budget

TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

By Evan Smith Nov. 6, 2010

Our wall-to-wall Election Day coverage — complete results up and down the ballot and county by county, the all-hands-on-deck Trib team on the Republican tsunami, my conversation with George W. Bush's media adviser and Rick Perry's pollster about what happened on Tuesday, Stiles and Ramsey on what 194 candidates spent per vote this election cycle, Hu on how the GOP rout will affect the substance of the next legislative session, Hamilton on the Texas Democratic Trust's unhappy end, Ramshaw and Stiles profile the new arrivals at the Capitol in January, M. Smith on what's next for Chet Edwards and Ramsey and me on six matters of politics and policy we're thinking about going forward — plus Thevenot and Butrymowicz on a possible solution to the high school dropout problem: The best of our best from Nov. 1 to 5, 2010. Full Story

Article thumbnail — Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

Majority Rules

By Elise Hu Nov. 4, 2010

Whether you call it a wave, a rout or a tsunami, one thing is clear: Republicans in the Texas House won a massive mandate for conservative bills — and budgeting — in the coming legislative session. Full Story

Beyond Election Day

By Ross Ramsey and Evan Smith Oct. 31, 2010

Yes, yes, the governor’s race: It’s tended to suck all the air out of the room this election cycle, hasn’t it? But there’s an undercard as well, and even if it’s received scant attention by comparison, don’t think it doesn’t matter. To the contrary, the outcome of races other than the one at the top of the ballot has serious implications for a great many matters of politics and policy that will affect and should interest every single Texan in the near term. Full Story

Where They Stand: The Governor's Race

By Ben Philpott, KUT News Oct. 16, 2010

In the absence of a real debate between Gov. Rick Perry and his Democratic challenger, Bill White, Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune has created the next best thing: a mash-up of their answers to questions asked Friday by the Tribune's Evan Smith during one-hour interviews of the candidates sponsored by the Trib, KUT and Austin public television station KLRU. Full Story

"Nothing Untoward" on ETF, Perry Insists

By Elise Hu Oct. 14, 2010

Gov. Rick Perry says there was "nothing untoward" about his friend and donor's company receiving $4.5 million from the state's Emerging Technology Fund without getting approval from a regional screening board. Full Story

TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

By Evan Smith Oct. 9, 2010

Ramsey on whether Bill White at the top of the ballot helps Houston-area candidates, Aaronson and Stiles present a treemap of Texas political ads, Stiles and Ramsey on the latest campaign finance filings, Aguilar on the Laredo mayor's race, Hamilton on anonymous tweeters who make mischief, Ramshaw interviews a disability rights activist with a thing for iPads and bibles, Hu on the accidental release of Rick Perry's "secret" schedule, M. Smith on the bitter back-and-forth over a voter registration effort in Harris County, Philpott's micro-debate on education between two House candidates, Grissom on this week's twist in the Cameron Todd Willingham investigation and, in our latest collaboration with a big-city Texas newspaper, Stiles, Grissom and John Tedesco of the San-Antonio Express News on what kind of Texans, exactly, are applying to carry concealed handguns: The best of our best from Oct. 4 to 9, 2010. Full Story

The Weekly TribCast: Episode 49

By Elise Hu Oct. 6, 2010

In this week's skirmish, topics include campaign cash, the latest polls in the governor's race, the hotbed of Texas House activity in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and the consequences of the budget crisis. Full Story

2010: The Wages of Sin

By Ross Ramsey Oct. 5, 2010

If the state needs money to balance its budget, it should look first to sin taxes on gambling, alcohol and marijuana. Full Story

Ana Yañez-Correa: The TT Interview

By Brandi Grissom Sept. 30, 2010

The executive director of the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition on how criminal justice austerity measures demanded by state leaders would affect Texas prisons, poor people accused of crimes and the counties responsible for overseeing overcrowded jails. Full Story

A Schoolyard Brawl

By Ben Philpott, KUT News Sept. 28, 2010

Tension between Texas and the federal government has been a major focus of Rick Perry's re-election campaign. But on Monday, two top Democratic leaders in the Texas House ganged up on Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott and, by proxy, the governor over the recent federal education funds fight. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports. Full Story

