Texas Legislature

By Editorial Board, Austin American-Statesman Originally posted Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013 Asked if she recalls voting on bills that would keep Texas taxpayers from knowing how much is spent on legislative pensions, State Rep. Donna Howard replied that she doesn’t. Howard, an Austin Democrat who took office in 2006, wryly noted that the legislation to deprive voters of such information wouldn’t have been announced in big, bold letters well in advance of adoption. But thanks to the American-Statesman’s Mike Ward we know about it now. The lack of information surfaced in a court ruling rendered by Travis County State District Judge [...]

By Laylan Copelin American-Statesman Staff Originally published Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013 There is always bit of a lynch mob mentality when Texas lawmakers go after a Capitol scandal. So it was last week for the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, the small state agency created to manage a $3 billion, 10-year effort to fund scientists and organizations looking for cures and treatments for various cancers. Lawmakers had “invited” two of three former executives for the agency — which is commonly known as CPRIT — to testify at a legislative hearing. But then prosecutors reminded them of a state law [...]

By Kelley Shannon Austin Bureau, Dallas Morning News [email protected] Originally published 08 February 2013 AUSTIN — Dozens of new lawmakers, voter frustration with government and conflict-of-interest questions at a cancer-fighting agency could make conditions ripe for changes in Texas ethics laws this year. Ethics watchdogs and legislators who want to limit lobbying by former lawmakers and expand financial disclosures for public officials acknowledge it won’t be easy, but they hope conditions have changed enough that lawmakers will be willing to crack down on themselves and other state officials. “The biggest obstacle is going to be legislators’ fear of people knowing too [...]