The Brief: April 19, 2011
Senate leaders on Monday delivered one of their strongest attacks yet on the House's stark budget proposal. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/ab7403138e9739a727dde4189488e689/BD%20INC%20Dewhurst%2007%202011)
-
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Interactive: How Would You Close the State's Budget Gap?
Solving the state's 2012-13 budget woes is a hard job and perhaps the best way to show that is to let you decide for yourself how the $27 billion shortfall should be closed. Use our interactive budget shortfall app to see what you're willing to give up to close the gap. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/BudgetApp.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
Credit: Graphic by Chris Cheng / Ben Hasson / Todd Wiseman -
Comptroller Offers Help After Data Mishap
Frustrated state employees continue to search for help — and answers — after the comptroller's office accidentally left sensitive personal data on an open server for anyone to see. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Comptroller_Pic_CROP.jpg)
![Picture of one of millions of letters sent you by the Comptroller's office after it was discovered that the personal information of more than three million people was left unprotected for a year.]()
Credit: Ben Philpott -
Senate Budget Takes Aim at Hospitals
It doesn’t include a “sick tax.” But the Senate version of the state’s 2012-13 budget still takes direct aim at hospitals, in an effort to find hundreds of millions of dollars in cost savings and narrow the state’s revenue gap. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Hospital-Money-Budget-Funding.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
Doggett Dismayed by Redistricting Plan
U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, reacts to the proposed split of his current district. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/doggett.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
-
Ricardo Sanchez: The TM Interview
Three years ago I interviewed the apparent 2012 Democrat candidate for U.S. Senate — then a retired lieutenant general hawking a memoir — for Texas Monthly. You can read the nearly 2,700-word Q&A here. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/300px-Ricardo_Sanchez2_crop.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
-
Texas College Republicans Target Ogden
In a press release today, the Texas College Republicans said they were "stunned" by the actions of a member of the Texas Senate: Steve Ogden, R-Bryan. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Ogden001CMS.jpg)
![Sen. Steve Ogden (l), R-Bryan, talks with Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, on the Senate floor on March 29, 2011]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Guest Column: How to Bridge the Budget Gap
As the clock counts down to the end of the regular session on May 30, it’s fair to ask House and Senate leaders — and all members — to meet our needs, not our wants. Here's how they can bridge the multi-billion-dollar gap between their budget plans without any new taxes. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/010709_hammon_bill_2.jpg)
![Bill Hammond is the CEO of the Texas Association of Business.]()
-
TribLive: Cornyn on Planned Parenthood "Facts"
At this morning's TribLive conversation, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, was unwilling to distance himself from controversial remarks about Planned Parenthood by his colleague, U.S. Jon Kyl, R-Arizona. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/Cornyn2CMS_2.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
-
Bassett: Politics Stymied Willingham Investigation
The former chairman of a state forensic board applauded the current commissioners' report on the arson investigation used to convict Cameron Todd Willingham, but said he's deeply concerned that politics stymied their ability to take a stronger stance. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/110709_bradley_001_jv.png)
![John Bradley, left, is the new chair of the Texas Forensic Science Commission. Cameron Todd Willingham, right, was executed for setting a house fire that killed his three daughters.]()
Credit: Jacob Villanueva -
The Midday Brief: Top Texas Headlines for April 18, 2011
Your afternoon reading: a possible Democratic contender for Senate, cartels setting up shop in the U.S. and the beer run that led to a massive wildfire. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/ChartRepublicanPrimary.png)
![Article thumbnail]()
-
Senate Votes for "Transparent" TxDOT
The Texas Department of Transportation Sunset bill that got caught up in the backlog of legislation last session passed the Senate today. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TrafficCongestion_on_I35.jpg)
![Traffic congestion on Interstate 35 in Austin. The freeway through central Austin is among the state's most congested road segments, according to a TxDOT study.]()
Credit: Illustration by Charles Stricklin/Todd Wiseman -
Could Soda Tax Fill Budget Hole?
Republican lawmakers have vowed to close the budget hole without a new tax. But that hasn’t stopped Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, from proposing a penny per ounce tax on soft drinks. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/CokeBottles.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
-
The Brief: April 18, 2011
State budget writers should be looking foward this week to finalize a budget that currently seeks to gut billions from current spending levels. But the fight coming doesn’t look like an easy one for either chamber. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/RainyDayFund.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
Kenneth Ashworth: The TT Interview
The former vice chancellor at the University of Texas and former commissioner of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board on his new book, how the tensions of the 1970s are echoed in today's battles between politicians and academicians at the state's major universities, and on what he thinks is at stake. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/AshworthHorns.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
-
House Bill on Student Testing Reopens a Familiar Debate
A familiar battle between the Texas House and the Senate involves proposed changes in how the state should hold students and educators accountable. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/ExamDifficulty.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
Inside Intelligence: With Money Short...
For the latest installment of our unscientific survey of political and policy insiders, we asked whether lawmakers ought to revise the state's main business tax, whether they'll extend a major small business tax exemption, and what they think are the smartest and dumbest cuts in proposed state budgets. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/inside_intelligence-logo_1.png)
![Article thumbnail]()
-
A Budget Problem Deferred — to Now
The 2006 tax swap — lowering local school property taxes and creating a new business tax to make up the difference — is at the center of Texas' current budget troubles. The architects are still pointing fingers over what and whom to blame for the state's “structural deficit.” Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Strayhorn055TT.jpg)
![Carol Strayhorn announces for governor, June, 2005.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Solomons' Map
Now there are maps, and the chairman of the House Redistricting Committee, Burt Solomons, appears to be in a hurry. He unveiled his proposed House map on Wednesday and could ask his committee to vote as early as Monday after hearings over the weekend. Full Story
-
Cartels Complicate Tick Eradication Program
An unexpected casualty of the drug-cartel-fueled lawlessness in Mexico: the cattle industry. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/20110412__cbm0960.jpg)
![Federal USDA workers inspect Mexican cattle for fever ticks before admitting them into the country. If a single tick is found, the entire herd must be quarantined and sent back to the rancher.]()
Credit: Caleb Bryant Miller