Justice on the Cheap

By Ben Philpott, KUT News Sept. 27, 2010

As part of an occasional series looking into how shortfall-inspired budget cuts could affect different state agencies heading into the 2011 legislative session, Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports on the likely impact on the state's criminal justice system. Full Story

Much Less Stimulated

By Ben Philpott, KUT News Sept. 21, 2010

The Legislative Budget Board says the state used about $14 billion in federal stimulus money to balance to budget in the current biennium. Lawmakers warned state agencies that those dollars were to be used for one-time expenditures only, but not all agencies followed that advice. With the next biennium's shortfall projected to be as much as $21 billion and no new fed-stim money available, what to do? Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports. Full Story

Cutting School

By Ben Philpott, KUT News Sept. 20, 2010

The Texas Education Agency has submitted a proposal to slash 10 percent of its budget to help close the state's coming shortfall, which could be as much as $21 billion. Among the items on the chopping block: outside-the-classroom expenditures that, Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, could have a dramatic affect on student outcomes. Full Story

TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

By Ross Ramsey Sept. 18, 2010

Ramsey on the fourth University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll (with insights into the statewide races, issues, the budget, and Texans' view of the national scene), Hamilton and Thevenot in Galveston on the anniversary of Hurricane Ike, Ramshaw on secret hearings that separate children from their guardians, Hu on what former state Rep. Bill Zedler did for doctor-donors who were under investigation, Aguilar on the troubles around Mexico's bicentennial, Galbraith talks coal and wind with the head of the Sierra Club, E. Smith interviews state Rep. Debbie Riddle about tourism babies and godless liberals, Grissom on why complaints about city jails go unaddressed, Philpott on the debate that will apparently never happen and Stiles continues to put the major-party gubernatorial candidates on the map: The best of our best from September 13 to 17, 2010. Full Story

Our First-Ever Live TribCast

By Evan Smith Sept. 17, 2010

This week, the usual TribCast crew — Elise, Ben, Ross and Evan — took to the Austin City Limits stage in the studios of public television station KLRU to tape what was the first (and hopefully won't be the last) live TribCast. Our topics: the UT/TT poll, including the governor's race results; the size of the Tea Party in Texas; budgetary gloom and doom; and that Rick Perry ad shot in enemy territory. Full Story

The Weekly TribCast: Episode 46

By Elise Hu Sept. 15, 2010

In our first TribCast recorded in front of a live studio audience, Evan, Ross, Elise and Ben discuss the results of the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll, Gov. Rick Perry's new TV ad and the state's looming budget deficit — is it even bigger than we thought? Full Story

Get Out the Knives

By Ross Ramsey Sept. 15, 2010

Given a choice between spending cuts and revenue increases to balance the state budget, Texans lean solidly toward cuts, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll. Seven in 10 oppose any new taxes to address what could be a $21 billion shortfall. Full Story

Mind the Gap

By Ben Philpott, KUT News Sept. 14, 2010

Texas lawmakers will have their hands full filling a budget hole in 2011 of $18 billion or more, but the projected shortfall is great political fodder for candidates of both parties in 2010. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports. Full Story

The Weekly TribCast: Episode 45

By Elise Hu Sept. 8, 2010

In this week's TribCast, the regular podcast gang is back to talk about the start of campaign season, the latest polls in the race for governor, and the political effect of that $18 billion budget hole. Full Story

TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

By Ross Ramsey Sept. 4, 2010

I hit the campaign trail with Rick Perry, E. Smith starts off the fall TribLive series by interviewing Attorney General Greg Abbott, Stiles on the most congested roads in Texas, Ramshaw's interview with former Dallas Mayor Laura Miller, Grissom on the perils of talking too much if you're the head of the state's jail standards board, M. Smith on Congressman Chet Edwards' fight for political survival in a Republican year, Philpott on counties worried the state's budget woes will trickle down, Hamilton on whether Texas should be in the movie-vetting business, Aguilar on a Mexican journalist seeking asylum from his country's drug violence, Galbraith on green energy and Texas college football, and excerpts from former Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby's new book, How Things Really Work: Lessons from a Life in Politics: The best of our best from August 30 to September 3, 2010. Full Story