Legislature largely maintaining cuts to therapy services for disabled children
The House grudgingly voted to accept the Senate's supplemental budget proposal, which would not restore funding for disabled children's therapy services. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2017/04/25/__BDC4587_Zerwas_.jpg)
-
![State Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond, talks with Rep. Tom Craddick, R-Midland, on the House floor April 25, 2017. Zerwas is co-chair of the House/Senate conference committee studying the state budget which had its organization meeting Monday.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Sweeping anti-abortion bill heads to governor's desk
Texas senators voted Friday to send a bill banning the most common second-trimester abortion procedure and changing how health care facilities handle fetal remains to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2017/03/27/__BDD4184_Schwertner.jpg)
![State Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, chairs the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on March 27, 2017. The committee is consider several bills related to long-term care facilities including S.B. 1130 by Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa and others.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich/Texas Tribune -
Behind closed doors, Texas lawmakers strip funding for sex trafficking victims
Lawmakers cut a $3 million initiative to help victims of sex trafficking, ending child welfare advocates' hopes that 2017 would be the year they would finally see funds set aside to help children who had been sold for sex. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2017/02/08/Intro-LEAD-CCR_2350.jpg)
![Pimps send their victims to "walk the track" on a stretch of Bissonnet Street in Houston. Anti-trafficking efforts in Texas have focused more on putting pimps in prison than rehabilitating their prey.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Texas legislators pass bills aimed at maternal mortality, postpartum depression
Both chambers passed bills on Tuesday aimed at curbing postpartum depression and the alarming rise in Texas mothers dying less than a year after giving birth. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Pregnant-Mother-Holding-Belly.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
Credit: Bas Silderhuis -
New in Trib+Health: A debate on experimental treatments
In this week's edition of the Trib+Health newsletter: Texas lawmakers consider making it easier to get experimental drug treatments, using 3D printers to treat infertility and an interview with Zoltan Nadasdy of the University of Texas at Austin. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/03/03/Trib-Plus-Health-leadart002.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
-
Bill on certification pits doctors against hospitals
A bill slated to hit the Texas House floor on Tuesday would bar hospitals and health plans from differentiating between physicians who have undergone a widely-used recertification process and those who haven't. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/07/31/Hospital-Explorer-2.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
Credit: Michael Stravato -
Scientists wary as Texas mulls allowing sale of unproven drugs
Supporters of House Bill 3236 say it could get experimental drugs into terminally ill patients’ hands, but its detractors say it would encourage snake oil salesmen. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/11/11/Lees_Pharmacy_3_by_Reynaldo_Leal.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
Credit: Reynaldo Leal -
Senate backs making child welfare department an independent agency
Texas senators unanimously approved a bill that would make the Department of Family and Protective Services its own standalone department. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/07/12/_BDE4567Whitman4.jpg)
![Department of Family and Protective Services Commissioner Hank Whitman testifies July 12, 2016, to the House Committee on Human Services about his plans to reform the agency.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Texas business leaders stayed neutral on "bathroom" amendment
Pro-business forces, which had for months warned that a "bathroom bill" could be disastrous for the state's bottom line, held their fire during Sunday's debate over a bill amendment dealing with the controversial issue. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2017/05/22/Bathroom_bill_vote_LS_TT.jpg)
![Representatives look at the board as a vote is taken on a bill amendment that would require schools to provide single-stall restrooms, locker rooms and changing facilities to students who don't want to use facilities designated by “biological sex" at the state Capitol on Sunday, May 21, 2017.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate approves monthly payments for relative caregivers of abused children
Texas senators voted unanimously on Monday to increase money given to kinship care families. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2017/02/07/Children_Holding_Hands_Elizabeth_Ann_Colette.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
Credit: Elizabeth Ann Colette/Wikimedia Commons -
Senate passes religious protections for child welfare agencies
Texas state senators voted to allow child welfare providers to be protected from legal retaliation if they assert their “sincerely held religious beliefs.” Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Colonias__Children.jpg)
![A father holds his child in a public health clinic outside of McAllen, Texas.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond -
Texas House approves new abortion restrictions
GOP House lawmakers took a sweeping approach to anti-abortion legislation on Friday, passing a measure that would ban the most common form of second-trimester procedure and change how health care providers dispose of fetal remains. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2017/05/19/Cindy_Burkett_MKC_TT.jpg)
![State Rep. Cindy Burkett, R-Sunnyvale votes on an amendment in the Texas House on May 19, 2017.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Texas House passes child welfare reforms
The Texas House on Thursday passed a package of sweeping measures aimed at addressing a crisis in the state's child welfare system. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/04/12/Kid_CPS_TT1.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
Credit: iStock.com/Naufalmq -
Texas Senate advances bill to crowdfund rape kit testing
Legislation that would crowdfund money from Texans to deal with a state backlog of thousands of untested rape kits has moved closer to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2017/04/05/__BDB8462_Neavex.JPG)
![State Rep. Victoria Neave, D-Dallas, authored a House bill that would allow crowdfunding for rape kit testing in Texas.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Texas wants to renew federal women's health funding it lost over Planned Parenthood
With a Republican president in the White House, Texas health officials are seeking to restore federal family planning funding they gave up under the Obama administration to take a stand against Planned Parenthood. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2017/05/15/Womens_Health_Blanca_LS_TT.jpg)
![The Women's Health Advisory Committee took testimony from the public regarding the Healthy Women Section 1115 Demonstration Waiver application. Blanca Murillo, a former UT student, gives testimony on her experience with Planned Parenthood at the Health and Human Services Commission Brown-Heatly building in Austin on May 15, 2017.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune -
State employee health care fix could hurt Texas medical schools, critics say
Senators believe they have found a way to save $80 million on health care for state employees. But medical schools say the savings would come at their expense. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/MedicalStudentsAtWork.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
-
Texas House moves to require more abortion reporting data
Health facilities that perform abortions may soon have to release data on complications that arise during and after the procedure — another move by GOP lawmakers to crack down on abortions in Texas. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/12/14/IMG_5013.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
Credit: Todd Wiseman / The Texas Tribune -
State fraud investigator forced to resign over ties to Iraqi government lobbying
Stuart Bowen, inspector general for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, resigned amid revelations that he was moonlighting for a private firm that provided services for the government of Iraq. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2017/05/11/Stuart_Bowen_TT.jpg)
![Former state Health and Human Services Commission Inspector General Stuart Bowen stepped down May 10, 2017.]()
Credit: CSIS -
House backs measure barring mandatory vaccines for foster children
Discussion over a bill that would improve the state’s Child Protective Services agency turned into a heated debate over vaccines — and whether they should be required for children placed in foster care. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2017/05/10/__BDC9059_CMS.jpg)
![State Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, voted no on a motion to table an amendment to House Bill 39, a Child Protective Services reform bill in the Texas House on May 10, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
House votes to let adoption agencies reject parents over religion
Faith-based adoption agencies in Texas would be able to reject prospective parents on religious grounds under a bill the state House approved Tuesday over objections from Democratic lawmakers. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2017/04/10/TTE-FosterCare_leadart-01.png)
![Article thumbnail]()
Credit: iStock