WEEKLY REPORT

February 24, 2012

Rainy day fund could reach $7.3B

Medicaid shortfall could force budget cuts

State agencies, many of which are still feeling the effect of billions of dollars in cuts from two years ago, may have to further trim their budgets to cover Medicaid costs that lawmakers deferred during the past legislative session.

(View complete article here.)

More Texas Children Living in High-Poverty Areas

A report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation shows that the number of Texas children living in areas of high poverty has increased 43 percent over the last 10 years. That means more than 1.1 million children live in neighborhoods where at least 30 percent of the families are at or below the poverty line.

BLOG: Comptroller’s office: Texas has recouped its Great Recession job losses

Over the past two years, Texas has regained as many non-farm jobs as it lost in the recent recession, the state’s chief revenue estimator is expected to tell House budget writers on Tuesday.

Guns on campus bill faces another hurdle

Despite Texas’ cowboy image and its reputation as a Second Amendment-friendly state, in recent legislative sessions a high-profile pro-gun bill hasn’t made it to the finish line.

(View complete article here.)

No special session on education, Perry says

Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday firmly rebuffed calls for a special session of the Legislature to deal with education funding and kept his options open to seek another term as governor and to pursue another presidential bid in 2016.

(View complete article here.)

BLOG: Pitts sees little desire for special session to ease school cuts

Chief House budget writer Jim Pitts says his Republican colleagues in the Legislature are leery of demands for a special session to ease budget cuts that could force additional teacher layoffs at school districts this fall.

(View complete article here.)

It’s smart to step back on STAAR

Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott raised eyebrows, as well as ire, this month when he criticized the emphasis placed on standardized test scores in evaluating academic performance.

(View complete article here.)

National study shows drop in spending per student in Texas schools

Spending on public school students in Texas has dropped sharply this year, and the already large gap between the state and national averages has widened, a new report shows.

Opinions Mixed as Managed Care Comes to Valley

Managed health care services, which had been the subject of a recent moratorium in three Rio Grande Valley counties, will soon be available for Medicaid patients in those counties and the rest of the Valley.

Texas Medical Association not celebrating Medicare “Doc Fix”

A looming 27.4 percent cut in the payment rate was avoided when U.S. Congress agreed last week on a package that extends the Social Security payroll tax credit and unemployment insurance through the end of the year.

(View complete article here.)

In Texas and Va., Different Reactions to Sonogram Bills

The pandemonium over Virginia’s proposed abortion sonogram law — from a Saturday Night Live sketch to furious protests and intense national media coverage — bears little resemblance to the battle over Texas’ version of the law.

Governor’s Plan to Run Could Impede Attorney General

Gov. Rick Perry might run for re-election in 2014, and he could run again for president in 2016.

(View complete article here.)

Costs soaring for delayed primary elections

Bexar County residents probably won’t be getting new voter registration cards anytime soon, but officials said Tuesday that won’t pose a problem in city and school elections slated for May 12.

(View complete article here.)

Redistricting confusion plagues campaigns, parties

Congressman Mike McCaul, R-Austin, is running in place. The campaign of would-be Congressman Roger Williams is on hold. And a handful of would-be U.S. Senate candidates are hoping that the long-drawn-out redistricting controversy and elusive primary date will redound to their benefit as they attempt to nip at the heels of front-runner David Dewhurst.

(View complete article here.)

Along with redistricting mess, Voter ID also brings uncertainty to election planning

Election administrators across Texas have had their hands full planning for a primary that keeps getting delayed.

UT/TT Poll: Santorum Crushing GOP Hopefuls in Texas

Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania has a commanding lead among Republican presidential candidates in Texas, according to a new University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll.

(View complete article here.)

Texas becomes battleground in Keystone XL pipeline controversy

The politically volatile Keystone XL pipeline is becoming embroiled in a widening controversy in Texas as supporters tout the promise of jobs and other economic benefits while increasingly vocal opponents say the project would trample property rights and endanger water supplies in East Texas.

