The latest Texas Legislature news from The Texas Tribune.
More than 100 Texas doctors made a deal with the state: For four years, they would practice in underserved communities and treat the neediest patients — in return for having their med school debt forgiven. But now state officials may be backing down from their side of the bargain. Full Story
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Even before state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, tweaked a bill requiring a woman seeking an abortion to have a sonogram performed, he said lawmakers and the media had misunderstood his intent. Full Story
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Cries of "Texas fight" and "It's 8:45, and we're still underfunded" rang across a crowd of nearly 100 students, who marched to the Capitol this morning to rally for adequate funding for the University of Texas. Full Story
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One state senator calls it "a 20 percent backdoor secret tax" on those paying for college. Another argues that eliminating it would help create a Texas with a "have-and-have-not culture." And some students say the the tuition set-aside program mandated by the state in 2003 is just plain theft. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry's State of the State speech on Tuesday was part pep rally, part budget proposal, with a dash of national politics. And, as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, Democrats weren't charmed. Full Story
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State Democratic lawmakers responded to Gov. Rick Perry's State of the State address Tuesday, calling his budget proposals a "Ponzi scheme." Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry told lawmakers Tuesday he is against tapping the state's $9.4 billion Rainy Day Fund to close the budget shortfall: “That approach would not only postpone tough, necessary decisions." Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry wants two state agencies — the Texas Commission on the Arts and the Texas Historical Commission — defunded because they don’t provide “mission-critical” services. But what do they do? Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry delivered his sixth State of the State speech today, addressing a joint session of the Texas House and Senate, and selling the state's fiscal troubles as an opportunity to make government more efficient. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry will challenge the state's colleges and universities to offer a $10,000 bachelor's degree, including books, in his State of the State speech later this morning, according to sources familiar with some of the proposals. Full Story
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At the Texas Education Agency's first appearance before the Senate since the release of a budget that reduces school funding by $9.3 billion, senators called for a "full picture" of the state's spending on public education. Full Story
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After three days of testimony and today's closing arguments, state Rep. Will Hartnett, R-Dallas, is expected to recommend a winner of the disputed HD-48 seat on Friday. Full Story
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The chairman of the House Public Education Committee on how many public school teachers, administrators and non-instructional staff members are at risk of being laid off as a result of the budget shortfall. Full Story
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The chairman of the House Public Education Committee on whether the cuts to public ed will be as bad as everyone says they'll be. Full Story
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For our latest TribLive conversation, I sat down with the chairman of the House Public Education Committee to talk about the coming cuts to public ed: how big they're likely to be, the prospect of tens of thousands of teacher and non-instructional-staff layoffs and whether new revenue sources are on the table. Full Story
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The chairman of the House Public Education Committee on whether the Rainy Day Fund should be used, in part or in whole, to reduce the size of the budget shortfall. Full Story
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For our latest TribLive conversation, I sat down with the chairman of the House Public Education Committee to talk about the coming cuts to public ed: how big they're likely to be, the prospect of tens of thousands of teacher and non-instructional-staff layoffs, whether new revenue sources are on the table and more. Full Story
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Under the proposed legislation, teens caught "sexting" could face up to a Class A Misdemeanor. Parents could also face penalties. Full Story
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State Rep. Armando Walle, D-Houston, has filed three bills aimed at regulating the practice of ticketing students for misbehavior in public schools. Full Story
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More money is not the answer to our current woes. Just as anyone managing a household budget knows, when a family’s expenses grow beyond its income, the solution is to cut back — particularly if its spending habits resemble the state's. Full Story
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