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The latest economy news from The Texas Tribune.

  • In for the Long Haul?

    By Julián Aguilar

    A proposal by the Obama administration that would grant Mexican truckers greater access to Texas roadways would be a boon for business in the state, supporters say, since three of the top five ports for trade between the U.S. and Mexico are Laredo, El Paso and Houston. But unions contend the plan would cost American jobs. “This cheap-labor program comes at too high a risk and at too large a cost to middle-class American workers who work long, hard hours to help maintain a safe commerce system in our nation,” says a spokesman for the Texas AFL-CIO. Full Story 

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    Credit: Mike Miller

  • TribBlog: Can Texas Cut Medicaid Payments?

    By Emily Ramshaw

    In a case that could directly affect Texas' planned budget cuts, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether states have the legal right to reduce the rates they pay to health care providers who accept Medicaid patients. Full Story 

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    Credit: Supreme Court of the United States

  • Budget Blues

    By Emily Ramshaw

    As House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, laid out the first grim round of proposed cuts on Wednesday, even some of his Republican colleagues couldn't stifle their objections. House Democrats went a step further, calling the cuts "akin to asking an anorexic person to lose more weight." Full Story 

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  • TribBlog: Scrounging for Cash

    By Brandi Grissom and Emily Ramshaw

    The Legislative Budget Board has begun distributing (to legislators — not to the public) its recommendations for how to save money and raise money to help balance the 2012-13 state budget. They plan to distribute copies of the budget itself (again, to lawmakers only) later tonight, and all of the documents will be available online to the public tomorrow morning. The details are still coming in, but here are some of the headlines from the LBB's Government Effectiveness and Efficiency Recommendations. Full Story 

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    Credit: Graphic by Ben Hasson

  • TribBlog: Are Tax Holidays Over?

    By Ross Ramsey

    The Legislature's starting budget will apparently include proposals to cancel popular back-to-school sales tax holidays, cut discounts for retailers who remit sales taxes early, allow sales of liquor on Sundays to increase revenue from taxes on alcohol, cut the state's subsidy of dependent insurance premiums for state employees and lower the tax breaks for energy companies that take on certain high-cost gas drilling projects, sources say. Full Story 

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    Credit: Graphic by Ben Hasson

  • The Looming Cuts

    By Ben Philpott, KUT News

    With some top state leaders warning that Texas' dire fiscal situation will lead to the loss of several thousand state jobs, House budget writers will release their first draft budget today. As Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, big job cuts may be just the beginning. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • The Tenure Trap

    By Morgan Smith

    Despite the budget crisis, thousands of Texas teachers know their jobs are safe. They possess a "continuing contract" — the public education equivalent of tenure. Many of the most senior educators are employed under these contracts, which may complicate the efforts of some districts to cut personnel costs. Full Story 

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    Credit: Shawn Campbell

  • Decision Time

    By Ross Ramsey

    The Texas Legislature today starts its 140-day effort to puzzle out a massive budget deficit, political redistricting, immigration and a slew of other gnarly problems. The budget issues came into focus Monday with new numbers from the comptroller, who says the state is recovering, slowly, from the recession. But first, legislators will get organized, voting on new rules, a new Speaker, and getting sworn in. Full Story 

    House Speaker Joe Straus, R-Alamo Heights, in January 2011.
    Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera

  • TribBlog: The Comptroller's Big Reveal

    By Ross Ramsey

    The state will have $77.3 billion in general revenue during the next two-year budget cycle, Comptroller Susan Combs said this morning. The comptroller estimated the Rainy Day Fund will have $9.4 billion in it at the end of the 2012-2013 biennium and that the size of the current deficit is $4.3 billion. Full Story 

    Comptroller Susan Combs giving a biennial revenue estimate in Austin on Jan. 10, 2011.
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • Green House

    By Ross Ramsey

    The biggest caucus in the Texas House is the Republicans', now with 101 members. Next? The Democrats', at 49. And then there’s the freshman class — one of the biggest in years — with 38 members. All but six are Republicans, and many of them replaced Democrats. They face some challenges. Full Story 

    Members of the freshmen class of 2011 at their new member orientation in December 2010.
    Credit: Justin Dehn

  • The Revenue Guesstimate

    By Ross Ramsey

    Lawmakers are waiting for Comptroller Susan Combs to forecast exactly how much money the state will collect between now and August 2013 so they can write a two-year budget that spends no more than that. It's not exactly like opening the envelopes at the Oscars, but the Capitol community will be hanging on her every word. If history is a guide, her estimate of revenues will be closer to the bull's eye than the Legislature's estimate of spending. But this is a dark art; accuracy can be elusive. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman/Bob Daemmrich

  • A Taxing Problem

    By Ben Philpott, KUT News

    It's not hard to find strange bedfellows in the Texas Legislature when the bills start flying. Republicans and Democrats frequently cross the aisle to support legislation that they feel will help their constituents. As Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, the same could be true as lawmakers try to figure out how to balance the state budget. Full Story 

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  • A Taxing Problem

    By Ben Philpott, KUT News

    It's not hard to find strange bedfellows in the Texas Legislature when the bills start flying. Republicans and Democrats frequently cross the aisle to support legislation that they feel will help their constituents. As Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, the same could be true as lawmakers try to figure out how to balance the state budget during the upcoming legislative session. Full Story 

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  • Unfunded But Vital?

    By Morgan Smith

    Get acquainted with a phrase that will be oft-repeated in the upcoming 82nd Legislature’s brawls over public education: unfunded mandate. To help schools cope with any reduced funding, lawmakers will look to relax state regulations that create costs local school districts bear on their own or with limited help from the state. But will dropping these requirements hurt educational quality? Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman, Brent Hoard/Elizabeth Albert

  • Now What?

    By Ross Ramsey

    Texas alternates election years with governing years, with legislative sessions set in the odd-numbered years after voters choose their leaders. There are variations, but it’s got a rhythm: Choose them, watch them govern, choose, watch. The elections behind us, it’s time to see what this particular bunch will do. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman