The latest state government news from The Texas Tribune.
For our latest TribLive conversation, I interviewed the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee about the budget shortfall, the possibility of new revenue sources, whether Joe Straus will retaliate against members who opposed him and whether Tea Party threats should be taken seriously. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/9d97b31d86f61c5cda9ba4507fcbb631/TT%20Event%20Pitts%2005%202011)
If the lieutenant governor's job comes open in 2014, Comptroller Susan Combs is interested. But that's a long way off, she says, and everything has to line up just right. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/b8ed19150a7fd85f8c8821b2c9d6480e/BD%20INC%20Combs%2003%20CMS%202011)
No time to follow every twist and turn of the Texas Legislature? We've made it easier for you with our all-new weekly recaps of the action under the dome. Take a look back at the top political news from Jan. 10 to Jan. 14. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/Screen_shot_2011-01-10_at_5.57.06_PM_1.png)
On the heels of Kay Bailey Hutchison's announcement that she won't run for another term in the U.S. Senate and rampant speculation that David Dewhurst will run for her seat, Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson today walked up to the edge of saying he plans to run for lieutenant governor in 2014. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Jerry_Patterson.JPG)
Texas produces more law school graduates than it has jobs for. But that hasn’t stopped some lawmakers from proposing that the state build a new law school in the Valley. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/LuceoIII.jpg)
When Andrew Cuomo took office as governor of New York earlier this month, he ordered the removal of the security barricades limiting access to his state’s Capitol. “This Capitol has become a physical metaphor for the isolation and alienation of our people,” he said in his inauguration speech. He could easily have been talking about Texas. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/cbm_7280.jpg)
Minutes after learning of U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's decision not to seek re-election, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst demurred when asked whether he would run for her seat. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/Screen_shot_2011-01-13_at_3.33.19_PM.png)
In our TribLive conversation this morning, state Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, spoke frankly about the certainty that state employees would be cut as part of the Legislature's solution to the budget shortfall — and he said furloughs for employees who aren't cut may be ordered as well. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/PittsExplainsItAll.jpg)
Trib CEO Evan Smith spent the morning interviewing House Appropriations Chairman Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, at a TribLive event. And Pitts made some news. Here are a few headlines. Full Story
Federal health care reform’s biggest benefit for young adults — a mandate that insurance providers cover dependents until they reach age 26 — won’t apply to thousands of 25-year-old Texans for one simple reason: Their parents work for the state. The federal rule, which went into effect in late September, required all insurance providers to extend their cap to 26 at the start of their next “plan year.” For many private providers, that began Jan. 1. But the Texas Employees Retirement System plan year doesn't begin until next September, meaning 5,500 25-year-olds will miss out. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/CallieRichmondPhoto-0012.jpg)
The politics and rhetoric of the Environmental Protection Agency's multi-front battle with Texas make for a grand spectacle. Behind the scenes, however, there are signs that big industrial plants are trying to move past the stalemate on their own, talking with federal regulators and, in some cases, preparing to meet the demands of the agency. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/EPA_TCEQ_SmokeStacks.jpg)
In our session kickoff edition of the TribCast, Ross, Elise, Ben and Reeve discuss the state's budget morass, so-called "sanctuary city" legislation and their impressions of the newly sworn-in Texas Legislature. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TT-TribCast-002.png)
State Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, announced Wednesday she had filed legislation to make the sale, manufacture and possession of fake marijuana, commonly referred to as K2, illegal. The bill, SB 331, would outlaw six synthetic compounds that mimic the effects of THC, or Tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in marijuana. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/4a2363ecf0ccf3d322ecc544636f1bf7/.Man%20Smokes%20Marijuana)
The Sunset Advisory Commission met today and recommended that the Railroad Commission be renamed the Oil and Gas Commission, and that its top structure shrink from three elected commissioners to one. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Oil_Rig_Galveston_Museum.jpg)
Ever hear something about Texas politics or policy and wonder what it is? Or read something that made you think, "I have no idea what that means"? We're here to help. From questions about why Rick Perry is within his legal right to shoot a coyote while jogging to what the heck "chubbing" is, Texplainer will answer your burning questions. Today: "What's a Legislative emergency item?" Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/texplainer-sponsoredTAMU.png)
Gov. Rick Perry wants an end to "sanctuary cities," but in a press conference Wednesday morning, he didn't name specific cities he wants Texas lawmakers to target. Nor did he address whether the Department of Public Safety's policy of state troopers not inquiring about the immigration status of people they pull over should be changed. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/PerrySanctuary.jpg)
The Sunset Advisory Commission today unanimously recommended consolidating the Texas Youth Commission and the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission into one single youth justice division. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/103109_txyouthcommision001_jv.png)
Opening day of the 82nd Legislative Session was heavy on pomp and circumstance and light on substance. But, amid the hand shaking and picture taking and protesting Tea Partiers, there was business to be done. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/cbm_4660.jpg)
Texas prisoners have made and received more than 4.7 million telephone calls and sent and received 1.8 million e-mails since 2009, when the state became the last in the nation to allow inmates phone and e-mail use. But all those calls and messages haven’t generated the amount of revenue the state expected. The issue is balancing greater access for prisoners and their friends and family and the need to ensure security. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/PrisonPhones_b.jpg)
A view of 2011's opening day over time. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/cbm_4660.jpg)