The latest state government news from The Texas Tribune.
A proposed overhaul of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas has made it through the state Senate. It’s not clear whether the House is ready to do the same for the agency. Those who have seen the benefits of CPRIT firsthand are closely watching what happens. Full Story
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One lawmaker is getting much of the credit for restoring family planning funding to the House budget without the usual floor fight: state Rep. Sarah Davis, R-West University Place. Full Story
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In 2011, state lawmakers fresh from a Tea Party election surge were hypersensitive to the opinions of and instructions from conservative activists. But as Thursday's House budget debate showed, this session isn't quite the same. Full Story
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If the state government's resistance to expanding Medicaid sounds familiar, it's because something like this happened when George W. Bush was governor, and conservatives were wary of the Children's Health Insurance Program. Full Story
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Citing the need for more power to meet the demands of a burgeoning community, El Paso Electric plans to build a natural gas power plant. But a legislator has joined forces with a coalition of residents intent to fight the project. Full Story
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On the latest Agenda Texas, from KUT News and the Tribune: While there was plenty of action on the floor as the House debated a budget bill on Thursday, we took a look at the work being done outside of the chamber. Full Story
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A few bursts of drama punctuated an otherwise tame day of debate over the House budget on Thursday. Full Story
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Updated: The House on Monday passed Senate Bill 201 without any debate, and without Sen. John Whitmire's amendment to prohibit smoking on Capitol grounds. Whitmire has said he will fight for his amendment when the two chambers reconcile differences in a conference committee. Full Story
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Texas House members are expected to debate well into the night Thursday as they take up the lower chamber's budget proposal, which includes 267 amendments. Full Story
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A marathon budget debate today may keep House lawmakers at the Capitol past midnight. Full Story
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A new website and database released by the Texas Policy Evaluation Project explores the impact of cuts made in 2011 to state family-planning services, breaking down information on the county and district level. Full Story
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With the addition of more than a dozen statewide elected officials to our Lawmaker Explorer — including Attorney General Greg Abbott and Comptroller Susan Combs and the state's railroad commissioners and Supreme Court justices — we're renaming it the Ethics Explorer. Full Story
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Amid fierce debate this week, a Senate Republican has started work on his own "Texas solution" to Medicaid reform. Full Story
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UPDATED: The Senate on Tuesday passed a bill to increase the range of potential punishment for hit-and-run accidents that result in deaths. Full Story
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A bill up for debate in a House committee on Tuesday would prohibit ticket brokers and live event venues from restricting how fans re-sell their tickets. Venues and sports teams say the measure protects scalpers, not consumers. Full Story
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With eight weeks to go in the legislative session, lawmakers got a running start at their big issues: water, education and the budget. Full Story
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Cable TV providers are asking lawmakers to let them out of $200 million in sales taxes to offset local franchise fees their satellite competitors don't have to pay. Some lawmakers are worried about the state programs that would go unfunded as a result. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry and other top GOP leaders said Medicaid is broken, and adding more Texans to the program would bankrupt the state. Expansion advocates said it would reduce the state's uninsured population, largely on the federal dime. Full Story
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The Texas rhetoric around a key tenet of federal health reform reached a high-water mark on Monday, with back-to-back press conferences at the Capitol featuring political leaders on both sides of the aisle. Full Story
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UPDATED: As debates over gun control intensify across the nation, state senators on Tuesday tentatively approved a measure allowing Gov. Rick Perry to offer economic incentives to gun manufacturers that want to move to Texas. Full Story
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