Central Texas cities move to delay natural gas rate increases

Thousands of natural gas customers in Central Texas might see a bump in rates as national provider Atmos Energy pursues a $49 million system wide increase that would cause residential customers’ bills to jump almost 14 percent.

(View complete article here.)

EDITORIAL: UT ‘fracking’ study dispels one drilling worry, raises others

The natural gas industry understandably showed an “I told you so” pride last week when the Energy Institute at The University of Texas at Austin released initial results from a continuing study of shale gas development.

(View complete article here.)

LCRA approves water management plan

The Lower Colorado River Authority’s board of directors approved its historic water management plan Wednesday, but not before some directors questioned whether the agency was going too far in limiting water to rice farmers.

WEEKLY REPORT

February 17, 2012

State’s improving economy might change budget picture

The state’s rebounding economy should help Texas avoid another draconian budget session and could help state lawmakers to begin investing in education, transportation and a water plan, state officials told a group of manufacturers on Wednesday.

(View complete article here.)

Senator wants to add state property tax

Lawmaker pushes state income tax

In Texas, it’s rare to find a lawmaker who advocates a state income tax because, for most members of the Texas Legislature, it would be the equivalent of committing political suicide.

Texas ignoring insurance pool requirements

Texas is almost alone among the nation’s largest states in failing to start work on a key piece of the Affordable Care Act, as legislators and state agencies follow Gov. Rick Perry‘s wish to delay action until after a Supreme Court ruling and the November election.

(View complete article here.)

Texas slow to move on health care reforms

Texas is almost alone among the nation’s largest states in failing to start work on a key piece of the Affordable Care Act, as legislators and state agencies follow Gov. Rick Perry‘s dictum to delay action until after a Supreme Court ruling and the November election.

(View complete article here.)

Doggett district could be sticking point in redistricting case

Attorney General Greg Abbott signaled in a court filing Monday that U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett’s district could be the sticking point that could prevent a compromise in Texas’ ongoing redistricting fight.

(View complete article here.)

Primary voters won’t head to polls till at least May 29

Texas’ primary elections won’t take place until at least May 29 because of the continuing battle over the state’s redistricting maps, a San Antonio federal court announced Wednesday.

(View complete article here.)

Texans Leave the Voting to a Small Minority

With redistricting fights pushing the primaries closer to summertime — and further from the possibility of giving the state’s Republican voters any say in who should be their presidential nominee — turnout could be even lower than normal.

(View complete article here.)

BLOG: Wendy Davis gets her state Senate district back

In the redistricting battles going on before a three-judge panel in San Antonio, a compromise has been reached between state lawyers and those on behalf of minority plaintiffs and state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth. According to reports from the scene, she basically won.

Texas Railroad Commissioner Jones Resigns

Texas Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones resigned this afternoon, after weeks of defending her move to San Antonio to run for a state Senate seat there.  Jones, in a letter to Gov. Rick Perry, said she will give up her statewide position, putting to rest the question of whether she could remain in office without residing in the state capital.

Teachers Ask Perry to Govern Again and Re-fund Texas School System

Now that Rick Perry is off the campaign trail and our official and acting Governor again, some people are calling on him to do just that, act as a Governor again.

(View complete article here.)

Shapiro backs delay on STAAR grade provision

Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott on Monday got some political cover to delay for one year a controversial provision that requires new high school end-of-course exams to count toward 15 percent of students’ final grades.

(View complete article here.)

Despite Reform, Violence Rises Among Youths at Juvenile Lockups

On a rainy February day, teenage boys wearing elastic-waisted khaki pants and white T-shirts, many of them heavily tattooed, walked in single-file lines across the Giddings State School campus. A few of them lifted black windbreakers above their heads in a hopeless attempt to stay dry as they made their way from the cafeteria to their classrooms under the watchful eyes of corrections officers.

Let’s stop trying to fix state-run secure juvenile facilities

Recent revelations by the Texas Tribune and The New York Times of ongoing safety concerns in Texas’ juvenile justice system only confirm what the leading national research shows: Secure juvenile facilities are a taxpayers burden, work against rehabilitation and can make youths’ problems worse.

