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The latest state government news from The Texas Tribune.

  • 2010: Broadband Brouhaha

    By Morgan Smith

    The recently released map of Texans' access to high-speed internet is a new flashpoint in the race for state Agriculture Commissioner. At issue is the nonprofit behind it, Connected Nation, which received $3 million in federal money for the project under current commissioner Todd Staples' auspices. Full Story 

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    Credit: Graphic by Connected Texas

  • Scott McCown vs. Talmadge Heflin

    By Elise Hu

    The executive director of the progressive Center for Public Policy Priorities and the director of the Center for Fiscal Policy at the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation, debate the best way to dig out of Texas' multi-billion-dollar budget shortfall. Full Story 

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  • Face-Off: The Shortfall

    By Elise Hu

    While the right and left don't agree on much, both sides stipulate that the state's budget mess is a multibillion-dollar problem. In the debut of our new video series, the executive director of the progressive Center for Public Policy Priorities, former state district judge Scott McCown, and the director of the Center for Fiscal Policy at the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation, former state Rep. Talmadge Heflin, debate the best way to dig us out of the hole — and how we got into it in the first place. Full Story 

    Scott McCown and Talmadge Heflin
    Credit: Justin Dehn

  • Cuts That Cost

    By Brandi Grissom

    After shocking abuse was uncovered at Texas Youth Commission facilities in 2007, lawmakers successfully overhauled the state juvenile justice system. Three years later, advocates worry that budget woes will halt that progress. Full Story 

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    Credit: Graphic by Jacob Villanueva

  • 2010: WFAA: Harper-Brown Under Ethics Cloud

    By Elise Hu

    Tribune news partner WFAA-TV reports that state Rep. Linda Harper-Brown, R-Irving, and her husband are driving cars owned by a highway contractor doing millions of dollars in business with the state. All the while, Harper-Brown sits on the influential House Transportation Committee. Full Story 

    State Rep. Linda Harper-Brown, R-Irving.
    Credit: WFAA-TV

  • TribBlog: Gallego Wants "Fight Club" Investigation

    By Emily Ramshaw

    State Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, has asked the House Committee on General Investigating and Ethics to review how the Department of Family and Protective Services licenses, reviews and oversees residential treatment centers for foster kids. Full Story 

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    Credit: Nick de la Torre / The Houston Chronicle

  • Wilderness Wireless

    By Rachel Kraft

    More than 250,000 Texas homes, mostly in rural areas, don’t have access to high-speed internet, according to a new broadband services map commissioned by the Texas Department of Agriculture. Full Story 

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    Credit: Graphic by Connected Texas

  • TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

    By Evan Smith

    Ramshaw and the Houston Chronicle's Terri Langford on incidents of abuse and mistreatment at residential treatment centers, M. Smith on the state Republican Party platform and 10th Amendment embracers, Galbraith on a pipeline project raising crude concerns and the most important word in water law, Ramsey on former officeholders who are now lobbyists and the possibility of a speaker's race, Grissom on a fight over solar power in Marfa, Hamilton and Aguilar on the TxDOT audit, Philpott on budget cuts affecting school districts and my conversation with Dallas County D.A. Craig Watkins: The best of our best from June 7-11, 2010. Full Story 

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    Credit: Graphic by Jacob Villanueva

  • A Conversation with Craig Watkins

    By Evan Smith

    For the 11th event in our TribLive series, I interviewed the Dallas County district attorney about why and how he's worked to exonerate the wrongfully imprisoned and whether he's dragging his feet on a controversial corruption case involving county constables. Full Story 

  • The Ex Files

    By Ross Ramsey

    How many former state officeholders are registered to lobby in Austin? The answer: 65, or a little less than 5 percent of the 1,475 lobbyists on the rolls at the Texas Ethics Commission, according to a Texas Tribune analysis. Full Story 

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    Credit: Graphic by Jacob Villanueva

  • The Big Hungry

    By Alexa Garcia-Ditta

    Texas' participation in the federally funded summer food service program is dismally low compared to the national average — meaning only a small percentage of the state's 2.5 million low-income kids are getting free meals. Full Story 

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    Credit: Spencer Selvidge

  • TribBlog: Watkins Plays Self-Defense

    By Emily Ramshaw

    Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins, under fire at home for his handling of an investigation into Democratic county constables, played defense before an Austin crowd this morning in a TribLive interview with the Tribune's Evan Smith. Full Story 

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    Credit: Caleb Bryant Miller