This session, the Legislature give higher priority to tax giveaways than to fully restoring public services to their pre-recession levels. Three major tax giveaways, plus renewal and expansion of the
The 2013 regular legislative session ended without the passage of any payday and auto title lending reform. As a result, the Legislature missed a critical opportunity to protect Texas consumers from
By Jeanie Donovan During the 2013 legislative session, legislators filed 26 bills related to SNAP (formerly the food stamp program). Although SNAP is 100 percent federally funded, state lawmakers do
In the state budget deal for 2014-15 that’s still a few pieces short of being finalized by the 83rd Legislature, public education would see a 7 percent biennial increase, from $52
With just a few days left in the 2013 legislative regular session, details and summary information on the 2013 and 2014-15 state budget deals are finally starting to emerge. The conference
“Because the governor is hesitant to expand Medicaid, the legislature will probably adjourn without taking full advantage of the dollars available to Texas to cover the uninsured through the Affordable
The Senate this week will consider tax giveaways that would reduce the amount available to support public services in the next state budget by $1 billion. Supporters claim these tax
The Associated Press reported this week that Texas hospitals could lose $56 million in 2014 in special Medicaid payments to hospitals that serve lots of people on Medicaid and the uninsured (so-called
In yesterday’s New York Times, Angelina Jolie got the world talking about breast cancer. Having been diagnosed with a “faulty” BRCA1 gene, and knowing she stood an 87 percent chance
A tax abatement program that already reduces school property tax revenue by $4.2 billion would be expanded and extended by HB 3390, which passed the House on Friday, and SB
