Opinion

House lawmakers defy Abbott on vouchers
A key House education committee adjourned last week without voting on a school voucher bill that is Gov. Greg Abbott’s top priority this session, the Houston Chronicle reported. Barring some unforeseen maneuver in the last week of the regular legislative session, the bill is effectively dead for now.

Fort Hood renamed after Korean, Vietnam war hero
It’s official. Fort Hood, named for a high-ranking Confederate officer in the Civil War, has been renamed Fort Cavazos, in honor of native Texan Richard E. Cavazos, the country’s first Hispanic four-star general.

AUSTIN, TX — In response to the recurring tragedies of mass shootings in Texas, League of Women Voters of Texas President Joyce LeBombard issued the following statement:

Clock ticking on moving bills

The clock is ticking on getting bills out of the House and to the Texas Senate, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick warned last week in a story in the Austin American-Statesman. Patrick presides over the Senate and is worried many bills that have made it out of House committees but have not gone before the full chamber will not be considered before the session ends.

Senate, House begin budget reconciliation process
The Texas Senate unanimously approved a $308 billion two-year budget last week, the Austin American-Statesman reported. The next step is to reconcile that budget with one passed earlier by the Texas House.
The Senate’s budget funds $10 billion in electric grid reforms, provides pay raises to state employees, and devotes more than half of its budget to funding education.

House OKs $302 billion budget 

Texas leads nation in jobs added

The Lone Star State continues to lead the nation in jobs added with 58,200 new positions in February, bringing the state to nearly 14 million total nonfarm jobs, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. February also marked two full years of uninterrupted job growth in the state.

Rupert Murdoch: “It is not red or blue, it is green.”