The latest Texas Legislature news from The Texas Tribune.
The Legislative Budget Board says the state used about $14 billion in federal stimulus money to balance to budget in the current biennium. Lawmakers warned state agencies that those dollars were to be used for one-time expenditures only, but not all agencies followed that advice. With the next biennium's shortfall projected to be as much as $21 billion and no new fed-stim money available, what to do? Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports. Full Story
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Legislative filings increased in the Texas House and Senate by 70 percent from 1991 to 2009, records show, and the number of bills and resolutions passed by both chambers climbed at a higher rate. Resolutions alone numbered about 4,000 last session, or more than half of all legislation. Explore our interactive graphics. Full Story
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The Texas Education Agency has submitted a proposal to slash 10 percent of its budget to help close the state's coming shortfall, which could be as much as $21 billion. Among the items on the chopping block: outside-the-classroom expenditures that, Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, could have a dramatic affect on student outcomes. Full Story
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For the 12th event in our TribLive series, I interviewed the GOP state representative from Tomball about what she really said on CNN, whether "tourism" babies are a threat to national security, why an Arizona-style immigration law would be right for Texas and whether she'll back Joe Straus for speaker. Full Story
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Full audio recording (including Q & A) of state Rep. Debbie Riddle's appearance at our TribLive breakfast conversation series. Full Story
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In a rare campaign trail policy announcement on Wednesday, Gov. Rick Perry threw his support behind an effort to pass more extensive tort reform legislation. Full Story
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In the closing days of his last term in the Texas House, former state Rep. Bill Zedler, R-Arlington, used his legislative authority to obtain confidential records from the Texas Medical Board, The Texas Tribune has learned. His reason? To defend doctors who he believes were wrongly the subjects of misconduct investigations by the board, which licenses the state's physicians. Full Story
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In our first TribCast recorded in front of a live studio audience, Evan, Ross, Elise and Ben discuss the results of the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll, Gov. Rick Perry's new TV ad and the state's looming budget deficit — is it even bigger than we thought? Full Story
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Given a choice between spending cuts and revenue increases to balance the state budget, Texans lean solidly toward cuts, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll. Seven in 10 oppose any new taxes to address what could be a $21 billion shortfall. Full Story
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In this clip from Monday's testimony, Commissioner Rod Bordelon of the state Division of Workers' Compensation explains why he dismissed several cases against doctors that a physician review panel had already sent to enforcement. Under questioning, he admits he looked into the process and subsequently shut it down after a call from state Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler. Full Story
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Texas lawmakers will have their hands full filling a budget hole in 2011 of $18 billion or more, but the projected shortfall is great political fodder for candidates of both parties in 2010. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports. Full Story
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Was it a broken process or a breakdown in leadership that kept bad doctors from getting removed from the state workers' compensation system? Lawmakers sought to answer that question on Monday but left a House hearing with no clear understanding of why hundreds of potential enforcement actions stalled or disappeared entirely over the last half-decade. Full Story
The route to toppling House Speaker Joe Straus is littered with big obstacles and high hurdles. But it's not completely impassable, which is why state Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, is considering a challenge. "I'm sticking my toe in the water and seeing if there's any temperature there," he told the Tribune on Friday. "Seems to be some temperature." Full Story
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Tow truck driver Steven Hardin was shot and killed in April 1998 by Houston firefighter Barry Crawford during a dispute over a parking space. At the end of a high-profile trial, a jury found Crawford guilty of first-degree murder but sentenced him only to probation. A judge required the convicted killer to comply with various terms, including the payment of child support to the victim's family, but he failed to do all he was ordered. Nonetheless, a few months ago, he was released from his probation, leaving Hardin's mother with no recourse but to lobby for a change in state law. Full Story
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In this week's TribCast, the regular podcast gang is back to talk about the start of campaign season, the latest polls in the race for governor, and the political effect of that $18 billion budget hole. Full Story
The start of the 2010 election sprint finds Texas Republicans feverish: Even the sober ones think they could snatch up to 10 more state House seats. Democrats maintain they can still wrest majority control away from the GOP. Full Story
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I hit the campaign trail with Rick Perry, E. Smith starts off the fall TribLive series by interviewing Attorney General Greg Abbott, Stiles on the most congested roads in Texas, Ramshaw's interview with former Dallas Mayor Laura Miller, Grissom on the perils of talking too much if you're the head of the state's jail standards board, M. Smith on Congressman Chet Edwards' fight for political survival in a Republican year, Philpott on counties worried the state's budget woes will trickle down, Hamilton on whether Texas should be in the movie-vetting business, Aguilar on a Mexican journalist seeking asylum from his country's drug violence, Galbraith on green energy and Texas college football, and excerpts from former Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby's new book, How Things Really Work: Lessons from a Life in Politics: The best of our best from August 30 to September 3, 2010. Full Story
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State lawmakers facing an estimated $18 billion budget shortfall will soon wield their knives, but who or what will sustain deep cuts? As Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, county officials are among those waiting to see how the legislative slice-and-dice could affect things back home — and they're particularly nervous about unfunded mandates. Full Story
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"I always wanted to run for office," Bill Hobby writes. "And I grew up in a family that had been part of state government for a couple of generations." An excerpt from the forthcoming How Things Really Work: Lessons from a Life in Politics. Full Story
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Nothing has helped Texas "close the gaps" of higher education achievement more than financial aid for low-income students. But with coming budget cuts, tens of thousands of students could lose out on the state's largest and most generous financial aid program. Full Story
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