The latest state agencies news from The Texas Tribune.
UPDATED: The Texas Department of Public Safety today renewed a warning that cautions Texas students against traveling to Mexico. The break begins next week for most of the state’s schools. Full Story
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State Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Forth Worth, shares his concerns about public officials collecting retirement while continuing to work. Full Story
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Lawmakers have approved carving prescription drugs into Medicaid managed care to save Texas money — an estimated $100 million over the next biennium. But pharmacists worry lower reimbursement rates will drive them under. Full Story
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Though a bill requiring that county jails release inmates only during daylight hours didn't pass in the last legislative session, the Harris County Jail has implemented the policy. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry's use of the obscure provision has shed light on a controversial practice that has remained in the shadows. Full Story
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A program created to help insurance-seekers in Texas cut through the complexities of federal health care reforms is shutting down in April, years before the law goes into full effect. Full Story
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The political action committee of Dallas billionaire waste magnate Harold Simmons is asking 18 lawmakers to return about $65,000 in contributions after admitting that an oversight led to illegal campaign contributions. Full Story
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Mark Vickery, the executive director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, will retire in May — and his successor has yet to be chosen. Full Story
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With greening disease infecting some Texas citrus trees, some growers fear the infections could spread and seriously damage their industry. Full Story
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A brawl is brewing in South Texas, but this one has nothing to do with cartels or drug smuggling — it's an environmental battle over a proposed surface-mining site that some Eagle Pass residents worry will ruin their way of life. Full Story
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In the latest Texas Tribune Weekend Insider, dying citrus trees in the Rio Grande Valley and a battle along the border over a proposed coal mining site. Full Story
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On this week's TribCast, Ben, Ross, Emily and Morgan discuss redistricting, public school accountability testing and the controversy involving Susan G. Komen for the Cure and Planned Parenthood. Full Story
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Some say that the Texas Department of Public Safety is going against its own policy with its "limited term" designations for driver's licenses and identification cards. Full Story
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The Department of State Health Services will begin enforcing Texas' abortion sonogram law, after releasing guidelines for women's health clinics on Monday night. Full Story
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Since Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones moved to San Antonio to run for Senate, she shouldn't be collecting a paycheck for a job that requires her to live in Austin, according to a lawsuit filed this afternoon. Full Story
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Abortion opponents say they're disappointed by Susan G. Komen for the Cure's decision to reverse its policy of prohibiting grants to Planned Parenthood. Full Story
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Legislators and abortion opponents cheered the Susan G. Komen for the Cure's original decision to cut funding for Planned Parenthood. Full Story
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A judge's expected ruling forcing the state to find room to treat mentally ill inmates is sending officials in search of space at already-full mental hospitals. Full Story
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Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones is making a run for a state Senate seat. But her opponent in the GOP primary, state Sen. Jeff Wentworth, is challenging her on residency. That dispute is among this week's top political news items. Full Story
The Travis County district attorney's office is considering a review of the 1985 murder of Natalie Antonetti. Dennis Davis was convicted in 2011 of her murder, but the killing is eerily to two others that have been connected to another man. Full Story
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