Word Cloud: House Budget Debate
Data don’t lie: Amendments dominated the House floor last Friday as Representatives debated the budget bill. A visualization of the House transcript reveals “amendment” was the most used word. Full Story
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Credit: Graphic by Becca Aaronson, Wordle.net -
Interview: Speaker Joe Straus on the Budget and Session
House Speaker Joe Straus was interviewed eariler this week by Jim Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, government prof and half of the Tribune's polling team, about the session so far, the budget, gambling, rewriting state taxes, federal stimulus money and what he thinks about the tempest over research and teaching at the state's top universities. Full Story
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The Midday Brief: Top Texas Headlines for April 8, 2011
Your afternoon reading: Budget cut-induced furor; an ongoing controversy at UT; House approval for school board disclosures. Full Story
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
The Week in Texas Politics Recap: Apr. 4 to Apr. 8
No time to follow every twist and turn of the Texas Legislature? We've made it easier for you with our weekly recaps of the action under the dome. Full Story
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Slideshow: Fighting Fires in Texas
The Texas Forest Service, the lead agency charged with fighting fires, has had a busy season due to strong winds and drought. Full Story
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![The Texas Forest Service, the lead agency for battling state wildfires, is part of the Texas A&M University system.]()
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Hispanics at Heart of Redistricting Debate
Expect just about every redistricting decision made this year to center on the state's rapidly growing Hispanic population. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports on how the search for Hispanic-majority districts could affect the re-election chances of some lawmakers. Full Story
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Credit: Graphic by Ben Hasson -
Forest Service Battles on Two Fronts: Fires, Budget
Drought and strong winds mean that the number of wildfires is way up this year. But the Texas Forest Service, the lead fire-fighting agency, is also facing heightened scrutiny in the Legislature — and, of course, budget cuts. Full Story
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Credit: Djakhangir Zakhidov -
It's Senate vs. Austerity in Fight Over Budget
The betting game has already begun on whether the budget battle between a more moderate Senate and a far stingier House will lead to a standoff — and a special session in the summer. The two budget committee chairmen refuse to say whether one body may have more sway than the other in the final outcome. Full Story
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Hispanics at Heart of Redistricting Debate
Expect just about every redistricting decision made this year to center on the state's rapidly growing Hispanic population. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports on how the search for Hispanic-majority districts could affect the re-election chances of some lawmakers. Full Story
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Credit: Graphic by Ben Hasson -
Video: Fighting Fires With the Forest Service
The Texas Forest Service is the lead state agency tasked with fighting wildfires. Among its recent challenges: a 3,000-acre blaze on an army base near Brownwood. Full Story
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When Cutting the Budget Actually Costs Money
Cutting the budget can be expensive. Something that appears to save money can, on further inspection, cost more. Family planning, for instance. Full Story
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Credit: Adam Lederer -
Senate List of $5.5 Billion in Revenue Proposals Leaked
Texas senators scratching for new state revenue canceled a meeting to talk about their options today, but a copy of their list got loose — and it includes $5.5 billion in taxes, fees, asset sales and accounting tricks that could be used to ease their budget problems. Full Story
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Texting While Driving Ban Gets Early OK In House
This is no LOL matter: Texting while driving could soon be prohibited statewide. But using other applications on a smart phone, like GPS or Facebook, would not be banned — as long as you're reading, not typing. Full Story
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Credit: Jacob Villanueva -
Video: Senate Signals Big Changes In Store For HB 1
The Texas House sent its budget blueprint to the Senate this week. But many senators say those cuts are too deep, and they're ready to make some drastic changes. Full Story
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Wentworth Temporarily Pulls Down Campus Carry Bill
After his bill received heated debate on the floor, Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, withdrew his campus carry bill today. Full Story
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Unexpectedly, a Lawmaker Finds Extra Money For Schools
A Texas lawmaker said the magic words Thursday morning to a panel of exhausted and nearly hopeless state budget writers: he has found a “new revenue source without raising taxes.” Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
Two New Texas Latino Seats in Congress?
The public version of drawing new congressional maps for Texas started this morning with committee hearings and the unveiling of a proposal from a coalition that insists at least two of the four new districts should have Latino majorities. Full Story
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![Nina Perales of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and members of the Texas Latino Redistricting Task Force present a proposal for two new Latino-majority congressional seats during a 2011 press conference.]()
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TribLive: Seliger and Solomons on the Politics of Redistricting
At this morning's TribLive conversation, state Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, and state Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, acknowledged that there's no way to take politics out of the mapmaking process. Full Story
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To Some House Republicans, Family Planning = Abortion
Is "family planning" a euphemism for abortion? For many House Republicans, yes. It's not that they don't understand the difference — it's that they don't trust family planning clinics not to steer women toward abortions. Full Story
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Credit: Adam Lederer -
Demand for Court-Appointed Advocates on the Rise
Attorney General Greg Abbott and former first lady Laura Bush are leading an effort to recruit more court-appointed special advocates for foster kids. With 42,000 children in the system, Gretch Sanders of KUT News reports on the growing need for so-called CASA volunteers. Full Story
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