News
Texas Child Welfare Chief Hank Whitman Announces Retirement
Posted on · He championed staff pay raises in the three years he spent at the helm of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
Texas
Texas Senate Passes Two-Year Budget With Money For Property Tax Cuts — But No Plan For How To Spend It
Posted on · The Senate budget also includes a $6.3 billion boost for public schools, about $4 billion of which would increase teachers’ and librarians’ annual salaries by $5,000.
Texas
Texas House Approves 2020-21 Budget Plan, With Extra $9 Billion For School Finance, Property Tax Relief
Posted on · The House also signed off on a $9 billion supplemental budget that would withdraw $4.3 billion from the state savings account.
Texas
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar Gives Lawmakers Cautiously Optimistic Revenue Estimate For 2019 Session
Posted on · Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced Monday that the state will have $119.1 billion for lawmakers to use in putting together the state's 2020-21 budget.
Texas Elections 2018
Democrat Lizzie Fletcher Defeats Texas GOP Congressman John Culberson
Posted on · The Houston-area race is among the most competitive U.S. House races in Texas.
Texas
Court Finds Foster Kids Were Endangered, But Strikes Down Some Attempts at Reform
Posted on · A 2011 lawsuit over Texas' beleaguered child welfare system has ping-ponged back and forth between an appeals court in New Orleans and a district court in Corpus Christi.
News
Thousands of Children Still Live in Texas Shelters after End of ‘Zero Tolerance’
Posted on · New data shows the number of children held in privately run shelters in Texas remains higher than normal
News
The Number Of Immigrant Children Held In Texas Is Up, Despite Reunifications
Posted on · Private shelter operators want to open as many as four new facilities to accommodate the continued influx of children.
News
Can Separated Immigrant Children Just Walk Out Of Shelters? Technically, Yes
Posted on · The shelters are designed to keep kids in, but they're not detention facilities, and in most cases staff can't forcibly stop a child from leaving.
News
Thanks To A Healthy Economy, Texas Comptroller Bumps Revenue Estimate By $2.8 Billion
Posted on · State officials welcomed the news with cautious optimism.
News
Following Santa Fe School Shooting, Dan Patrick Says Texas Should Cut Incentive Funding For ‘Violent’ Films And Video Games
Posted on · The lieutenant governor said he would withdraw his support for a Texas film and video game incentives program if it funded depictions of violence, blaming school shootings on a "culture where we've devalued life."
News
“It’s Our Form Of Apartheid”: How Galveston Stalled Public Housing Reconstruction In The 10 Years After Ike
Posted on · Hurricane Ike ravaged Galveston in 2008 and touched off a fierce battle over whether to rebuild the city's destroyed public housing. A decade later, less than half of it has been replaced. The prolonged saga offers a cautionary tale for Texas as it launches the long-term recovery process after Hurricane Harvey.
News
Texas Government Risks Credit Rating Downgrade, Comptroller Glenn Hegar Says
Posted on · Without an infusion of new money to cover mounting liabilities, Hegar warned, credit agencies are likely to downgrade Texas’ credit rating, which would make it more expensive for the state to borrow money — and perhaps damage the state's business climate
News
How Much Has Been Raised For Harvey Relief — And How’s It Being Spent?
Posted on · It’s been five months since Hurricane Harvey unleashed historic flooding in southeastern parts of the state, but billions of dollars in recovery money have yet to be spent.
News
After First Amendment Challenge, FEMA May Pay Texas Churches To Rebuild After Harvey
Posted on · FEMA announced the policy change Tuesday