Many self-proclaimed gun enthusiasts in the Texas House aren’t ready to expand their own gun rights if they can’t do the same for their constituents.
This session, several bills that attempt to make it easier for ex-offenders to find jobs once they are out of prison are headed to Gov. Rick Perry’s desk.
As they made their way through House and Senate committees, they had the usual input from groups that focus on criminal justice reform. But they also got special attention from the Texas Association of Business, which specifically put criminal justice issues on its legislative agenda for the first time.
Read Maurice Chammah’s story. There are several variations on the general theme –– should the Governor sign all these bills? Any of them? Let us know what you think.
Texas public universities awarded more than 50,000 bachelor’s degrees in spring 2013, an increase of more than 5,000 from 2012, according to preliminary data from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
The stats were revealed Wednesday in a presentation to House Higher Education Chairman Dan Branch, R-Dallas, at the board’s Austin headquarters.
Reeve Hamilton reports: http://trib.it/12vUBAd
Gov. Rick Perry hasn’t yet said whether he’s running for re-election — but Attorney General Greg Abbott doesn’t appear to be waiting for him to make up his mind.
Abbott is collecting resumes, assembling a campaign team and opening a new headquarters. And he’s building up his grassroots infrastructure with increasingly partisan social media messaging.
Emily Ramshaw reports: http://trib.it/12uUDIm
The 83rd Texas legislative session may be in its final days, but the TribCast keeps on giving. In this week’s episode, we talk budget deals, John Carona and bill killing.
Listen here and tell us which bill you’d kill in the comments: http://trib.it/168FEuc
With only a few days left in the 83rd Texas legislative session, a couple of lawmakers started to pick off bills as a negotiation tactic. That’s right, folks: There was a singular goal — kill bills.
Hear all about it on Agenda Texas here: http://trib.it/11bWAXV
A bill allowing hotter radioactive waste from other states to be deposited in a dump in Andrews County passed the House on Wednesday, after a brief debate between state Reps. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, and Tryon Lewis, R-Odessa.
While members of the Legislature are eyeing Memorial Day and Sine Die with increasing anticipation, a growing field of candidates looking toward 2014 has emerged, including four — so far – in Austin’s House District 50, an open seat.
Julián Aguilar for Texas Weekly: http://trib.it/10J2XCN
TribCast: A Budget Deal, John Carona and Bill Killing - Reeve, Aman, Jay and Ben talk about the final stages of lawmakers’ efforts to put together a budget deal, state Sen. John Carona’s day job, and the legislative casualties of tension between the Senate and the House.
The Ogallala Aquifer suffered its second-worst drop since at least 2000 in a large swath of the Texas Panhandle, new measurements show.
The closely watched figures, published this week by the High Plains Underground Water Conservation District, cover a 16-county area stretching from south of Lubbock to Amarillo.
Kate Galbraith reports: http://trib.it/12JZpDM
