WEEKLY REPORT
December 23, 2011
BLOG: Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison decries nine “accounting tricks” that hide government spending
Winston Churchill once said, “The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is.”
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Tea partyers not keen about GOP presidential field, fear loss of passion in next election
Just a year ago, tea party activists came roaring out of the congressional elections eager to shape the looming race for the White House.
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Speed limits going up on area highways
Signs with an unfamiliar message “speed limit 75” have been showing up on major Central Texas roads this fall, the result of a change in state law earlier in the year. And limits on Interstate 35 through Austin, now 55 mph to 70 mph, likewise will be inching up 5 to 10 mph in many sections during the next week or so.
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Two Central Texas health care giants teaming up in new federal program for Medicare patients
Two of the largest health care providers in Central Texas are teaming up as part of a new federal program aimed at keeping Medicare patients healthier and less likely to be hospitalized.
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Texas may have lost 10% of its trees
The current Texas drought has killed as many as 500 million trees 10 percent of the state’s forest cover and the end is not in sight, according to the Texas Forest Service. Some of the hardest-hit areas are in Central Texas.
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Texas faces critical shortage of primary-care providers
If you have a primary-care provider, you are one of the lucky ones. If you are looking for one, good luck. They are becoming harder to find because Texas has a severe shortage of primary-care providers, and the problem will only get worse unless the state does something to remedy the situation.
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Texas’ Move to Managed Care Comes With Strings Attached
The federal government has granted Texas permission to move almost all of its Medicaid patients into managed care in an effort to save money. But as Carrie Feibel of KUHF News reports, hospitals will now have to do more to show how they spend — and prove they deserve — state money.
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Navigating the Texas School Finance Lawsuits
One consequence of the $5.4 billion cut to Texas public schools is already known: By the end of the year, there will likely be four school finance lawsuits filed against the state.
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Heavy turnover likely at State Board of Education
Even before the first vote is cast, it’s clear that the State Board of Education will look much different in 2013 than it does today.
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BLOG: Straus mulled bringing consultant Johnson into key role, while quest for Lege’s budge staff boss narrows to 2
Texas House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, has considered tapping his political consultant Gordon R. Johnson to be his next chief of staff or play some other leading role in his office, though no final decision’s been made, according to two people with knowledge of the situation.
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Eagle Ford Drilling Rush May Boost Texas Tax Revenue 15-Fold
While the Eagle Ford shale boom in Texas isn’t the first that Daryl Fowler has seen, the DeWitt County judge is working to ensure that his community will be left with new roads and housing when the oil and gas are gone.
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Texas is tops in population growth
Texas has once again topped the national growth chart, adding 529,000 people since the 2010 Census, though its rate of growth has slowed slightly.
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New rules needed for large private water companies
A growing number of Texans, especially suburban and rural Texans, get their water and sewer service not from municipal utilities but from large, investor-owned multistate corporations. In recent years, these private water companies, attracted by profits to be made in drought-prone Texas and by a friendly regulatory environment, have bought up scores of the smaller, locally owned water companies that historically have served customers outside cities.
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Texas Tree Ring Study Warns of Long Droughts
A new study of tree rings adds to evidence that Texas has experienced at least one 10-year drought every 100 years, as well as several “mega-droughts” lasting 15 to 30 years over the centuries.
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Fewest layoffs since ’08 as economy shows signs of improvement
The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to its lowest level since April 2008, the government said. The report suggested that layoffs are slowing further and that employers may be ready to hire more aggressively in the new year.
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63 school districts file 4th suit against Texas
A coalition of school districts that educate more than 1.5 million Texas children filed a fourth lawsuit against the state Thursday over school funding, alleging that the current system doesn’t provide schools enough money and distributes it unfairly.
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Largest school finance lawsuit in Texas takes shape
Texas’ largest school districts — including Austin, Houston and Dallas — joined the fight Thursday when they and 60 other districts, including Round Rock, filed a lawsuit that claims the method for funding Texas public schools is unconstitutional. It is the fourth such legal challenge filed against the state in recent months.
(View complete article here.)
Texas Electric Grid Faces Uncertainty in 2012
The state’s electric grid operators are coming off of a tumultuous year, one they are not eager to repeat. In February, a deep freeze knocked numerous power plants out of commission as equipment broke, causing rolling blackouts across the state. Then, the hottest summer on record spurred repeated conservation warnings, as grid managers worked — successfully — to avoid more blackouts.
(View complete article here.)
Interactive: Mental Health Workforces Shortage More Critical in Minority Communities
Texas is already short on mental health professionals, including psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed counselors, nurses and social workers. But another issue compounds the problem: a disparity in diagnosing and treating the state’s rapidly growing minority communities.
(View complete article here.)
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