“Merry Christmas” Officially Okay in Texas Public Schools
This holiday season, teachers and students will officially have permission to wish each other “Merry Christmas” — or the traditional greeting of their choice — in Texas public schools.
Flanked by high school cheerleaders who recently fought a legal battle to carry banners with Bible verses on them at athletic events, Gov. Rick Perry ceremonially signed legislation Thursday clarifying that school districts can acknowledge traditional winter celebrations.
“The holidays are coming early this year,” for students of all faiths “who want to freely express the simplest of appropriate greetings during holy days,” said Perry Read more…
Drama Erupts as Senate Panel Takes Up Abortion Measures
Impassioned testimony and heated exchanges between senators marked the first hearing on abortion measures of the special session.
The Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Thursday afternoon took up Senate Bill 5, which would ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, require that surgical abortions be administered in ambulatory surgical centers, make doctors who perform abortions have admitting procedures at nearby hospitals, and require doctors who administer abortion-inducing drugs to do so in person.
The bill is part of a response to Gov. Rick Perry’s call to add abortion legislation to the ongoing special session. Read more…
“Kumbaya Session” Becoming a Distant Memory
During the 83rd legislative session, lawmakers worked together with such collegiality and bipartisanship that some observers began calling it the “Kumbaya Session.”
Gov. Rick Perry has ensured no one will affix that label to the current special session — and maybe to a second one, if it comes to that.
The state’s longest-serving governor called the current 30-day session at the end of last month for the redrawing of the political boundaries. The redistricting process already is dragging out longer than proponents said it would, and it has led to predictable sparring between the two major parties. Read more…
A Feint Disguised as a Special Committee on Higher Ed
For higher education followers, one of the great lingering mysteries of the 83rd session is the fate of a special committee that was formed to look into governance issues at the University of Texas System.
Shortly after midnight on February 19, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who earlier that day had given a teary defense of University of Texas at Austin President Bill Powers on the Senate floor, sent a scathing text to UT System Regent Alex Cranberg.
“You have disappointed me,” he wrote, under the impression, which he later walked back, that regents had been spreading anonymous rumors about Powers. “I tried to help you. Based on what I heard this evening, you and [fellow regent Wallace Hall] are about to have the wood applied to you.”
The following day, Dewhurst and Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, renewed the Joint Oversight Committee on Higher Education Governance, Excellence and Transparency — the presumed venue for that spanking. Read more…
Leo Linbeck Jr., TLR Co-founder, Dead at 78
Leo Linbeck Jr., the Houston construction magnate who co-founded Texans for Lawsuit Reform to transform the state’s tort laws, died Saturday morning, according to his son, Leo Linbeck III. Born in Dallas in August 1934, he was 78.
Linbeck was one of several Houston businessmen who started TLR in the mid-1990s to limit the scope and profitability of civil lawsuits in the state and the U.S. The group became a major force in Texas politics at the same time, generally but not exclusively favoring Republican candidates for statewide and legislative offices and, more recently, branching into other issues like public education. In 2011, Linbeck described TLR’s inception in a speech uploaded to the group’s website. Read more…
-
EDUCATION
“Merry Christmas” Officially Okay in Texas Public Schools
This holiday season, teachers and students will officially have permission to wish each other “Merry Christmas” — or the traditional greeting of their choice —... -
HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
Drama Erupts as Senate Panel Takes Up Abortion Measures
Impassioned testimony and heated exchanges between senators marked the first hearing on abortion measures of the special session. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee... -
HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
“Kumbaya Session” Becoming a Distant Memory
During the 83rd legislative session, lawmakers worked together with such collegiality and bipartisanship that some observers began calling it the “Kumbaya Session.” Gov. Rick Perry has ensured... -
EDUCATION
A Feint Disguised as a Special Committee on Higher Ed
For higher education followers, one of the great lingering mysteries of the 83rd session is the fate of a special committee that was formed to... -
PEOPLE
Leo Linbeck Jr., TLR Co-founder, Dead at 78
Leo Linbeck Jr., the Houston construction magnate who co-founded Texans for Lawsuit Reform to transform the state’s tort laws, died Saturday morning, according to his... -
EDUCATION
New University in South Texas Awaits Perry’s Signature
While residents of the Rio Grande Valley know that they are poised to get a new university, there are several details they do not know,... -
PEOPLE
Water Treaty Concerns Trigger Calls for Changes
Saying that federal inaction on enforcement of a 70-year-old water treaty with Mexico could significantly impact the Rio Grande Valley, a local conservation district has... -
EDUCATION
Lawyers Ask to Reopen Evidence in School Finance Trial
State district court Judge John Dietz has agreed to hear new testimony in the sweeping school finance trial involving more than two-thirds of the state’s... -
HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
Bipartisan Caucus Lays Groundwork for Food Movement
The bipartisan “farm-to-table” caucus landed a couple of key victories in its first legislative session, laying the groundwork for its effort to help small agricultural... -
EDUCATION
End of CSCOPE Means Hardship for Some Texas Schools
In late May, state Sen. Dan Patrick, the chairman of the Senate Education Committee, announced what he called the end of an era in Texas public schools. Beginning...
