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PAUL J. WEBER, Associated Press
New Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's plan to lower taxes in Texas and send hundreds more armed troopers to the Texas-Mexico border is within reach after Republicans muscled a $210 billion budget through the House early Wednesday.
A pre-dawn vote of 141-5 sent the spending blueprint to the Senate, where the biggest question might be whether the plan is far enough to the right for new Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a staunch tea party favorite.
Not that there isn't plenty for Republicans to like.
Social conservatives cut $3 million out of programs to prevent HIV and sexual transmitted diseases and piled that money into expanding abstinence education in schools. Abortion opponents — having already won restrictions that have plunged the number of Texas abortion facilities into single digits — tucked into the budget new bans that prohibit abortion providers from putting sex education materials in classrooms.
Democrats, outnumbered 2-to-1 in the House, angrily opposed both measures but left little mark on the GOP budget after 17 hours of debate, failing to divert spending elsewhere, particularly to schools.
SALADO, Texas (AP) —
An interstate in Central Texas has fully reopened after a deadly accident involving a tractor-trailer that slammed into a bridge beam in a construction zone.
The Texas Department of Transportation says all lanes of Interstate 35 at Salado (suh-LAY'-doh), about 40 miles north of Austin, were open Friday.
TxDOT spokesman David Glessner says engineers are inspecting damage to the highway bridge, which had been under construction.
The driver of pickup truck was killed and three other people were hurt when the oversized 18-wheeler hit and brought down a construction beam.
Glessner says three signs were posted leading up to the bridge indicating clearance of 13 feet, 6 inches. Investigators believe the truck or its cargo was too tall to pass under the bridge.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) —
Texas unemployment fell to 4.3 percent during February for the sixth straight month of declines, the Texas Workforce Commission reported Friday.
The February statewide jobless rate compares to 4.4 percent unemployment in January, according to the commission. The nationwide unemployment rate last month was 5.5 percent.
Texas had a net gain of 7,100 nonagricultural jobs in February, with 357,300 positions added during the year, commission figures show.
"Texas continues to be a model for economic growth and prosperity across the nation," Gov. Greg Abbott said. "I am working with the Legislature to ensure we pass legislation that lowers the tax burden on businesses, guarantees long-term funding for transportation, and provides economic development opportunities — including in higher education — to further diversify our economy."
The Midland area had the lowest unemployment rate statewide in February at 2.8 percent. The McAllen-Edinburg-Mission area recorded the highest jobless rate at 7.7 percent, according to the commission's monthly figures.
Private-sector employers added 9,700 jobs in Texas last month.
"We appreciate the investment that these companies have made in their local communities and we look forward to being a resource for them as they continue to grow in the Lone Star State," Commissioner Hope Andrade said.
EVA RUTH MORAVEC, Associated Press
The Texas Capitol will be abuzz with talk of gay marriage as three groups hold competing events both for and against same-sex rights.
Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore will headline a Monday afternoon rally sponsored by Conservative Republicans of Texas.
Staunchly opposed to gay marriage, Moore instructed Alabama's state probate judges to refuse to issue same-sex marriage licenses despite a federal court ruling that Alabama's same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional.
The group claims backing from 100-plus elected Texas officials. Also against gay marriage is the Coalition of African American Pastors, which will hold a Capitol news conference Monday.
Inside the Capitol, meanwhile, Equality Texas will mark Family Advocacy Day by lobbying lawmakers to support gay rights. Families also will share personal stories during an ice cream social.
EVA RUTH MORAVEC, Associated Press
They signed up to fight for their country, and the state of Texas promised to pay for their education.
For decades, veterans went to public universities and colleges under the Hazlewood Exemption, which kicks in after federal benefits under the G.I. Bill are exhausted. But the price tag has increased sevenfold since 2009, when legislators in Texas — which has the country's second-highest veteran population, 1.7 million — allowed the benefit to be passed on to veterans' children under a legacy provision.
"Everybody's heart was in the right place when we added all the other beneficiaries," said Republican Sen. Kel Seliger, chair of the Senate's higher education committee. But, he added, "it just got too high of a price tag."
Now, amid rising legacy costs and concern that a federal lawsuit over residency could push the benefit's annual figure to $2 billion, policymakers must carefully balance state politics and fiscal conservativism with commitments made to veterans during World War II.
Of the 10 states with the most veterans, only Illinois and Texas waive all tuition and fees for veterans who meet program requirements, according to a Texas Legislative Budget Board report. And Texas is the only state of the 10 to offer full tuition and fee waivers to children, the report said, a decision made in 2009 in tandem with expanding the benefit to include spouses of veterans who were injured, missing or killed in action.
About 39,000 Texas residents used the benefit last fiscal year, at a cost of $169 million, according to the Texas Legislative Budget Board. That's 576 percent more than before the legacy expansion, when only about 10,000 used the exemption at a cost of nearly $25 million.
Most of the cost of the program falls to the higher education institutions, other than $11.4 million from a new state fund that dispersed Hazlewood reimbursement money this fiscal year.
By JIM VERTUNO
When Texas officials launched a massive public high school steroids testing program over fears of rampant doping from the football fields to the tennis courts, they promised a model program for the rest of the country to follow.
But almost no one did. And after spending $10 million testing more than 63,000 students to catch just a handful of cheaters, Texas lawmakers appear likely to defund the program this summer. If they do, New Jersey and Illinois will have the only statewide high school steroids testing programs left.
Even those who pushed for the Texas program in 2007 now call it a colossal misfire, either a waste of money or too poorly designed to catch the drug users some insist are slipping through the cracks.
"I believe we made a huge mistake," said Don Hooton, who started the Taylor Hooton Foundation for steroid abuse education after his 17-year-old son's 2003 suicide was linked to the drug's use, and was one of the key advocates in creating the Texas program.
Hooton believes the low number of positive tests doesn't mean Texas athletes are clean, only that they're not getting caught because of inadequate testing and loopholes that allow them to cheat the process.
"Coaches, schools, and politicians have used the abysmal number of positive tests to prove there's no steroid problem," Hooton said. "What did we do here? We just lulled the public to sleep."
Texas wasn't the first state to test high schoolers. New Jersey and Florida were first and Illinois started about the same time as Texas. But the Lone Star State employed its typical bigger-is-better swagger by pumping in millions to sweep the state for cheaters. At the time, Texas had more than 780,000 public high school athletes, by far the most in the nation. A positive test would kick the star quarterback or point guard out of the lineup for at least 30 days.
WASHINGTON –
In remarks on the Senate floor today, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) reiterated the importance of addressing the scourge of human trafficking head-on. The Senate is in the process of debating Sen. Cornyn’s bipartisan Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act. Senator Cornyn published an op-ed on his bill on CNN.com yesterday. Excerpts from his remarks are below.
SAN ANTONIO --
Bob and weave snooze buttons. We've sprung forward, and with the loss of sleep, something needs to be punched.
We have the Germans to thank for the WWI-era time theory, and depending on your daylight saving opinion; thanks may also be due to Texas lawmakers wanting to take the spring out of "springing forward."
Under HB 150, Rep. Dan Flynn, R-Canton, proposes Texas join Hawaii and Arizona and let the sun forever set on the energy-saving practice. The bill is scheduled of a public hearing this Wednesday.
In another proposal, Rep. James White, R-Woodville, calls for a studious approach. HB 363 would create the Texas Task Force on Daylight Saving Time to "conduct a study and develop recommendations on the efficacy of the continuation of daylight saving time in this state."
Only well-lit time will tell if the efforts pass before the end of the regular session June 1, and until then, stay alert.
Studies show that the lost hour of sleep can lead to cluster headaches, an increase in suicides as well as both traffic and workplace accidents.
Daylight saving time ends Nov. 1.
COPPELL, Texas (AP) —
Retail gasoline prices across Texas have risen 8 cents this week to reach an average $2.25 per gallon.
HOUSTON (AP) --
Police are searching for a Houston-area gunman they believe is responsible for a series of random shootings this month that left a man dead and three injured.
In each instance, the suspect drove a dark-colored Jeep Cherokee and fired at men along city streets in Houston and the nearby suburb of Missouri City, according to investigators.
Pak Ho, 34, suffered multiple gunshots Feb. 17 and died at a hospital, police said. Hours later, two other men were shot and wounded at separate locations. Another person fled Feb. 17 when the gunman's weapon jammed, and days later, police said, yet another man suffered two gunshot wounds.
Investigators are reluctant to identify the gunman as a serial shooter, but Houston police Sgt. Tommy Ruland said at a news conference this week that "it's very likely these five cases are related."
Investigators were told by victims that the gunman did not say anything before firing or offer any warnings. He either fired from his SUV or stepped outside the vehicle to shoot.
Missouri City Detective Andy Robb said Thursday the suspect appeared to be targeting people walking alone who he could surprise. "It's more a case of opportunity," Robb said.
Missouri City police have added additional patrols, Robb said, and investigators are trying to determine what he may do next. He urged people to "be observant of your surroundings" and to travel in pairs whenever possible.
Houston Crime Stoppers is offering a $5,000 reward in the case.
