Analysis of House Budget Divides Lawmakers
Lawmakers offered dueling interpretations Thursday of a Legislative Budget Board analysis predicting that the state could lose hundreds of thousands of jobs if the House's budget bill is passed. Full Story
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Committee Votes to Restore $4.5 Billion for Health Services
Deliberation about what to cut — and whom to save — ended with a vote to restore $4.5 billion to state health agencies at a Senate Health and Human Services subcommittee hearing this morning. The issue now goes to the full Senate Finance Committee. Full Story
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Report: Hundreds of Youths in Adult Prisons
Judges across the state, and particularly in Harris County, are sending youth offenders to adult prisons even when they have few prior offenses, according to a study by a University of Texas criminal justice expert. Full Story
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The Weekly TribCast: Episode 72
This week's episode of the TribCast features Evan, Ross, Reeve and Ben talking mostly about the budget, but also a bit about redistricting and academic research. Full Story
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House, Senate Budget Goals Could Lead to Battle
As the House prepares for a vote on its budget bill, Senate lawmakers are hinting that they're looking to spend more than their counterparts on public education — setting the stage for a budget battle. Full Story
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Amendments, Emotion Dominate Texas Voter ID Debate
House Democrats unsuccessfully fired off a half-dozen points of order challenging several provisions in the voter ID bill all in an effort to halt or alter the controversial legislation. Republicans expressed exasperation at the Democrats' attempts to stall the legislation. Full Story
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Voter ID Passes House After Long, Emotional Debate
After more than 11 hours of debate, seven points of order, more than 60 amendments and nearly as many heated exchanges, a mentally vanquished and emotionally exhausted Texas House preliminarily approved the controversial voter ID bill late tonight. Full Story
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Live: The Texas House
We're continuing to live stream the Texas House floor debate on the controversial voter ID debate. Click here for access to the stream on our 82nd Legislature page. Full Story
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Classrooms A Priority
Republican senators say the state's budget shortfall will mean educations cuts, but they said schools should focus first on eliminating non-classroom expenses and keeping as many teachers as possible. Full Story
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Human Trafficking Bill Passes in Senate
The Senate preliminarily approved a bill today by state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, that would add new definitions and harsher penalties to human trafficking laws. Full Story
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Infographic: The Politics of the Rainy Day Fund
Use our infographic to understand the intent of the Rainy Day Fund, what it takes to draw from that savings account, and the political arguments for and against using it. Full Story
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Marc Mauer: The TT Interview
The Tribune sat down recently with national criminal justice expert Marc Mauer, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based reform advocacy group The Sentencing Project, to get his advice about how Texas can continue on its so-called 'right on crime' path even as lawmakers slice millions from the state budget. Mauer, who was in Austin for the Barbara Jordan Symposium at the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs, talked about how other states have handled controversial prison closings, how others have reduced criminal justice costs and how the Right On Crime Movement — with support from conservative leaders like Grover Norquist and Newt Gingrich — might give lawmakers the political freedom to be more than tough when it comes to crime. Full Story
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Marc Mauer: The TT Interview
The national criminal justice expert on how other states have handled controversial prison closings and reduced criminal justice costs and how the Right On Crime Movement might give lawmakers the political freedom to be more than tough when it comes to crime. Full Story
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Short of Funds, State Eyes School Reserves
The state’s 1,030 school districts have — in total — $10.2 billion in reserves and another $2.1 billion in unspent federal stimulus money. Can they use that money to avoid draconian cutbacks? It's not that simple. Full Story
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Budget Constraints Pit Teaching Against Research
College students will rally at the Capitol today for higher-education funding. But as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, some students think major changes are also needed on campus, where, they say, professors spend too much time researching and not enough time with undergraduates in the classroom. Full Story
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Legislators Consider Repealing Driver Fees
Lawmakers at the Capitol debate eliminating a surcharge on traffic tickets that has been riddled with problems almost since its inception. Full Story
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Brewpub Bill Gets Boost With Compromise
A bill that would give brewpubs more flexibility to sell their ales has been given a boost by a compromise with an influential beer lobby. Full Story
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Texplainer: Who Would Be Allowed to Carry on Campus?
Those with a concealed handgun license, which currently means they must be 21 years old. Though it won't necessarily be that way forever, which raises another question: When it comes to gun safety, does age matter? Full Story
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Activists Rally for Home Health Care
Health care providers who treat profoundly disabled children at home face major budget cuts this session — cuts they say would devastate their industry and cost the state more in the long run. Full Story
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Senate Approves Incentive for Out-of-State Doctors
The Senate passed a bill today that would streamline the process of obtaining a medical license in Texas for out-of-state doctors. Full Story
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