(View complete article here.)

Gas prices soar early this year

This has been one of Ann McSpadden’s best months ever, selling electric bikes and mopeds at Alien Scooters.  Usually her store on South Lamar Boulevard sees a drop-off after the holidays, but Feb. 1 was an “incredible day,” she said.

Perry “Absolutely” May Run for President Again

Once more with feeling?  While in Washington, D.C., for his CPAC speech this past weekend, Gov. Rick Perry told Jonathan Karl of ABC News that he “absolutely” might run again for president in 2016 — despite an underwhelming maiden voyage onto the national stage in the 2012 cycle.

(View complete article here.)

WEEKLY REPORT

February 10, 2012

Voters Asked for Cuts – Do They Like the Results?

Two years ago, the Republican primary was teeming with angry conservatives stirred up by federal fiscal policy. Not all of them were Tea Party members, but all of them seemed to get labeled that way. Whatever the description, their effect on last year’s legislative session was clear.

(View complete article here.)

EDITORIAL: Experience deficit in next Legislature spurs debate

With all the attention the failed presidential run of Gov. Rick Perry, the Texas redistricting battle and the school funding lawsuits have gotten in recent months, it’s easy to overlook other issues shaping up in Austin.

 (View complete article here.)

Disagreement continues over redistricting maps

North Texas would get a new congressional district dominated by minority voters under a new set of political maps proposed by the Texas attorney general Monday, but many Democrats and minority community leaders strongly oppose the proposal.

Texas voting map wrangling continues to put elections in limbo

Is an agreement among the multitude of parties fighting over Texas redistricting maps a real deal?

Texas’ primary date likely to get pushed back again

Last-ditch negotiations to save the April 3 Texas primaries appeared dead Tuesday, throwing the state’s messy redistricting dispute back to a federal court that must sort through a widely panned partial deal and pick a new date.

Slow Redistricting Lowers Clout of Texas Voters

Texas sales tax still exceeding expectations

Texas’ sales tax collections topped $2 billion in January, crossing that threshold the second time in three months.

Texas ranks 41^st in financial security

There is little doubt Texas has survived the Great Recession better than other states, but a study by the Corporation for Enterprise Development has found that 27.7 percent of Texas households have no financial cushion in case of an emergency. If you exclude homes and automobiles from the calculation, 50 percent of Texans have no assets they could use to survive if they suddenly lost their income.

State reviews health insurance hikes, lacks authority to halt them

Under the 2010 federal health care reform law, Texas is reviewing medical insurance companies’ rate increases of at least 10 percent to determine whether they are justified, but even if reviewers find a problem, they have no way of heading it off or even letting the public know about it.

 (View complete article here.)

State property values up slightly last year

With each new bit of positive economic news, Texas has been beating expectations and that feeds the bottom line of the state budget.

(View complete article here.)

State Negotiate $26 Billon Agreement for Homeowners

After months of painstaking talks, government authorities and five of the nation’s biggest banks have agreed to a $26 billion settlement that could provide relief to nearly two million current and former American homeowners harmed by the bursting of the housing bubble, state and federal officials said. It is part of a broad national settlement aimed at halting the housing market’s downward slide and holding the banks accountable for foreclosure abuses.

 (View complete article here.)

Texas’ slice ‘very limited’

Texas will get a $428 million slice of a $25 billion settlement between 49 state attorneys general and the nation’s largest mortgage servicers and lenders.

(View complete article here.)

Key Players Drive Texas Medical Board’s Stem Cell Rules

When the Texas Medical Board called a stakeholder meeting in July to discuss the state’s burgeoning adult stem cell industry, it was at the behest of Gov. Rick Perry, the soon-to-be presidential hopeful who had just received an injection of his own stem cells, and of Stanley Jones, the orthopedist and biotech entrepreneur who performed Perry’s experimental procedure.

(View complete article here.)

