The latest state government news from The Texas Tribune.
As Texas lawmakers look to slash billions in state spending, pension plans have become fair game. Mose Buchele of KUT News reports on a legislative proposal to decrease state contributions to two retirement plans that collectively serve hundreds of thousands of Texans. Full Story
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Border lawmakers who oppose Gov. Rick Perry's call to abolish “sanctuary cities” in Texas are misinterpreting his stance on the issue, according to his aides. Full Story
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Even as Texas pursues a lawsuit attacking federal health care reform, some state officials are reluctantly laying the groundwork to implement parts of the law. Full Story
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For the latest installment of our nonscientific survey of political and policy insiders on issues of the moment, we asked whether voter fraud is a policy issue or a political one, what should and shouldn't be on the governor's list of emergency items for the Legislature, how those designations should be used and whether the Legislature ought to be allowed to set its own early priorities. Full Story
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Abortion politics is back on center stage, with Gov. Rick Perry putting it, voter photo ID, state support for a balanced federal budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution, eminent domain and a ban on sanctuary cities at the top of his list of priorities. Why? Full Story
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For our latest TribLive conversation, I sat down with the soon-to-be-ex Rairoad Commissioner and declared 2012 U.S. Senate candidate to talk about why he's qualified to serve, what he thinks of his potential primary opponents and a range of issues that he'd face if he were in D.C. today. Full Story
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Creative industries — from advertising to dance companies to book publishing — generate $4.5 billion per year in economic activity for Texas, according to a new report released by the Texas Cultural Trust in association with the Texas Commission on the Arts. The report features projects in communities like Amarillo, El Paso, Rockport, Texarkana and the tiny, north central Texas town of Clifton, population 3,795. “It’s more than fluff,” says Amy Barbee, the Trust's executive director. “We want to tell the story that the arts truly are economic development.” Full Story
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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. Take a look back at the top political news from Jan. 24 to Jan. 28. Full Story
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Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst appointed senators to committees late this afternoon Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry’s request that lawmakers work to abolish “sanctuary cities” in Texas could potentially increase crime in spots across the border from Mexico, according to lawmakers who met in El Paso today to denounce the governor’s request. Full Story
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In case you were planning any trips to violence-ridden Mexico, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety says don't — again. Full Story
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Lawmakers will soon take an ax to the state budget, but business leaders are hoping one big-ticket item will be spared. At its annual conference in Austin this week, the Texas Association of Business sounded warnings about potential cuts to public education. Erika Aguilar of KUT News reports. Full Story
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From the highways of Texas to the San Jacinto Battleground, state agencies now aim to maximize the use of native grasses rather than opting for whatever was cheapest or fastest-growing, as they did decades ago. Full Story
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In police departments across Texas, tens of thousands of rape kits have been sitting on the shelves of property storage rooms for years — thanks to strained budgets, overworked crime labs and a law enforcement philosophy that such kits are primarily useful as evidence if a stranger committed the assault. Victims’ rights advocates and some lawmakers say they'll work to pass legislation this year to take that evidence out of storage and create a DNA database that would help track rapists and perhaps even identify those who have been wrongly convicted. "I think we owe it to every person who has been raped," says state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth. Full Story
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Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams joined The Texas Tribune's Evan Smith for a TribLive event this morning in Austin. Williams made it official that he's running for the U.S. Senate in 2012. Full Story
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The state representative and anesthesiologist from Simonton on why he filed the House's first bill to implement a key piece of federal health-care reform and was the first in his party to openly suggest that dropping out of Medicaid wasn't such a great idea after all. Full Story
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Last week, freshman state Rep. Stefani Carter, R-Dallas, had her “TeaApproved” status revoked by the North Texas Tea Party following her vote in favor of re-electing Speaker Joe Straus. How did she get “TeaApproved” in the first place? Full Story
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For community mental health and retardation centers like Round Rock's Bluebonnet Trails, cuts in the state budget will have a direct effect on the number of people they serve — and help keep in school or employed and out of state hospitals and emergency rooms. For KUT News and The Texas Tribune, Ben Philpott reports. Full Story
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For mental health and retardation centers like Round Rock's Bluebonnet Trails, state budget cuts will have a direct effect on the number of people they serve — and help keep in school or employed and out of state hospitals and emergency rooms. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports. Full Story
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The voter ID legislation passed by the Texas Senate on Wednesday night may be controversial, but it’s a familiar debate, as is the issue of “sanctuary cities.” Less well known but no less controversial are many of the provisions found in more than three dozen immigration-related bills filed so far. Some Hispanic Republicans in the Texas House say they are not going to support bills they believe are too extreme. Full Story
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