“Merry Christmas” Officially Okay in Texas Public Schools
Drama Erupts as Senate Panel Takes Up Abortion Measures
“Kumbaya Session” Becoming a Distant Memory
A Feint Disguised as a Special Committee on Higher Ed
Leo Linbeck Jr., TLR Co-founder, Dead at 78
New University in South Texas Awaits Perry’s Signature
Water Treaty Concerns Trigger Calls for Changes
Lawyers Ask to Reopen Evidence in School Finance Trial
Bipartisan Caucus Lays Groundwork for Food Movement
End of CSCOPE Means Hardship for Some Texas Schools
School Breakfast Bill Passes House
Obama’s Austin Visit to Start With Perry Meeting
Breaking News Alerts by E-Mail
Search
-
EDUCATION
“Merry Christmas” Officially Okay in Texas Public Schools
This holiday season, teachers and students will officially have permission to wish each other “Merry Christmas”... -
EDUCATION
A Feint Disguised as a Special Committee on Higher Ed
For higher education followers, one of the great lingering mysteries of the 83rd session is the... -
EDUCATION
New University in South Texas Awaits Perry’s Signature
While residents of the Rio Grande Valley know that they are poised to get a new... -
PEOPLE
Water Treaty Concerns Trigger Calls for Changes
Saying that federal inaction on enforcement of a 70-year-old water treaty with Mexico could significantly impact... -
EDUCATION
End of CSCOPE Means Hardship for Some Texas Schools
In late May, state Sen. Dan Patrick, the chairman of the Senate Education Committee, announced what he called the... -
EDUCATION
School Breakfast Bill Passes House
A bill that would provide free breakfast to children at Texas’ poorest schools is headed to...
-
HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
“Kumbaya Session” Becoming a Distant Memory
During the 83rd legislative session, lawmakers worked together with such collegiality and bipartisanship that some observers... -
HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
Bipartisan Caucus Lays Groundwork for Food Movement
The bipartisan “farm-to-table” caucus landed a couple of key victories in its first legislative session, laying... -
ECONOMY
Senate OKs Electric Rebates From Fund to Assist Poor
All but 10 percent of a nearly $1 billion state fund intended to assist the poor... -
EDUCATION
In Bid to Pare Exams, Lawmakers Target Testing Firm
As the Texas Legislature moves to uproot the state’s standardized testing program amid outcry from parents... -
EDUCATION
In Texas, Nixing Algebra II Not Out of the Equation
As Texas re-examines what students should learn in order to earn a high school diploma, no... -
HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
2.6 Million Texans Could Get Insurance Subsidy
Nearly 2.6 million Texans could qualify for tax credits to purchase health insurance in 2014, according...
-
HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
Drama Erupts as Senate Panel Takes Up Abortion Measures
Impassioned testimony and heated exchanges between senators marked the first hearing on abortion measures of the... -
PEOPLE
Leo Linbeck Jr., TLR Co-founder, Dead at 78
Leo Linbeck Jr., the Houston construction magnate who co-founded Texans for Lawsuit Reform to transform the... -
EDUCATION
Lawyers Ask to Reopen Evidence in School Finance Trial
State district court Judge John Dietz has agreed to hear new testimony in the sweeping school... -
HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
Hotze to File Suit Over Federal Health Reform
The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that penalties under the Affordable Care Act qualify as taxes has... -
PEOPLE
Travis County DA: “Hope to Complete My Term”
The embattled district attorney of Travis County, Rosemary Lehmberg, whose April 12 arrest for driving under... -
EDUCATION
New Disclosure Policy Delayed at UT System
The implementation of a robust but controversial conflict-of-interest policy at institutions in the University of Texas...