State news in Texas

House appropriators have approved a new $164.5 billion all-funds state budget -- living within the revenues available. It's far from a done deal, even as liberals predictably cluck on. House Bill 1 could be on the floor as early as Thursday of next week. It reportedly...

A week and a half ago there was a rally in support of education at the capital. While there was a wide variety of folks attending with different backgrounds and different opinions, there were a few things it seemed everyone could agree on... Keep the Teachers, Cut the...

Having enough of Illinois' corrupt fiscal and political mess, a former Illinois state senator says he's "tired of subsidizing crooks" and had declared he and his family are moving to Texas. "You may all go to hell, I will go to Texas." - Davy Crockett As reported in...

Friday, March 11, was the last time for members to file bills for the 82nd Legislative Session in Texas. During the last three legislative sessions, bills filed have ballooned from 5,400 to 7,400. However, in this session, the number of bills filed leveled back to...

Following a deal announced Tuesday, the House Appropriations Committee voted unanimously to draw $3.2 billion from Texas' Economic Stabilization Fund. As we've consistently said about the fund: it’s there to be used, but only as a last resort after all possible cuts...

So $105 million is just chump-change, huh? According to Sen. Hinojosa (D-McAllen), it is. In tough budget times, it appears the senator is more concerned about preserving non-essential government programs than he is about making necessary cuts and protecting teachers....

A Brownsville Herald story described the so-called Sanctuary Cities bill as "similar to Arizona’s strict anti-illegal immigration law." It is not. About school district police, the same story reported a state rep. as being "optimistic that Texas school districts won’t...

Do you have a "sick-leave buy back" program at your workplace? Do you have a "luxury edition" company car? - Probably not… However, taxpayer dollars are being used for both in Texas school districts. Since January, Texans have been hearing the heart-wrenching tale of...

Merging two agencies could save taxpayers millions while also improving rehabilitation rates for juvenile offenders. State Rep. Jerry Madden (R-Plano) is proposing legislation that would merge the Texas Youth Commission and Texas Juvenile Probation Commission; it’s a...