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The latest state government news from The Texas Tribune.

  • How Do You Lose a 24-Foot Boat?

    By Brandi Grissom

    Or a $74,000 piece of radio equipment? Or more than 150 handguns and rifles? Those are just a few of the nearly 1,500 items that the Texas Department of Public Safety reported stolen or lost in the last decade. Some of the assets might still be in the possession of DPS or possibly were sold, but the agency’s inventory system is so poor that it's hard to know what's actually missing. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • Climbing the Ladder

    By Ross Ramsey

    What happens if Gov. Rick Perry or Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst decide to run for federal office and win, creating a vacancy — or two — in Texas? That sound you hear is a herd of GOP pols rushing to update their resumes. Full Story 

    Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst shakes hands with Gov. Rick Perry at the 2011 inauguration.
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • TribBlog: Smitherman Takes On the EPA

    By Kate Galbraith

    During a meeting today of the Public Utility Commission, chairman Barry Smitherman said that the Environmental Protection Agency was attempting to "disarm the U.S. economy," with a raft of rules covering everything from fly-ash waste from coal plants to new rules on greenhouse gases. Full Story 

    PUC Commissioner

  • TribBlog: A Voter ID Emergency

    By Reeve Hamilton

    Today, Gov. Rick Perry added two more issues — voter ID legislation and a call for a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget — to his list of "emergency items" that state legislators can begin deliberating on right away. Full Story 

    House Speaker Joe Straus, Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • ICYMI: The Senate Two-Thirds Debate

    By Elise Hu

    In case you missed it, we mashed up Wednesday's speeches for and against the Texas Senate's hallowed "two-thirds rule," which senators ultimately preserved. Members voted to keep an exception to the rules that allows a simple majority to consider changes to voter identification laws. Full Story 

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  • TribBlog: Can Texas Cut Medicaid Payments?

    By Emily Ramshaw

    In a case that could directly affect Texas' planned budget cuts, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether states have the legal right to reduce the rates they pay to health care providers who accept Medicaid patients. Full Story 

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    Credit: Supreme Court of the United States

  • A Plea For Fairness

    By Reeve Hamilton

    Every chancellor of a university system in Texas knows — down to the exact, excruciatingly precise percentage point — how much worse higher education fared than other agencies when their current budgets were cut. With the state facing a massive budget shortfall in the next biennium, the chancellors know they're in for another round. But this time they're adamant that they not bear a disproportionate share of the pain. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • Budget Blues

    By Emily Ramshaw

    As House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, laid out the first grim round of proposed cuts on Wednesday, even some of his Republican colleagues couldn't stifle their objections. House Democrats went a step further, calling the cuts "akin to asking an anorexic person to lose more weight." Full Story 

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  • Michael Williams Sizes Up Senate Race

    By Justin Dehn

    Michael Williams is leaving the Railroad Commission in April and preparing to announce his candidacy for the U.S. Senate. In an interview today with the Trib's Ross Ramsey, he talked about the 2012 race and about his confidence that minorities don't face any special hurdles in Texas GOP primaries. Full Story 

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  • TribBlog: LBB: State Must Improve Care For Disabled

    By Emily Ramshaw

    The way Texas is currently providing care for people with disabilities — keeping all its state institutions in operation, despite increasing demand for community-based care — is not cost effective, and should be changed, according to an analysis released by the Legislative Budget Board on Wednesday. Full Story 

    Austin State-Supported Living Center employee Tamika Mays is shown with resident Rebecca Hadnot in 2011.
    Credit: Todd Wiseman

  • A Stiff Cocktail of Budget Cuts

    By Texas Tribune Staff

    The Texas House has unveiled a $156.4 billion budget that's $31.1 billion smaller than the current two-year spending plan — a drop of 16.6 percent. The proposed budget came with $1.2 billion in recommendations for savings and new revenue from the Legislative Budget Board. Full Story 

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  • Texas Inaugurama

    By Elise Hu

    Gov. Rick Perry was sworn in Tuesday for an unprecedented third full term, predicting that historians will look back on this time as the "Texas century." Full Story 

    Gov. Rick Perry swears into office in 2011.
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich