Former state Medicaid program official Anne Dunkelberg, who served in the late Gov. Ann Richards' administration, has cast a gimlet eye on Senate leaders' Tuesday announcement that Medicaid needs $1 billion more in state "general revenue" than even the Senate...
Forecasts that more Texans battered by the recession will qualify for free health care under the Medicaid program will require that the program receive nearly $1 billion more in state funds, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst announced today. "One cloud has...
Three things struck me as I watched senators, moments ago, treat retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor like a rock star: 1) I've never seen Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, be so nice to a Republican. He fawned...
After the Senate this evening passed the budget, 26-5 -- all 5 no votes were from Democrats -- a reporter asked Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Sen. Steve Ogden whether they fear a sagging economy could drag down Comptroller Susan...
As the Senate prepares to "debate" the two year state budget today, it may be useful for those who want to watch on the Internet to know that senators do virtually all of their work in back rooms. The typical...
Sen. Kip Averitt, R-Waco, says this of Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst's attitude about expanding coverage of low-income children this session: "I think he has the warm fuzzies." Averitt (right, AP photo) quickly added: "You need to talk to him." Averitt...
Texas is looking at a pot of new federal health care dollars -- between $5 billion and $6 billion -- that's as big as the stimulus bill's bonanza for public schools. The General Accounting Office estimates Texas should receive $5.45...
The Legislature's top two leaders just asked state agencies to recommend how they might cut spending by 2.5 percent in the current fiscal year ending Aug. 31. "We do not anticipate an across the board cut if we have your...
House and Senate leaders just filed separate bills kicking off debate on what's expected to be a hold-the-line state budget this session. The Senate's version of the Legislative Budget Board "baseline budget" spends nearly half a billion more on three...
Though all of the Texas Republicans running for statewide office were being held below 55 percent, they were still winning tonight. And that made Austin's Four Seasons Hotel perhaps the happiest spot on the planet for a demoralized elephant. "It's...
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