By Chandra Villanueva Texas is responsible for educating 5 million kids, and 60 percent of those kids are poor. We have an obligation to ensure
By Dick Lavine Let’s try this again – the beer tax I mentioned recently was just a simple-to-understand example of why the Legislature needs to
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.
By F. Scott McCown Leading up to yesterday’s election, Americans expressed a strong hunger for elected officials who would maturely put country first. Now that
The income gap between the Texas families at the top and bottom of the income ladder is the 7th highest in the nation, according to
You may have heard of the influential right-wing organization, the American Legislative Exchange Council, known as ALEC. The organization promotes policies to cut taxes and
With three weeks remaining before the 83rd Session starts, one major piece of the budget puzzle is missing–the total amount of money our state legislators
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
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
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
