At this morning's TribLive conversation, Comptroller Susan Combs talked about the billions cut from the state budget during the last legislative session — and whether kicking the can down the road on health care costs was a sound financial decision. Full Story
At this morning's TribLive conversation, Comptroller Susan Combs talked about the health of the Texas economy — and whether unemployment creeping up is cause for concern. Full Story
House Speaker Joe Straus has released the interim charges that will direct the work of the lower chamber's legislative committees for the next 11 months — and lawmakers will be busy. Full Story
At this morning's TribLive conversation, Comptroller Susan Combs talked about her late-in-life switch from pro-choice to pro-life and the impact of cutting family planning funding. Full Story
At this morning's TribLive conversation, Comptroller Susan Combs talked about the data breach on her agency's web site that inadvertently exposed the personal information of 3.5 million state employees and retirees. Full Story
The State Board of Education may try to modify the state's rigid new standardized exams — the STAAR tests — in a way that allays school districts’ concerns that they're losing local control over grading. Full Story
U.S. Senate candidate Tom Leppert, the former Dallas mayor, has released a new campaign spot that boasts of his job creation experience, and takes a swipe at so-called "career politicians." Full Story
Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley this morning announced the appointment of the Texas Attorney General as special prosecutor in the Michael Morton case. A special grand jury is also being formed, he said. Full Story
The state's family planning reductions hit the Planned Parenthood Association of Hidalgo County especially hard. In September, the association shut down four of its eight health clinics and laid off half of its staff. Anti-abortion advocates argue the state should not "subsidize the abortion industry." The Trib's Thanh Tan and Justin Dehn report from Hidalgo County. Full Story
Aaronson interactively asks if stimulus funds created jobs in Texas, Aguilar on new voter registrar rules that could decrease voter turnout, Galbraith on a UT professor's debunking of climate change "myths," Grissom on an epic clash of El Paso political titans, Hamilton on the right's new higher ed guru, Murphy maps household data from the 2010 Census, Ramsey on a coming rules fight in the Texas Senate, Root and M. Smith on Rick Perry's performance at the New Hampshire debate and M. Smith talks public ed cuts with the state's Superintendent of the Year: The best of our best content from October 10-14, 2011. Full Story
By Ross Ramsey and Jay Root, The Texas Tribune, and Jim Rutenberg, The New York Times
Behind every politician there are men and women working in the wings, who can make calls, fix problems, raise money, punish enemies. In Rick Perry’s world, one man stands above them all: Mike Toomey. Full Story
As state Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, winds down her career in the Legislature, she is fixing to begin a new one with Academic Partnerships, a Dallas-based company that helps public universities convert their courses into online offerings. Full Story
The easiest way to win an election is to have the votes. The next easiest way is to change the rules of the election. Some political folks, inside and outside the Texas Senate, are looking at the rules. Full Story
As the popularity of online learning grows, public schools are grappling with how to most effectively integrate it into their classrooms — and some in the education community worry about the increasing influence of for-profit companies. Full Story
Another veteran is retiring from the Legislature, special election candidates are flinging endorsements at each other, and a doctor is leaving the House. Full Story
The Williamson County district attorney this afternoon withdrew a motion he had filed seeking to quickly dismiss the Michael Morton case. Morton's attorneys worried that he was attempting to quash investigation of allegations of prosecutorial misconduct. Full Story
A sea of 150 elementary and middle school students from Austin and Waco met on the steps of the Capitol today to sing, cheer and kick off the Texas No Kid Hungry Campaign. Full Story
The outspoken head of the state's fourth-largest school district— newly crowned as Superintendent of the Year — on school finance lawsuits, the impact of cuts to public education funding and the upcoming transition to end-of-course exams. Full Story
A new law imposing citizenship restrictions on deputy and volunteer voter registrars has voting rights groups worried that fewer Texans — in particular, fewer minorities — will cast a ballot next year. Full Story
A student organization at Gov. Rick Perry’s alma mater, Texas A&M, has started a petition requesting that the governor immediately call a special legislative session to end in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. Full Story