Competitive statehouse races come to light in finance reports
A new wave of campaign finance reports is bringing into focus how competitive some state legislatives races are. Full Story
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![The Texas Capitol, May 15, 2015.]()
Credit: Todd Wiseman -
Texas agencies want option of keeping departed employees on payroll
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office and four other agencies were questioned Wednesday about granting departing employees “emergency leave” as a form of separation payment. Full Story
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![The inside of the Texas Capitol Building on March 29, 2016.]()
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Trooper's attorneys might ask judge to toss indictment in Bland case
Attorneys for the state trooper who arrested Sandra Bland are considering asking a judge to throw out his indictment for perjury. Full Story
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![Former Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Brian Encinia leaves court after his arraignment at the Waller County Courthouse in Hempstead, Texas Tuesday, Mar. 22, 2016.]()
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Analysis: Register to Vote and Give Yourself an Option for Election Day
Registering to vote doesn't mean you have to vote, but not registering means you can't. Tuesday is the deadline in Texas. Full Story
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![Students listen to Secretary Cascos during a UT undergraduate course about what they need to know to vote in November.]()
Credit: Qiling Wang for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: In Texas, Lawmakers Regulate Their Own Regulators
The Texas Ethics Commission regulates legislators. Legislators control the commission's laws and budget. It's a complicated relationship. Full Story
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![State Sens. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, and Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, listen to testimony at a Senate Committee on State Affairs hearing reviewing current ethics laws governing public officials and employees on Oct, 5, 2016.]()
Credit: Qiling Wang for The Texas Tribune -
East Texas Children Lose Therapy Services in Budget Cut Fallout
Lawmakers wanted the state to pay less for children's therapy services without cutting off access to care, but that balance is proving impossible in some cases. Full Story
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![Lauretta Jackson, a physical therapist from Any Baby Can, works with Sara weekly to improve her body strength. Nonprofit therapy providers are worried budget cuts made by lawmakers will put them out of business.]()
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Help Wanted to Investigate Student-Teacher Relationships
Faced with growing state attention on improper student-teacher relationships, the Texas Education Agency is asking lawmakers for hundreds of thousands of additional dollars to help investigate them — plus new legislation. Full Story
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![Texas Education Agency investigator Doug Phillips testifies on punishing educators for inappropriate student-teacher relationships during a public hearing Dec. 7, 2015 before the Senate Education Committee.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
New Position Will Oversee Abstinence, Abortion Programs
The state health commission has begun advertising for someone to fill a new executive job overseeing “women’s education services” — including abstinence education and counseling on alternatives to abortion. The position could pay six figures. Full Story
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![A hallway at the Whole Woman's Health clinic in Austin.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond -
Texas Lawmakers to Highlight Education Spending Divide
The state’s escalating dependence on local tax dollars to fund public schools is expected to be a focus during a joint hearing of two House committees Wednesday and Thursday. Full Story
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![House Public Education Chairman Jimmie Don Aycock, R-Killeen, pulled down a school finance bill during the 84th legislative session on May 14, 2015.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Analysis: In Texas, You Can Fight City Hall
The Texas Legislature has become the court of last resort for companies and industries fighting local regulations in the state's cities and counties. And for those interests, Austin can be a very favorable venue for appeals. Full Story
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![A gas well is shown in 2014 sitting less than 400 feet from a home in Denton.]()
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African-American Monument Being Installed at Texas Capitol
After more than two decades of effort by lawmakers to install a monument at the Capitol celebrating African-Americans, the main components of a bronze and granite memorial were quietly lowered onto the south lawn on Tuesday. Full Story
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![Sculptor Ed Dwight talked with workers who were installing the Texas African-American History Memorial Monument at the Texas Capitol on Sept. 27, 2016.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Medicaid Cuts to Children's Therapy Allowed to Proceed
A significant cut to the amount of money Texas pays therapists who treat children with disabilities was finally cleared to take effect when the Texas Supreme Court on Friday declined to hear a lawsuit over the budget cut's legality. Full Story
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Texas Not Budging on Rule Requiring Burial or Cremation of Fetal Remains
Despite intense outcry from the medical community and reproductive rights advocates, Texas isn't budging on a proposed rule to require the cremation or burial of fetal remains. Full Story
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Lawmaker Unveils Vision for Austin State Hospital
State Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, on Thursday proposed creating an "MD Anderson of the brain" on the site of the troubled Austin State Hospital. Full Story
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![The Austin State Hospital is shown on April 29, 2016. Despite an infusion of funding from lawmakers for the state’s mental health care system, Texas struggles to provide psychiatric care for all patients who need it.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber/The Texas Tribune -
Texas Medical Board's Executive Director Announces Resignation
After almost 16 years with the Texas Medical Board, Mari Robinson announced Wednesday that she is stepping down as executive director. Full Story
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Analysis: "Smitty," a Texas Lobbyist for the Small Fry, Hanging It Up
Tom “Smitty” Smith, a colorful lobbyist and liberal activist who turned Public Citizen Texas into a strong voice on environmental, utility, consumer and ethics issues, is hanging up his spurs after 31 years. Full Story
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![Tom "Smitty" Smith is retiring from his longtime role as head of Public Citizen Texas, a nonprofit, left-leaning consumer rights advocacy group.]()
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DPS Changes in Wake of Sandra Bland Death in Dispute
It is unclear whether the Texas Department of Public Safety will make any changes to its training policies following the announced settlement of a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Sandra Bland. Full Story
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![Texas DPS Director Steve McCraw during a September 20, 2016 House County Affairs committee hearing]()
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Amarillo Chips In $15 Million for Texas Tech's Veterinary School Plans
Officials in Amarillo on Tuesday agreed to chip in $15 million to help Texas Tech University open a new veterinary school in the city. Full Story
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Judge Orders Texas to Rewrite Voter ID Education Materials
Texas must issue new press releases and other materials in its voter education campaign. That comes after the federal government and other plaintiffs accused state officials of misleading voters about identification requirements. Full Story
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![Attorney General Ken Paxton and Solicitor General Scott Keller after oral arguments on the voter ID case before the U.S. 5th Circuit of Appeals in New Orleans on May 24, 2016.]()
Credit: Cheryl Gerber for The Texas Tribune -
Hearings Will Address Criminal Justice Reforms in Sandra Bland's Name
Texas lawmakers will meet Tuesday to discuss the push for reforms in Texas jail standards, police training and care for mentally ill inmates in the wake of Sandra Bland's death in the Waller County Jail. Full Story
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![Ayana Flewellen speaks to a large crowd assembled at The Texas Capitol for a candlelight vigil in remembrance of Sandra Bland on Thursday July 23, 2015.]()
Credit: Erika Rich