WEEKLY REPORT

February 3, 2012

Kilday Hart: State rules for health care complicates lives, industry

What could be scarier than government health care, where bureaucrats controlling huge pots of money create rules that affect both patient access and the ability of providers to make money? Thank goodness we live in Texas, where our state leaders would embrace secession before letting government paper-pushers dictate how private health care entities do business. It would rain flying pigs first, right?
(View complete article here.)

State Under Pressure As Health Law Deadlines Approach

The health law’s biggest changes don’t take effect until 2014, when states and insurers must be ready to begin signing up an estimated 32 million people in Medicaid and private insurance. But a successful rollout in two years hinges on critical decisions that states must make – and take quick action on – this year.(View complete article here.)

State Commissioner predicts $15 to $17 billion shortfall in Medicaid

Kudos to the Quorum Report’s John Reynolds for reporting State Health and Human Services Commissioner Tom Suehs’ latest prediction on the looming state Medicaid funding shortfall which will have to be addressed by the Legislature when it meets in January 2013.
(View complete article here.)

Leaders warn of more budget problems in Texas

Two key leaders of Gov. Rick Perry‘s team highlighted growing budget problems this week, with one projecting at least a $15 billion hole in the Medicaid program and another warning that the ban on social promotions will end unless lawmakers find money to help struggling students.
(View complete article here.)

Are state employees not fessing up to tobacco use?

Lord knows we all love state employees. And woe be unto any local politician who dares doubt that each and every state employee is among the best, hardest-working, finest-looking people ever created.
(View complete article here.)

Teachers group says Texas education cuts mean 32,000 job losses so far

A school advocacy group says an estimated 32,000 school employees across Texas — including 12,000 teachers — have lost their jobs due to $5.4 billion in education cuts.
(View complete article here.)

Little Agreement on How to Fix School Finance System

A teachers group has urged Gov. Rick Perry to call a special session to address education funding, but there’s still plenty of disagreement on what fixing the school funding system would actually mean.
(View complete article here.)

Some Texas political campaigns can’t gear up just yet

It’s fundamental that political candidates communicate clearly with the voters they want to represent.  But that’s a tricky task in Texas this year, with maps for congressional and legislative districts still being battled over in court.
(View complete article here.)

Redistricting Judges Tell Lawyers to Negotiate Maps

A panel of three federal judges stuck between the need for redistricting maps in a hurry and the need for maps that hold up in court told the parties to negotiate over the weekend and to bring in the results next week.
(View complete article here.)

Senate committees push boundaries on social media

Cherie Hampton recently took part in a legislative committee hearing at the Capitol on Texas’ electric power supply. And she didn’t have to leave her Houston home.
(View complete article here.)

A Divide on the Payoff of Legalizing Immigrants

Granting legal status to the illegal immigrants living in one of Texas’ largest metropolitan areas would generate at least $1.4 billion a year in revenue for state and federal agencies, with Social Security and Medicare being the largest potential beneficiaries, according to an analysis by a Houston business group.
(View complete article here.)

Decline in quail has state looking for answers

The number of bobwhite quail living on the limited and shrinking habitat declined so dramatically and obviously over several years that it couldn’t be ignored or explained away as one of those temporary population hiccups the iconic grassland game birds see when drought or flood or a severe freeze cuts deep into coveys.
(View complete article here.)

Climate science experts predict intensified drought in Texas

The extreme drought gripping Texas and the rest of the Southwest is likely to intensify, according to a panel of climate experts from Columbia University.  Richard Seager, an expert on droughts in North America, told a Washington audience that the Texas drought of the past decade has been the continent’s most serious.
(View complete article here.)

Powers of HOA in Texas reduced

Longing to hang a cross on the door? Wishing that you could capture all the rainwater that’s been gushing off the roof lately?

You’re in luck.
(View complete article here.)

Texas’ Haul From BP Spill: $100 Million, and Counting

Sand dunes rise above a windy, desolate stretch of beach, miles beyond where most tourists venture. Occasional flocks of brown pelicans are visible, arcing through the sky above the water.
(View complete article here.)