Budget Surplus May Not Stretch Far
At first glance, the first drafts of the House and Senate budgets leave billions of dollars on the table. A closer look shows there may not be as much left as many have hoped.
Full StoryAt first glance, the first drafts of the House and Senate budgets leave billions of dollars on the table. A closer look shows there may not be as much left as many have hoped.
Full StoryThe first budgets from the House and Senate are out, marked by their authors as mere starting points. Here's how they compare to each other, and to the current budget.
Full StoryLawmakers are still in the “fixin’ to” stage of the session taking a week off after a week on the job — not unusual in the years when presidents are being inaugurated — but the wheels are turning.
Full StoryIn this edition of the Newsreel: The House and Senate have announced their starting budget proposals, and campaign funding numbers foreshadow the 2014 races for statewide offices.
Full StoryFor this week's nonscientific survey of insiders in politics and government, we asked about state ethics laws — about lawmakers' disclosure of personal finances, of client lists, and about what laws the insiders would change if they could.
Full StoryKey meetings and events for the coming week.
Full StoryThinner than my raisin toast: someone who heard from someone. Please. Abbott has made no decisions about 2014, is a close friend and ideological ally of Gov. Perry, and will continue to be.
Eric Bearse, a spokesman for Greg Abbott, describing in the San Antonio Express-News a WFAA-TV report that Abbott is telling supporters he'll run for governor in 2014
Other than education, there's nothing more important than water. Nothing.
Rep. Allan Ritter, R-Nederland, at a TribLive interview
I think he’s going to pay a serious political price. And I think the price that’s going to be paid on this is going to manifest in Senate races in 2014.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz to radio host Laura Ingraham on Barack Obama's push for new gun control laws
He’s even using children. It reminds me of Saddam Hussein.
U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Friendswood, to Fox News' Greta Van Susteren on Obama's push for new gun control laws
The piling on by the political left, and their cohorts in the media, to use the massacre of little children to advance a pre-existing political agenda that would not have saved those children, disgusts me, personally.
Gov. Rick Perry in a statement on Obama's push for new gun control laws
Wanted: Law abiding New York gun owns looking for lower taxes and greater opportunity.
An online ad financed by Attorney General Greg Abbott directed at New Yorkers upset new gun control laws passed in the state
I can no longer in good conscience tell individuals to give any more money to the national or state Republican parties or vote straight Republican.
Ashton Oravetz, chairman of the Smith County Republican Party, announcing his resignation, citing frustration with establishment Republicans
In a study released by the Texas Freedom Network, a religious watchdog group, some Texas school districts’ high school Bible courses failed to make the grade. The group accused districts of bias toward conservative Protestantism and presenting courses that are weak in their overview and not academically rigorous. The report was also critical of the presentation of Judaism. Texas districts have been allowed to offer Bible courses as electives since 2007, but they’re not required to.
An annual report that assesses traffic safety laws nationwide ranks Texas in the bottom tier of states. Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety rated states based on 15 traffic safety laws, including seat beat and booster seat requirements, distracted driving laws, restrictions and regulations on teen drivers and tougher drunk driving laws. Texas lacked eight of the 15 laws recommended. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported a 7 percent rise in fatalities in the first nine months of 2012, the biggest increase since 1975. A spokesman for the Texas Department of Transportation who responded to the report cited awareness campaigns conducted by state officials, and a corresponding uptick in the percentage of travelers wearing seat belts.
Freshman Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Houston, weighed in on President Obama’s newly unveiled gun control push, vowing to file impeachment papers if the president tries to issue any executive orders that Stockman feels violate the Second Amendment. Since the Sandy Hook shooting last month, debate has raged about additional regulations on guns.
Since filing in November to run for office in Texas, George P. Bush, son of Jeb and nephew of George W., has raised well over a million dollars for his campaign. Just which office he’s campaigning for is unclear, although he’s traveled extensively across Texas and the nation raising money for his war chest and has expressed interest in the land office. The Bush family got the ball rolling with dad Jeb contributing $50,000 and uncle George matching that. But Bush also got donations from 29 states, and the average donation was more than $3,000.
The debate over gun violence was front and center in Plano this week, as school officials proposed installing private security guards at all of the district’s campuses. Guards previously patrolled all of Plano’s secondary schools but were eliminated during previous budget cuts. The new proposal would put guards at elementary and secondary schools and had the community buzzing with differing opinions on the idea. Some parents found comfort in the idea, while others expressed dismay at exposing their elementary-age children to armed guards at their schools. Others also expressed concern about the cost, estimated to be $2.7 million.
At the ongoing school finance trial, education economist Eric Hanushek testified that more money in schools doesn’t always translate to improved results. The Stanford-based Hanushek was recruited to testify in the trial by Texans for Real Efficiency and Equity in Education to help make the argument that school funding has led to inefficiencies and is therefore unconstitutional. Hanushek pointed out that districts he analyzed in Texas spent roughly the same amount per student but had varying outcomes. He suggested that teacher performance is the key to improving student performance, and recommended replacing the bottom 5 to 8 percent of teachers, measured by multiple factors, including student achievement on standardized tests.
Robert Jones, after several years heading Annie’s List, joins Be One Texas as CEO, replacing Michael Li, who helped start up the Democratic organization, ran it during the 2012 political cycle, and helped recruit Jones. Jones will oversee Progress Texas, a communications arm of BOT.
Former state Rep. Suzanna Gratia Hupp joins the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to head a cross-agency initiative on veterans’ benefits.
Gov. Rick Perry appointed Carol “Missy” Rainey of Keller to the Texas State Board of Social Worker Examiners. She’s a social worker and assistant court investigator for the Denton County Probate Court.
Perry named Troy Allen of Edcouch, general manager of the Delta Lake Irrigation District, and Lance Neuhaus of Mercedes, president of Neuhaus & Co., to the Rio Grande Regional Water Authority.
Press corps moves: Longtime government reporter Gary Scharrer is now the communications director for Sen. Tommy Williams, leaving his job at Hearst, where he reported for the San Antonio Express-News and the Houston Chronicle. Scharrer was in the Capitol press corps for 26 years and in the newspaper business for 43.