Texas news

• Amid blowback over accounting maneuver, TxDOT drops financing idea for several toll projects

  16-11-2017 23:57 via texastribune.org
  State transportation leaders said late Thursday they will drop plans for using an accounting maneuver to get around a constitutional prohibition on some toll projects.
  That vow came after The Texas Tribune reported earlier in the day that the Texas Department of Transportation was eyeing tax dollars prohibited from funding toll lanes to cover other constructions of highway rebuilds and expansions that would also feature toll lanes.
  Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told state trans
  
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• Abbott, Patrick push back on TxDOT's plans for financing new toll projects

  16-11-2017 23:57 via texastribune.org
  Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told state transportation leaders Thursday they should abandon plans for using an accounting maneuver to get around a constitutional prohibition on some toll projects. Patrick said the idea has left lawmakers "very unhappy" with Texas Transportation Commission members, who appear "to be going in a direction that opposes the will" of legislators and Texas drivers. 
  Comments from Abbott and Patrick came hours after The Texas Tribune reported tha
  
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• State gives Alternatives to Abortion program $20 million more in funding

  16-11-2017 23:42 via texastribune.org
  The Texas Legislature's budget for the next two years includes $20 million more in funding for a controversial program that seeks to discourage women from getting abortions in the state.
  Alternatives to Abortion uses contracted providers to offer services such as financial counseling and support groups for new parents, as well as children's items such as car seats and infant formula. The extra money puts the program's total operating budget at over $38 million, the highest it's been si
  
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• Texas leaders call for training on sexual harassment — but can't require it for lawmakers

  16-11-2017 23:38 via texastribune.org
  Top Texas lawmakers have called for reviews of sexual harassment policies at the state Capitol following reports detailing how current procedures offered little protection for victims. Proposed solutions have included better training aimed at preventing harassment and informing victims of their rights.
  But legislative leaders will likely face a roadblock if they want to force lawmakers into any sort of anti-harassment training: They can’t require it of individual legislators
  
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• University of Houston regents vote to create a medical school

  16-11-2017 23:13 via texastribune.org
  Suggesting it has found a way to address state leaders' worries that Texas is building too many medical schools, the University of Houston System moved Thursday to create a college of medicine for its flagship campus. 
  The decision is the biggest step yet toward a longtime dream for the university. A new medical school would probably grow UH's research expenditures and heighten its reputation as a well-rounded, rising university. But before it starts admitting students and granting degrees,
  
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• FPH Picks of the Week: Mix It Up

  16-11-2017 21:13
  Let us get you set up with our list of the best events of the week, including a performance by English electronic rockers alt-J at White Oak Music Hall, the impressive Come & Take It Comedy Takeover at The Secret Group, and the week-long HUE Mural Festival, which will transform walls across the city. Ongoing Come & Take It Comedy Takeover at The Secret Group As the city’s premier...
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• Texas delegation offers party-line vote as U.S. House passes GOP tax overhaul

  16-11-2017 20:31 via texastribune.org
  WASHINGTON – The U.S. House chamber erupted with cheers on Thursday afternoon as Republicans took their first major step to drastically change the country's tax code. 
  The measure, which will lower the corporate tax rate and curtail some popular deductions, passed the chamber in a 227-205 vote.
  If the GOP succeeds here, it will mark a career capstone for U.S. House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady, a Republican from The Woodlands who is overseeing the effort on the House side.
  
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• From Nerdcore to Sportscore: Guilla Raises a Racquet on Next Album

  16-11-2017 18:21
  Guilla, one of Houston’s longtime hip-hop artists, refuses to be put in a box. He likes what he likes, and lets his diverse interests inform his music in a way that makes classification difficult. Among just a few of his interests: astronomy, anime, science fiction, video games — subjects that have gotten him pegged as a “nerdcore” rapper. But Guilla, who works as a tennis coach and has played the...
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• Democratic megadonor, Houston trial lawyer Steve Mostyn has died

  16-11-2017 17:57 via texastribune.org
  Steve Mostyn, a top Democratic donor and prominent Houston trial lawyer, has died. He was 46.
  According to a statement released by his wife, Amber, Mostyn died Wednesday after "a sudden onset and battle with a mental health issue." She did not disclose the cause of death.
  "Steve was a beloved husband and devoted father who adored his children and never missed any of their sporting activities. He was a true friend, and a faithful fighter for those who did not have a voice," she said.
  The sta
  
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• House Representatives Lining Up To Replace House Speaker Joe Straus

  16-11-2017 17:54
  Despite the lunacy and political infighting that took place during this year’s legislative session, Texas House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, kept a sense of order and dignity within the House of Representatives. He went against his own party and led a bipartisan effort to oppose bills he saw as harmful to the citizens of Texas. Straus even went against Gov. Greg Abbott and Lieutenant Gov.
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• After Sutherland Springs shooting, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn files bill on background checks

  16-11-2017 17:08 via texastribune.org
  U.S. Sen. John Cornyn announced the release of bipartisan legislation Thursday aimed at strengthening the federal background check database following the recent mass shooting in Sutherland Springs.
  The Texas Republican’s bill, known as the Fix NICS Act, tries to ensure federal and state authorities accurately report relevant information, including criminal history, to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
  “For years agencies and states haven’t complied with the
  
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• Christian TV producer Bruce Jacobson announces run against Sen. Ted Cruz

  16-11-2017 15:26 via texastribune.org
  Bruce Jacobson, a Christian TV executive from North Richland Hills, announced Thursday that he is challenging Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in 2018.
  In a video, Jacobson said he's "ready to serve my state with humility" — and took some thinly veiled shots at Cruz, who was first elected to the Senate in 2012 and unsuccessfully ran for president in 2016.
  “Most politicians today are far more interested in serving themselves and their own agendas rather than serving the people who elected them
  
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• The Brief: Turbulence over Texas tollways

  16-11-2017 13:30 via us3.campaign-archive.com
  Is it constitutional for the state’s transportation agency to use an accounting trick to add toll lanes to Texas highways — even though the state’s voters already decided against funneling more money toward toll lanes?
  
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• TxDOT eyeing accounting trick to get around toll road prohibition

  16-11-2017 07:01 via texastribune.org
  Toll lanes were supposed to stop popping up alongside Texas highways. At least, that’s what voters who approved billions of dollars for new state transportation projects thought.
  Yet the Texas Department of Transportation’s latest plans to unclog congestion in the state’s largest urban areas call for building a bevy of managed toll lanes as the agency rebuilds and adds new lanes to existing highways. 
  “It’s a mess,” said State Rep. Joe Pickett,
  
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• Cities race to annex land before new Texas law goes into effect Dec. 1

  16-11-2017 07:01 via texastribune.org
  DALLAS COUNTY — On a recent afternoon, Michelle Singleton played with her dogs behind her house. The pets' barks and the chirps of crickets were the only sounds on the 15-acre property, which Singleton and her husband, Stan, bought more than 30 years ago. There, outside the North Texas city of Mesquite, they have hosted bonfires, hunted doves and watched their three children grow up.
  But now, Mesquite plans to annex their land, and the Singletons are afraid it will ruin thei
  
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• In Austin, Pence makes pitch for "across the board" tax cuts

  16-11-2017 00:07 via texastribune.org
  Vice President Mike Pence pressed the White House's case for a major tax code overhaul by the end of the year during a speech Wednesday to Republican governors in Austin.
  "We're going to take a decisive step — before the end of this year ... to cut taxes across the board for working families and businesses," Pence said at the Republican Governors Association's annual meeting. "I know this room knows all about tax cuts because these Republican governors have been busy cutting taxes in recen
  
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