flyer at a hearing on April 13, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
New executive director picked for troubled Texas liquor agency
A lawyer with a lengthy military background has been tapped to clean up the embattled Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, which has been dogged by controversies and high-level departures in recent months. Full Story
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![Bentley Nettles, a decorated military officer and practicing lawyer, was appointed executive director of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.]()
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Acting director of Texas liquor agency abruptly quits
He had only been in the job for a few weeks, but the interim director of the troubled Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission is out. Ed Swedberg abruptly quit Friday after saying he did not want to participate in the termination of another high-ranking official at TABC. Full Story
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![Ed Swedberg, deputy executive director of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, answers questions during the House Committee on General Investigating & Ethics meeting on April 13, 2017. The committee was investigating TABC out-of-state travel to conference at taxpayer expense.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune