| 04/13/2001 UT regents, state lawmakers face off over excellence fund
AUSTIN – University of Texas System regents normally don't spend hours at the Capitol negotiating with lawmakers, especially over $16 million – pocket change in terms of higher education funding. But in recent weeks, some regents have been attempting to do just that, trying to get the UT System's smaller schools included in a bill that would provide $16 million for research at other state universities. Bill aims to cover defense workers exposed to beryllium
SAN ANTONIO – Evidence that workers at Kelly Air Force Base handled beryllium has prompted a San Antonio lawmaker to craft a bill that would help Defense Department workers receive compensation if they become ill from exposure to nuclear materials. For some kids, school might just have to wait
AUSTIN – Children who turn 5 after May 31 would not be eligible to start school in the fall beginning in 2002 under a bill awaiting debate in the Senate. Bill would tidy up record transfers
AUSTIN – When Rick Perry got a new job in December, he cleaned out the records at the lieutenant governor's office and transferred everything to his new office as governor. Hopes are high for airport plan, but will state let it fly?
AUSTIN – Rep. Ron Wilson, D-Houston, has his own pilot program for the city of Austin. It would force the reopening of the city's old airport. 04/12/2001 Texas executions: Is a stay in store?
AUSTIN – Executions could be halted for two years while a study is conducted of the death penalty process in Texas, under a proposal a Senate committee passed on Wednesday. Insurance bill starts small
AUSTIN – Nearly 160,000 employees in small school districts would be included in a state health insurance plan, while another 400,000 from larger districts would receive state money to help pay insurance bills and other medical expenses under a House measure unveiled Wednesday. Under the Dome
• Drivers: Senate OKs bill aimed at gasoline thieves
• Health: Lawmaker seeks better pay at nursing homes
• Education: Panel backs bill raising tuition at universities
• Babies: Senate OKs registry that screens sitters Bill would keep felons from crime profits
AUSTIN – Felons would be unable to make a profit on their crimes by selling memorabilia and other items related to the crime under legislation the Senate passed Wednesday. 04/11/2001 Indigent defense bill passes Senate
AUSTIN – The Senate, seeking to bolster legal representation for the poor in Texas, embraced a bill Tuesday to set statewide standards for court-appointed attorneys and provide nearly $20 million over the next two years to help counties pay for indigent defense. Capitol Gallery: Relationship is based on sex, drugs and fairness
AUSTIN – Put it in the strange bedfellows category: One of the most conservative House members has joined with one of the most progressive in the name of contraceptive equality. And you can chalk it up, all tittering aside, to Viagra. Senate OKs drug plan
AUSTIN – Nearly 750,000 senior citizens across Texas may be able to buy prescription drugs at lower prices under a measure passed Tuesday by the Senate. House passes budget, but issues unresolved
AUSTIN – The House passed its $109.7 billion version of the state's next budget on Tuesday but left decisions on tough fiscal issues to be resolved later in a conference committee. House members batted around the proposed state budget for three hours before passing the plan without signifigant changes. 04/10/2001 Senate passes bill setting indigent defense standards
AUSTIN – Court-appointed attorneys in Texas would have to be appointed within a week and meet minimum statewide standards under a bill approved today by the state Senate. The Texas Fair Defense Act would also for the first time set aside up to $19 million to help counties pay for the legal representation of poor defendants. Under the dome Senate ponders teacher insurance
AUSTIN – Public school employees would have fully funded individual health insurance and be offered up to five levels of coverage under the preliminary draft of a teacher health insurance bill unveiled Monday. 04/09/2001 Committees present draft insurance plans for school employees
AUSTIN – Legislators are trying to iron out the details of two distinct statewide health insurance plans for public school employees. Under his watchful eye
AUSTIN – The older man with gray hair and spectacles sits at the far end of the House quietly watching the whirlwind around him with the confidence of a grandfather at a family reunion. Hardly anyone goes by Rep. Paul Moreno without shaking his hand, patting him on the back or kissing him on the cheek. Often there are whispers, followed by hearty laughs. Law clerk bills go two ways
AUSTIN – Lawmakers paid attention when an Austin prosecutor warned that law clerks for Texas Supreme Court justices might violate the bribery statute by accepting hiring bonuses – up to $35,000 – from firms with cases before the court. Driver's license access reviewed
An effort has begun in the Texas Legislature to make it easier for undocumented immigrants such as Vicente Fernandez of Dallas to obtain driver's licenses. Mr. Fernandez does not have a Social Security number – a Texas Department of Public Safety requirement for all driver's license applications. 04/08/2001 Legislators make case for system reform
State lawmakers are considering bills that would improve legal representation for poor people accused of crimes, but advocates for reform caution that the measures are not an overhaul of a system that has sometimes been the laughingstock of the nation. House OKs right to vote on wine sale
Legislation that would give residents of Southlake and Westlake the right to decide whether wine sales should be allowed in stores has won state House approval and is now headed for the Senate. Sam Attlesey: Gutter ball already rolling in governor's race
AUSTIN – Smear campaigns. Private eyes. An anonymous threatening letter. Gay bashing and questions about group sex. Oh, boy. The 2002 governor's race is off and running and in the gutter from the get-go. Bills would control video in nursing homes
Thor Hallen suspected his mother was being abused in an Austin nursing home but couldn't prove it. So he hid a camcorder in Maurine Hallen's room and caught staffers on tape throwing the 88-year-old woman into a chair and cursing at her. Using video cameras – visible or hidden – is not prohibited by Texas law, but some nursing homes routinely prohibit them in their admissions contract or discharge residents caught using them. 04/06/2001 Perry hopes Senate reverses school bills
