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The latest state government news from The Texas Tribune.

  • Weed All About It

    By Julián Aguilar

    For nearly a decade, advocates of expanded use of medical marijuana have been spurned by the Texas Legislature — but giving up isn't how they roll. So they're trying again with a limited proposal. Full Story 

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    Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman

  • A Conversation with Kip Averitt

    By Elise Hu

    No longer a government official, former state Sen. Kip Averitt talked with the Tribune's Ross Ramsey about politics and parties, redistricting, things left undone and how the Legislature has changed during his time there. Full Story 

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    Credit: Justin Dehn

  • Kip Averitt: The TT Interview

    By Ross Ramsey

    The McGregor Republican — who quit the Texas Senate earlier this year — talked to the Tribune on Tuesday about politics and parties, redistricting, things left undone and how the Legislature changed during his time there. Full Story 

  • Special Needs

    By Kate Ergenbright

    After a decade in which Texas has seen a 400 percent increase in the number of children with autism, lawmakers are wrestling with how best to educate the afflicted — and how to pay for it. Full Story 

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    Credit: Justin Dehn

  • State of Pay

    By Brandi Grissom

    According to a review by the State Auditor’s Office, the salaries of state law enforcement officers in DPS, the Alcoholic Beverage Commission and other agencies lag as much as 20 percent behind those of big-city police. Full Story 

    Poor pay and strict training and promotion standards have contributed in no small part to a large vacancy rate at DPS.
    Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman

  • "A Big Step Forward"

    By Bobby Cervantes

    A change in policy by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs granting extended benefits to soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder should disproportionately impact Texas: Seven PTSD treatment programs are located in the state, and an estimated 13 percent of the 2 million troops who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq since 9/11 are from here. Full Story 

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  • The New Math

    By Brian Thevenot

    Despite just-released ratings that show huge improvements, a Texas Tribune analysis finds that the performance of the state's public schools — when decoupled from the controversial Texas Projection Measure — is little changed from 2008, the year before the accountability formula took effect. Full Story 

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    Credit: Graphic by Jacob Villanueva

  • Banned Parenthood?

    By Emily Ramshaw

    State Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, wants Planned Parenthood's clinics out of the state’s Women’s Health Program, which provides family planning services — but not abortions — to impoverished Medicaid patients. He says a 2005 law should exclude them already. But for years, the state’s Health and Human Services Commission has allowed those clinics to participate, for fear that barring them might be unconstitutional. Deuell has asked Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to clear up the matter, hoping it will free up the agency to push Planned Parenthood out. Full Story 

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    Credit: Jacob Villanueva

  • TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

    By Evan Smith

    Stiles' and Torres' three-parter on the changing Texas political map, Ramsey on questions about Brian Birdwell's voting history and residency, Aguilar on the Obama administration's immigration crackdown, Reed on hospitals that won't induce early labor, Stiles on what Troy Fraser left off his financial disclosure form, the latest installment of Hu's Face-Off video debate series, Grissom on the problem-plagued Driver Responsibility Program, Galbraith on the controversy over fracking and M. Smith's interview with former Texas Supreme Court Justice Harriet O'Neill: The best of our best from July 26 to 30, 2010. Full Story 

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    Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman

  • 2010: White: Perry Cut Corners to Help Friend

    By Sarah Adler

    Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White is calling for an independent audit of Texas Enterprise Fund grants after documents showed the governor's office offered $2.5 million in state subsidies to Sino Swearingen, a company founded by Doug Jaffe. Jaffe is one of two partners involved in a controversial land deal that netted Perry a $500,000 profit. Full Story 

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    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • TribBlog: Texas Schools Fixed!

    By Brian Thevenot

    In new public school ratings released this afternoon, three-fourths of the state's public schools — graded under a controversial formula called the Texas Projection Measure — now rank "exemplary" or "recognized," the highest two of four categories of performance. Less than two percent of schools are ranked "unacceptable." Full Story 

    Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott in March, 2010.
    Credit: Justin Dehn

  • Pols in Purgatory

    By Forrest Burnson

    State Rep. Tara Rios Ybarra, D-South Padre Island, who is awaiting prosecution on corruption charges, is the latest Texas elected official under indictment but not yet convicted to languish in career-crippling limbo. Full Story 

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    Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman

  • Birthing Control [Updated]

    By Allen Reed

    Should lawmakers pay hospitals more for refusing to induce early labor, which reduces neonatal costs and harm to mothers? Or should the state be kept out of the private decisions of patients and their physicians? Full Story 

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    Credit: Bas Silderhuis

  • Nelson Roach: The TT Interview

    By Kate Galbraith

    The past president of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, who testifies before two House committees today, tells the Tribune that Texas liability law shortchanges workers caught in industrial accidents — an issue of renewed interest since the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Full Story 

    Nelson Roach, past president of the TTLA.
    Credit: Nix, Patterson & Roach LLP

  • A Friend In Deed

    By Matt Stiles

    State Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, who was involved in a controversial land deal with Gov. Rick Perry, failed to disclose ownership or sale of the property to the Texas Ethics Commission, an apparent violation of a state ethics rules, according to a review of his personal financial statements. Full Story 

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    Credit: Todd Wiseman

  • Face-Off: Porter vs. Weems

    By Elise Hu

    The two men battling for a spot on the Texas Railroad Commission go head-to-head — virtually — in the latest installment of our Face-Off video series. Watch as political novice and certified public accountant David Porter, a Midland Republican, debates Democrat Jeff Weems, an oil and gas attorney from Houston, on their respective qualifications for the job, whether there are enough pipeline inspectors and and the proper balance between environmental regulation and economic growth. Full Story 

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  • TribBlog: Family Planning Quandary?

    By Emily Ramshaw

    Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, wants the attorney general to decide whether a Texas family planning rule — one that bans the state's Women's Health Program from contracting with clinics that "perform or promote" abortions — is constitutional. Full Story 

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