Patricia Hart -- DUPE
Stories
It was a new era at the Capitol, with a new Speaker and a new mood of peace, love, and bipartisanship in the war-torn House. But the eighty-first legislative session turned out to be a lot like the eighty that came before it—some heroes, some villains, and enough hot air to last until 2011.
The eightieth session began with a Speaker’s race, ended with a Speaker’s race, and was consumed in between by the usual mix of nuanced issues and nasty politics. Along the way, a handful of lawmakers put the common good ahead of all else. And a handful of lawmakers didn’t.
Was Aaron Peña’s defection to the Republican party a quixotic move that will cost him his political career or the start of a bad trend for Democrats?
As we head into the most critical legislative session in decades—maybe ever—the question is not just, Who are the people with the most clout at the Capitol? It’s also, What do they want?
Ah, redistricting—that partisan, vengeful, hazardous battle for domination the Legislature fights every decade. Here we go again.
How cuts to the budget of our mental health care system have created a nightmare for police officers in Houston—and everywhere else.
Why does our health insurance system treat a small part of the Rio Grande Valley differently from the rest of the state?
A unique confluence of medicine, money, and politics is driving health care costs in the Rio Grande Valley. At the center of it all is a Democrat from Palmview, who is already under indictment for unreported income.
There is no more important job than reshaping the military to confront a dark and dangerous future—and Pete Geren is reporting for duty.
In 2006 Texas schools still can’t teach English to Spanish-speaking students. Here’s what we should do about that—now.
A pernicious staph infection is targeting athletes young and old—and igniting a debate over the hazards of artificial turf.
The most powerful Texas congressman you’ve never heard of. And a partisan hack. And a bipartisan pragmatist.