The latest state agencies news from The Texas Tribune.
About two dozen candidates and political action committees have more than $1 million in their accounts, some of them much more, according to a Texas Tribune analysis of midyear filings with the Texas Ethics Commission. Full Story
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The state comptroller talks about the flip in her position on abortion, the data breach at her agency this spring, what office she might seek next and how all of the politics of those subjects mix. Full Story
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DAY 3 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: In light of the case of Anthony Graves, the terms for compensating wrongfully imprisoned individuals have been more clearly defined. Full Story
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DAY 1 of our 31-day series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: Thousands of Texas teachers will not have jobs to return to in the fall, the result of a school finance plan that cut $4 billion from districts statewide. Full Story
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Aaronson examines the Texas jobs "miracle," Root on how Rick Perry built his financial portfolio, Tan and Wiseman on Perry vs. Ron Paul, Philpott on how budget cuts will affect a mental health provider, yours truly on a House freshman who was less than impressed with his first legislative experience, M. Smith on public schools charging for things that used to be free, Hamilton on a new call to reinvent higher education, Grissom on a rare stay of execution, Galbraith on the end of a Panhandle wind program, Aguilar on the increase of legal immigration into the U.S. and Texas: The best of our best content from July 25 to 29, 2011. Full Story
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The new accountability ratings released Friday for public school campuses in the state's 1,228 districts and charter schools are markedly lower from the ratings given last year. Full Story
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A new standardized testing system will replace the TAKS exam this year, and as Kelsey Sheridan of KUT News reports, the switch to more difficult tests comes as schools are already grappling with reduced budgets. Full Story
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In a rare move Thursday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state’s highest criminal court, stayed the scheduled Aug. 18 execution of Larry Swearingen, convicted of the 1998 rape and murder of 19-year-old Melissa Trotter. Full Story
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In this week's TribCast, Ross, Morgan, Jim and Ben discuss the more moderate State Board of Education and how the failure of "sanctuary cities" legislation could affect a Perry presidential bid. Full Story
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The “Texas jobs miracle” is a hot topic, but Texas’ unemployment rate is higher than all four states that border it — and it’s up slightly from last year. So why is everyone touting Texas, and Gov. Rick Perry, for its strong economy? Full Story
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The number of animal rabies cases — particularly among skunks — has more than doubled since this time in 2010 in the Central Texas region, and the increase may be due to the state's nine-month drought. Full Story
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The Texas Department of Public Safety said Monday it had preserved certain travel records associated with the cost of providing security to Gov. Rick Perry before 2008, contrary to information it provided on Friday. Full Story
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Texans are already opening their pocketbooks to show support for their favorite presidential candidates. The Tribune’s visualizations of data from federal campaign finance reports reveal who has collected and spent the most in Texas. Full Story
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Ramshaw on the lioness of the Texas House, Dehn and Tan review 20 years of Rick Perry's political ads, Murphy's latest database includes the governor's political accounts over the last decade, Aaronson's visualizations of what was said in the biggest legislative debates, M. Smith on the woman in the middle chair at the State Board of Education, Galbraith on how the drought is forcing ranchers to sell their herds, Grissom has the story on a cattle rustler who's asking the courts to give him an old-fashioned sentence, Hamilton covers Rick O'Donnell's latest salvo at higher education, Aguilar on whether and how the sanctuary cities issue will translate at the ballot box next year, yours truly on Ron Paul's candidacy and the candidate in his own words: The best of our best from July 18 to 22, 2011. Full Story
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State officials said Friday they can’t reveal how much money taxpayers are spending to protect Gov. Rick Perry — and that records of security costs compiled before 2008 have been “purged.” Full Story
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New Texas Workforce Commission stats show that Texas has gained more than 220,000 jobs since last year. Check out this visualization of unemployment rates broken down by city for June 2010 and June 2011. Full Story
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As the new chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, Nizam Peerwani will oversee the controversial probe of the arson science that led to the conviction and 2004 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham. Full Story
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Dr. Nizam Peerwani talks with The Texas Tribune about his new role as chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission. Full Story
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Eleanor Kitzman, now in South Carolina's government, will be the new insurance commissioner in Texas, starting next month. Gov. Rick Perry announced the appointment Wednesday. Full Story
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U.S. Distict Judge Lee Yeakel today denied Rais Bhuiyan’s request to the stay the execution of Mark Stroman, the man who shot him and killed two others and is scheduled to die tonight for his crimes. Full Story
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