The latest Rodney Ellis news from The Texas Tribune.
Beginning next year, jails like the one in Gregg County where Amy Lynn Cowling died could be required to tell state officials how many staff members leave their jobs every month. Experts say there likely is a correlation between high staff turnover rates and increased deaths. Full Story
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Root and Galbraith on a Dallas billionaire's radioactive waste dump victory, Grissom on the passage of eyewitness ID reform, Hamilton on the old grudges bedeviling the debate over higher ed, Philpott on the status of congressional redistricting, Ramsey on Rick Perry's un-campaign for president, Ramshaw on why medical schools are the scorned children of the state's education budget, my session-wrap interview with three veteran Democrats, M. Smith on why Rob Eissler can't pass mandate relief for school districts and Stiles on who's giving what to which Texas candidates in 2011-12 congressional races: The best of our best content from May 16 to 20, 2011. Full Story
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A bill that would clarify and expand the jurisdiction of the Forensic Science Commission appeared to have fizzled in the Texas House. But tonight lawmakers revived the bill and voted it out of committee. Full Story
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At last Thursday's TribLive conversation, I interviewed three veteran lawmakers — state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, state Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, and state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio — about how they and their Democratic colleagues fared this session. Full Story
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At Thursday's TribLive conversation, I interviewed three veteran lawmakers — state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, state Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, and state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio — about how they and their Democratic colleagues fared this session. Full Story
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At last Thursday's TribLive conversation, state Sens. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, and Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, explained why controversial sanctuary cities legislation may not make it out of the Texas Senate. Full Story
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The Senate today approved a measure that would reform the way law enforcement officers conduct identification lineups, a measure that criminal justice advocates hope will mean fewer wrongful convictions in the future. Full Story
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The Texas Senate today passed a bill that would finally compensate Anthony Graves for the 18 years he spent behind bars convicted of grisly murders he did not commit. Full Story
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Don't stub out the statewide smoking ban bill yet. The bill's House and Senate authors say they've got a vehicle for the measure to be passed, and they're still hopeful Texas will be the first southern state to outlaw the habit in restaurants, bars and most public places. Full Story
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The Texas Senate approved a $3.97 billion draw on the state's Rainy Day Fund to cover a deficit of the same size in the current budget, but not before rejecting efforts to add on a larger amount to help balance the 2012-13 budget. Full Story
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Charles Chatman and other former prisoners who have been exonerated of their crimes are joining state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, in urging House lawmakers to act quickly and pass bills intended to reduce wrongful convictions. Full Story
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The $176 billion budget was approved along party lines, with all 19 Republicans voting for it and all 12 Democrats voting against. Full Story
A psychologist who examined 14 inmates now on Texas’ death row — and two others who were subsequently executed — and found them intellectually competent enough to face the death penalty has agreed never to perform such evaluations again. Full Story
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A bill that would change the system for distributing TEXAS Grants — the state's primary need-based aid program — by creating a new priority system passed the Senate today by a vote of 24-7. Full Story
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The Senate today passed a bill that would reduce restrictions on post-conviction DNA testing by allowing biological evidence that was previously untested, or tested by older, potentially inaccurate techniques, to be tested and used as evidence in court. Full Story
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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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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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You can’t buy liquor on Sundays and car dealerships can only be open one day over a weekend because of the last remnants of so-called “blue laws” in Texas. But a state Senate bill would change that for alcohol sales. Full Story
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The Senate Nominations Committee voted 4-2 today to recommend approval of the state forensic board Chairman John Bradley's appointment. Sens. José Rodríguez and Kirk Watson voted against Bradley's nomination. 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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