AUSTIN – Beaten by the House, Gov. Rick Perry looked Thursday to the Republican-dominated Senate to stop efforts to change education initiatives that George W. Bush passed as governor. Mr. Perry expressed disappointment at House votes this week to put a moratorium on new charter schools and to delay the program to end automatic promotions of students in Texas schools. Both had been key elements of Mr. Bush's education agenda as governor. Senate votes to let state restaff low-rated schools
AUSTIN – Poor-performing schools in Texas could be required by the state to replace their principal and teachers under legislation that the Senate passed Thursday to force improvements at those schools. Capitol Gallery: Desk mates' friendship may require rearranging
AUSTIN – Loyalty and lobbyists are at the heart of a skirmish that erupted Thursday. And most of it has to do with being desk mates. Bill giving convicts access to DNA testing becomes law
AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday signed a law giving convicts access to state-paid DNA testing that could exonerate them. Texans ask Bush for Medicaid help
WASHINGTON – Faced with surging state spending on Medicaid, Texas legislative leaders appealed to President Bush on Thursday for more federal funds and greater flexibility to run the program as they see fit. 04/05/2001 Taxpayers challenge state's school finance law
DALLAS – Four taxpayers filed suit today to challenge the constitutionality of the state's school finance law known as "Robin Hood,'' in which property-rich districts send part of their tax revenue to the state for redistribution to poorer districts. The lawsuit, filed in state district court in Dallas, seeks to prevent Dallas and Highland Park independent school districts from collecting the taxes. Senator offers two versions of life without parole bill
AUSTIN – Sen. Eddie Lucio wants to let juries decide whether a defendant should be sentenced to life without parole so badly that he has drafted two versions of the bill to get it passed out of committee. House tackles budget, schools
AUSTIN – An emergency appropriations bill that would cover $718 million in cost overruns in the prison and Medicaid programs was tentatively approved Wednesday by the House. Bid to protect Cowboys in fax lawsuits defeated
AUSTIN – The Texas House handed the Dallas Cowboys a defeat off the field Wednesday, overwhelmingly rejecting a measure to shield the football team and some other businesses from potentially costly class-action lawsuits. Bill requires officers to gather racial data
AUSTIN – Police throughout Texas will have to report the race and ethnicity of the people they pull over and search under a racial profiling bill that the Senate passed Wednesday. 04/04/2001 Senate approves bill to increase commission membership from three to five
AUSTIN – Texas' Transportation Commission would grow from three to five members, and two members would have to be from rural areas under legislation that is headed to a House committee. Charter school bill set for floor debate
AUSTIN – No new charter schools would be approved for two years under a House bill authored by Rep. Jim Dunnam and co-authored by 79 representatives. House to hear emergency appropriations bill
AUSTIN – An emergency appropriations bill that would cover $708 million in cost overruns in the prison and Medicaid programs is expected to gain approval in the House. Cases dismissed in drug bust targeted for racial abuses
Prosecutors in South Central Texas have dismissed 17 drug cases filed by a narcotics task force that was accused of targeting suspects because of their race. Perry ready to sign bill granting inmates easier access to DNA tests
AUSTIN – It would become easier for inmates to get DNA testing needed to challenge convictions under a bill the House passed Tuesday and sent to Gov. Rick Perry for his signature. Lawmakers oppose Bush school plan
AUSTIN – Rejecting arguments from President Bush and Gov. Rick Perry's administration, the chairman of a key House committee voiced support Tuesday for a bill that would delay Mr. Bush's program to curtail automatic promotions in Texas schools. Slot supporters seek regulation
Video slot advocates said Tuesday that their divided industry is working on a compromise bill to regulate the fast-spreading betting machines – and remove them from the purview of law enforcement officials who have declared them illegal. Capitol Gallery: A House divided, yet still unanimous
AUSTIN – The House this week had a rare moment: a unanimous vote that was both contentious and partisan. Rep. Will Hartnett, R-Dallas, introduced an amendment to a bill about marriage and community property. And true to the topic, the acrimony began. Bill would shield Cowboys, Mavs
AUSTIN – A little-noticed provision attached to a House bill up for debate Wednesday would shield the Dallas Cowboys, Mavericks and other sports franchises and businesses from class-action lawsuits accusing them of violating state telemarketing laws. 04/03/2001 State takes over 14 nursing homes
AUSTIN – As many as 14 nursing homes, including two in Dallas, may be forced to close because of financial problems, the head of the state department of human services told lawmakers Monday. Under the dome Admissions bill clears Senate
AUSTIN – Brushing aside arguments that it might prevent some minority students from going to college, the Senate tentatively approved a bill Monday toughening the requirements for automatic admission to a state university. Budget plan is forwarded to full House
AUSTIN – A House committee passed a $109.7 billion proposed state budget Monday, setting the stage for full House consideration and the conference committee that will ultimately craft the two-year spending plan. 04/02/2001 Senate approves bill aimed at increasing tech graduates
AUSTIN – The Senate on Monday approved a bill backed by Gov. Rick Perry to boost the number of engineering and computer science graduates in Texas. 04/01/2001 Science's verdict on medical marijuana still out
Texas is considering allowing people to smoke pot under doctor's orders, but the science behind medical marijuana remains full of weeds. Advocates say it might ease the relentless nausea of chemotherapy, the wasting syndromes of the chronically ill or excruciating pain. Or it might have little use beyond illegal recreation. |
