Texas Households on Food Stamps Almost Tripled Since 2000
In 2013, 1.3 million Texas households received food stamps — up from 505,968 in 2000, according to figures released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. Full Story
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In 2013, 1.3 million Texas households received food stamps — up from 505,968 in 2000, according to figures released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. Full Story
Personal attendants help the elderly and disabled with daily tasks ranging from rising and eating to bathing and going to the bathroom. For that, the state pays them about $8 an hour. Gov. Greg Abbott and some fiscal conservatives want to raise their wages. Full Story
In this week's edition of the Trib+Health newsletter: Changes ahead for medical schools, most parents favor vaccines for preventable diseases and an interview with Bruce Meyer, executive vice president for health system affairs at UT Southwestern. Full Story
In a House committee hearing on Monday, one witness sought to redefine the climate change debate as one with clear implications to national security. Full Story
The new chief watchdog for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission told lawmakers Monday he plans to right the embattled department by going after fraud and waste outside and inside the $37 billion state social services empire. Full Story
Leading Texas Republicans on Monday asked the Obama administration for greater flexibility to administer Medicaid — a move that has gotten little traction in the past — while reiterating that they would not participate in an expansion of the program under the Affordable Care Act. Full Story
The Tribune's Jay Root and Neena Satija filed a story over the weekend on the problem of deferred maintenance at state government buildings in multiple agencies. It makes for some grim reading. Full Story
Texas voters overwhelmingly favor government-required vaccinations for children, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. And they rank vouchers lowest among a set of options for improving public education. Full Story
As the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas rebuilds its image after a scandal tied to grant awards, its leaders face a new generation of conservative lawmakers who are questioning whether the state should be in the cancer-fighting business. Full Story
A reinvented Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas says its darkest hour has passed, but the agency faces new conservative lawmakers unconvinced more money should be devoted to the agency. Full Story
Senate budget writers directed their displeasure at the Texas Racing Commission during a contentious hearing on Wednesday in which the head of the finance committee declared herself "livid." Full Story
It’s kind of like Dallas Buyers Club: A group of sick Texans is seeking to gain access to experimental drugs — only this time, a flurry of state lawmakers is rushing to help them. In Austin, the movement hits a personal chord. Full Story
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Friday asked the state Supreme Court to void a marriage license issued to two Austin women who became the first same-sex couple to legally wed in the state. Full Story
A new federal report says Americans should increase their consumption of vegetables and limit intake of sugar and red meat. Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller says the recommendations are unfounded. Full Story
An Austin lesbian couple obtained a marriage license Thursday morning, but the status of what would be the state's first gay marriage was in flux by the afternoon after the Texas Supreme Court issued a stay. Full Story
Two Austin women made history Thursday when they became the first gay couple to legally wed in the state. But after the Texas Supreme Court intervened, attorneys for the state and for the couple disagreed on whether the marriage is valid. Full Story
Physicians’ groups told Texas budget writers on Thursday that the state’s health insurance program for the poor pays doctors so little that it is endangering the health of the program. Full Story
Senate budget writers on Wednesday lit into Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Kyle Janek, a former senator himself, in a hearing that concluded with another call for him to resign. Full Story
The state agency responsible for supervising, monitoring and providing treatment to sexually violent predators is out of space to house sex offenders, agency officials told state lawmakers on Wednesday. Full Story
Saying it will unleash "legal chaos," Attorney General Ken Paxton on Wednesday asked the Texas Supreme Court to block a Travis County probate judge's ruling that the state’s same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional. Full Story