State Senators in Tricky Search for More Money
It’s not just that state Sen. Robert Duncan doesn’t like gambling. He doesn’t think he could get legalized casinos approved. But Duncan's got a mission: Find $5 billion to $6 billion. Full Story
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Texas-Like Budget Debates Have Already Played Out Around U.S.
Heated debate over the state budget is already under way, but as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, similar fighting has been playing out for at least three years across the country. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
Video: Lawmakers React to Budget Bills; Look Ahead to HB1 Battle
State Reps. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio, and Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, react to the passage of HB4 and HB275, and preview of the upcoming battle over HB1, the House's bare-bones general appropriations plan for the next biennium. Full Story
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House Lawmakers Propose Privatizing All State Jails
House lawmakers are considering a plan to privatize all of Texas' state jails for low-level felony offenders, a move they say could save the state up to $40 million. Full Story
Credit: Bob Daemmerich -
Texas-Like Budget Debates Have Already Played Out Around U.S.
Heated debate over the state budget is already under way, but as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, similar fighting has been playing out for at least three years across the country. Full Story
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Supporters Rally Around Texas Historical Commission
With the strum of a guitar and the whine of fiddle strings, Ray Benson and two other members of his band Asleep At The Wheel kicked off a rally Thursday to support the Texas Historical Commission, which faces deep budget cuts. Full Story
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Credit: Muliadi Soenaryo -
House Gives Early OK to Bills Balancing '11 Budget
House lawmakers voted this afternoon to preliminarily pass HB 4 and HB 275, two bills that together will balance the state's budget for the remaining months of the fiscal year through a mix of spending cuts and use of the Rainy Day Fund. Full Story
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Plenty of Politics in Budget Amendments
Numbers aren’t all that’s buried in the budget. Lawmakers have filed hundreds of amendments that are political in nature, from repealing in-state tuition for illegal immigrants to trying to push Planned Parenthood out of the family planning business. Full Story
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Guns on Campus Bill Heads to Senate Floor
The Senate Criminal Justice Committee today approved a controversial bill that would allow students to carry concealed handguns on college campuses. Full Story
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TribLive: Don't Cut Public Ed, Thompson Says
At this morning's TribLive conversation, state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, the longest-serving woman, African American and Democrat in the Texas House, forcefully argued that state funding of public education should not be cut — unless school districts are made to tap into their own reserves. Full Story
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LiveBlog: House Debates Rainy Day Bills
We're liveblogging from the House floor, where lawmakers are expected to vote on HB 4 and HB 275, two bills that would balance the Fiscal Year 2011 budget and authorize lawmakers to withdraw $3.1 billion from the Rainy Day Fund. Full Story
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
HIV Medication Program in Peril
With budget deliberation looming in the Legislature, Gretch Sanders of KUT News reports that funding cuts to one health program could mean a death sentence for some. Full Story
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VIDEO: GOP Freshman Lawmakers Discuss Tea Party Influence, Budget Clout
Thirty new GOP state lawmakers took office this year, promising their constituents they'd cut the fat out of government. As the House prepares to vote on a slew of budget bills on Thursday and Friday, this freshman bloc is showing some clout. Full Story
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House Budget: All the Amendments
The House is scheduled to take up the full budget on Friday, and members filed more than 400 pages of amendments in advance of that debate. Here's the full set, in searchable, electronic form. Full Story
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The Weekly TribCast: Episode 73
In this week's TribCast, Evan, Ross, Reeve and Ben discuss statements by the Legislative Budget Board, the situation with gambling bills, and the saga of Willie Nelson. Full Story
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Lawmakers, Policy Experts Spar Over LBB Jobs Analysis
Lawmakers and lobbyists continue to spar over the accuracy of a recent Legislative Budget Board analysis of the effect House Bill 1 could have on jobs in the state of Texas. Full Story
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Credit: Ben Philpott -
Proposed Guest-Worker Program Gets Mixed Reviews
Proposed legislation that would establish a state-run guest worker program would legally satisfy the state’s appetite for cheap labor but not grant amnesty to people already in Texas illegally, according to the bill’s author. Full Story
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Bill Could Punish TSA Agents for Pat-Downs
TSA agents could be charged with misdemeanor crimes for intrusive pat-downs of Texas travelers, under a bill filed by Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview, and co-authored by more than 40 other lawmakers. Full Story
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Advocates Rally to Retain State Health Funds
Hundreds of people rallied at the Capitol today to urge lawmakers to maintain state spending on Medicaid and CHIP, the health care programs for children, the disabled and the very poor. Full Story
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Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Eyewitness Identification Bill Tentatively Passes House
A bill to improve how police conduct lineups to solve crimes tentatively passed the Texas House today without opposition. Full Story
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Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera
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