Sales Taxes, an Exit Ramp and the Texas Budget
An exit ramp so important it warrants mention in the Texas budget is just one of the many "riders" in competing spending plans proposed by the Texas House and Senate. Full Story
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House Budget Spends More Than Senate's on Schools, Less on Medicaid
Both the House and Senate are proposing spending about $194 billion over the next two years. But there are key differences between the two plans. Full Story
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Hot Seat: A Conversation with Fraser and King
At last Friday's Hot Seat conversation at Abilene Christian University, state Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, and state Rep. Susan King, R-Abilene, talked about public education, health care, water, the state budget and other issues in play in the 83rd session. Full Story
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House Committee Backs Budget That Includes More School Funding
The $193.8 billion budget approved by the House Appropriations Committee includes an extra $2.5 billion for public education. The bill is smaller than the Senate budget by about $1.7 billion. Full Story
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Senate Votes to Approve $195.5 Billion Budget
The Texas Senate approved a $195.5 billion budget Wednesday that even supporters called an intermediate step toward a final spending plan for the next two years. Full Story
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Budget Votes to Set Stage for Future Negotiations
The $195.5 billion budget that senators will vote on Wednesday includes $1.4 billion extra for education and pay raises for most state employees. A House committee is expected to vote Thursday on its version of the budget. Full Story
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Inside the State Budget, a Shell Game to Avoid Choosing Taxes or Cuts
The state balances its budget by counting nearly $5 billion in unspent funds that were raised for specific programs. To change their ways, lawmakers would have to go back to what they were trying to avoid: choices between taxes and cuts. Full Story
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LBB Right on Rainy Day Fund, Lawmakers Admit
House and Senate leaders have come to the same painful conclusion: spending from the Rainy Day Fund is subject to the constitutional spending limit. They disagree on what to do now. Full Story
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Senate Finance Approves $195.5 Billion Budget
The budget approved Wednesday by the Senate Finance Committee is 2.9 percent bigger than the estimated size of the current two-year budget. It includes about $8.9 billion more than the first draft Senate leaders unveiled in January. Full Story
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With Deadline Looming, House Sends Medicaid IOU Bill to Perry
House members unanimously approved a bill largely devoted to addressing a shortfall in Medicaid. Health providers for poor children and the disabled in Texas won't get paid starting Thursday unless Gov. Rick Perry signs the bill soon. Full Story
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UT/TT Poll: Texans Favor Surcharge to Help State Pay for Water Projects
Water is a top issue with lawmakers, if not quite there with voters, according to the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. And voters prefer adding a surcharge, based on water usage, to help pay for water projects. Full Story
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Republican Senator Proposes Tax Hike for Transportation
State Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, wants Texas voters to approve a constitutional amendment to temporarily increase the state sales tax to pay off the Texas Department of Transportation's debt. Full Story
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Senate Sends $6.6 Billion Budget Bill Back to House
The Texas Senate on Tuesday sent a $6.6 billion supplemental bill back to the House after Democrats in the upper chamber were assured that efforts to restore some funding to schools will be considered later. Full Story
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In Hunt for Roads Funds, Texas Won't Model Va.
Texas lawmakers hope to follow in Virginia's footsteps this session and revamp the way they fund transportation. While Virginia opted to cut gas taxes and raise sales taxes, Texas is looking at other options. Full Story
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Medicaid Expansion Confounds Conservatives
Expanding the state's Medicaid program under the federal health care law makes fiscal sense to some politicians for whom it doesn't make political sense. Full Story
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House Passes Bill to Address $4.5 Billion Medicaid IOU
With little debate on Thursday, House lawmakers passed House Bill 10, an emergency supplemental appropriations bill that needs to get to Gov. Rick Perry's desk by next month to avoid bills owed to medical workers going unpaid. Full Story
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TribCast: Testing, Immigration and Bill Powers
Morgan, Ross, Julian and Evan discuss the public education debates now playing out at the Capitol, the prospect of comprehensive immigration reform and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst's emotional defense of UT-Austin President Bill Powers. Full Story
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Emergency Services Agency Can't Spend Cash Earmarked for It
The agency that oversees the state’s 911 system and poison control centers has both too much money and not nearly enough. What’s more, every Texan with a phone is paying to keep it that way. Full Story
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![Recalled products, natural threats, choking hazards, and items that could cause emergencies when large amounts are ingested by children, are displayed at the South Texas Poison Center in San Antonio. Miguel Fernández, managing director of the center, is reflected in the display case glass.]()
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First Impressions
The Texas House is about to hold its first debate, and on a spending bill, to boot. It will pass, because it must. But watch how they work. Full Story
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Straus on Priorities; More Campaign Woes for Dewhurst
The speaker of the House dampens expectations for vouchers, tax breaks and transportation without ruling any of those things out. And the lieutenant governor unpeels another layer of problems he says arose from a campaign manager's embezzling. Full Story
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Credit: Michael Stravato
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