The latest state government news from The Texas Tribune.
Tuesday night on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, state Reps. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, and Debbie Riddle, R-Houston, debated the perilous issue del día: anchor babies. According to Riddle, women would give birth to terrorist babies in the U.S. who can then destroy America once they come of age. Full Story
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On Tuesday, a House committee heard arguments over the future of the controversial Driver Responsibility Program — which pits outrage over heavy traffic fines on the poor against the state's need to finance trauma care in hospitals, which benefit from the fines. Full Story
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Five of the nine members of the state's Commission on Jail Standards, which oversees the 245 county lockups, are elected officials from or employees of the counties whose facilities they regulate. Advocates say that's a conflict of interest, and they're calling for a change in the commission's makeup. Full Story
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The Texas attorney general accuses BP of "once again prioritizing profits over environmental compliance" at its Texas City refinery. Full Story
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According to a study commissioned by the town of DISH, which sits in the heart of the gas-rich Barnett Shale region, a permanent air monitor recently installed by the state is giving false readings. Full Story
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Thevenot on bogus public school accountability rankings, Garcia-Ditta on what locals think of increased patrols on the border, Stiles and Ramsey on where Kay Bailey Hutchison's donors have landed, Grissom on the pay gap between state and local police, Cervantes on how tweaks to the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder will impact Texas, M. Smith on the sinking prospects for an East Texas wetlands project, Ergenbright on the challenge of educating autistic children, Aguilar on efforts to legalize medicinal marijuana, Ramshaw on former foster children having trouble getting records from the state and Burnson on public health officials battling imported infectious diseases: The best of our best from August 2 to 6, 2010. Full Story
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Young adults who age out of Texas foster care often request their records to reconnect with estranged siblings, to track down biological families or to understand what they endured. But child welfare advocates complain the state routinely denies these requests, saying the records can't be found or will take months or even years to compile — assuming they respond at all. State officials admit they have a large backlog but insist they've beefed up staff and are putting new policies in place to address it. Full Story
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Texas will sue the federal government, yet again, if Texas-specific requirements are not removed from budget legislation that passed the U.S. Senate today, according to Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. Full Story
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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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The author and former security guard at the Port Isabel detention center for illegal immigrants talked with the Tribune last week about the torture, sexual abuse and drug smuggling he says he witnessed there. Full Story
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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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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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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
Your afternoon reading. Full Story
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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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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
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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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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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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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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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