We wind down our series on the budget and state spending needs by looking at state employee/retiree benefits and prisons. The Employees Retirement System budget proposal for 2014-15 requires a
Almost 1.5 million students were enrolled in credit courses at a Texas college or university in Fall 2011—more than 9 out of 10 of them at a public institution. Public
The 2014-15 consolidated HHS proposal to provide CHIP and Medicaid-supported health care, Early Childhood Intervention programs, foster care/child protective services, state hospitals, and various public health and nutrition services includes
Public education is important in the Texas budget not just because it’s the biggest piece (42 percent of General Revenue spending), but because of its key role in preparing roughly
Texas is arguably ground zero in the battle to rein in excessive fees and deceptive practices from payday and auto title lenders. Last week, the Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner
This week, the Austin American-Statesman ran an oped I wrote about the flawed legislation filed that would require welfare and unemployment benefits applicants to be drug tested. Instead of going
On Tuesday, the Travis County Commissioners Court passed a “living wage” requirement for county tax incentives designed to lure jobs to the area. Travis County, after two years of study
By Mia Ibarra TexasForward, a broad-based revenue coalition promoting a balanced approach to state budget decisions, held its quarterly membership meeting on Friday, October 26. Representatives from many of the
By Don Baylor, Jr. Payday and auto title loans are unaffordable for most Texans who use these products. First, Texans pay about 50-75 percent more than people in other states,
