The latest state government news from The Texas Tribune.
Texas voters started going to the polls this week to decide whether to add 10 amendments to the state's massive Constitution, potentially taking the total number of amendments to 477. A few of them have drawn the ire of anti-tax groups. Full Story
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In his flat-tax speech on Tuesday, Gov. Rick Perry also listed five ways to fix Social Security. One of those, as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, is based on a system Galveston County created after opting out of the federal program. Full Story
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Following a hearing today in federal court in Amarillo, a lawyer for death row inmate Hank Skinner said it will likely be up to the state courts to decide a fight over DNA testing in his case. Skinner is scheduled to be executed Nov. 9. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry and his staff repeatedly downplayed the severity of abuse and neglect allegations at Texas’ state-run institutions for the disabled — until conditions became so dire that federal authorities intervened. Full Story
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At last Thursday's TribLive conversation, Comptroller Susan Combs talked about the health of the Texas economy, her agency's data breach, her shifting position on abortion and more. Full Story
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Hamilton on efforts to boost faculty productivity, Grissom on newly uncovered evidence in an old murder case, Galbraith on a wind-powered construction boom, Dehn unfurls the new Texas Tribune Weekend Insider, Aguilar on this year's record number of deportations, Ramshaw and Tan on budget cuts and cervical cancer screenings, M. Smith on local control over student grades, Root and Ramshaw on Rick Perry's latest debate performance, Philpott on an issue that didn't get its due in that debate and Titus and Murphy on fundraising and spending in congressional races: The best of our best content from October 17 to 21, 2011. Full Story
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Michael Morton's legal team responded today to claims from the exonerated man's original prosecutors that they cannot be forced to testify as part of an inquiry into how Morton was wrongfully convicted of murdering his wife. Full Story
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Jesse and Caitlin Baker recently learned of the most dramatic development in the mystery of their mother's murder in nearly two decades of probing for clues. The DNA discovery has prompted new hopes for long-awaited answers. Full Story
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Texas added 15,400 new jobs last month, according to statistics released today by the Texas Workforce Commission. The Texas unemployment rate, which increased over the last three months, remained steady in September at 8.5 percent. Full Story
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The House's interim charges are out, starting with instructions to everyone to consider ways to improve the state's manufacturing capability and increase the "transparency, accountability, and efficiency" in state government. Full Story
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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