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The latest budget news from The Texas Tribune.

  • Mind the Gap

    By Ben Philpott, KUT News

    The Texas Department of Health and Human Services is holding a public hearing today to present proposed cuts to its budget and to hear feedback. The five-percent reductions are in response to a request for state agenices to slash costs in light of a projected multibillion-dollar state budget shortfall. Ben Philpott, who's covering Texas politics and policy for KUT News and the Tribune, says lawmakers have also started looking for ways to increase revenues. Full Story 

  • Budget Cuts, Then and Now

    By Julián Aguilar

    Texas lawmakers are expecting to find a hole in the state budget — anywhere from $11 billion to $17 billion, maybe even more — when they return to Austin a year from now. That’s the worst forecast since 2003, when they responded to a $10 billion shortfall with reductions in major programs and hikes in various fees. The Texas Tribune’s Julian Aguilar reports on how cuts back then could guide the Legislature's work in 2011. Full Story 

  • The Last Time Around

    By Julián Aguilar

    How will lawmakers deal with a budget shortfall of at least $11 billion — and maybe several billion more — in the next legislative session? In all likelihood, by doing what they did in 2003, when things were almost this bad. Full Story 

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  • Barack the Knife

    By Ben Philpott, KUT News

    What happens in Washington doesn't stay in Washington. Lawmakers, industry leaders and special interest groups are studying President Obama’s 2010 budget to figure out how spending cuts and other changes at the federal level could impact Texas. Ben Philpott, who's covering politics and public policy for KUT News and the Tribune, filed this report. Full Story 

  • Burned Orange

    By Brian Thevenot

    A clash over a beloved campus music club at UT-Austin portends the gnashing of teeth at schools statewide as a budgetary winter threatens to envelop higher education. Full Story 

    Bill Powers speaks about budget cuts at The University of Texas on Tuesday, February 2nd.
    Credit: Jacqueline Mermea

  • No Experience Necessary

    By Abby Rapoport

    Few members of the State Board of Education have finance expertise. Should we be concerned that they manage the investments of the $23 billion Permanent School Fund? Full Story 

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    Credit: Jacob Villanueva

  • Ticked

    By Julián Aguilar

    The worst outbreak of fever-tick infestations in South Texas in four decades has ranchers and animal-health officials scrambling to prevent not just a loss of billions to the state cattle's industry but an outright ban on our cattle. Full Story 

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  • The Tuition Time Bomb

    By Brian Thevenot

    It costs an average of 63 percent more to attend a four-year state school today than it did in 2003 — and that's still not enough to keep pace with bulging university budgets. Some policy makers see the higher education business model on the cusp of collapse. Full Story 

    Tuition increases in Texas public colleges 2003 and 2008
    Credit: Jacob Villanueva

  • TribBlog: Snip, Snip

    By Ross Ramsey

    No surprise here, but still: State leaders want state agencies to cut five percent from their current budgets "due to the uncertainty of the state's short-term economic future, as well as potentially substantial long-term costs associated with the passage of federal legislation currently being debated in Washington, D.C." Full Story 

  • Out of the Race

    By Abby Rapoport

    Texas will not apply for Race for the Top, the one-time federal grant worth up to $700 million for the state. Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott cited strings attached to the potential money: “It was chock full of burdens. Their overall policy was to control curriculum across the country." Full Story 

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    Credit: Bob Daemmrich