Texas Lawmakers Differ on Dipping into Rainy Day Fund

The economic forecasts are prompting some lawmakers to call for dipping into the state’s so-called rainy day fund. And there are plenty of suggestions for where to spend the money. The fund, based on robust oil and gas income, contains $6.7 billion and is expected to grow to $9.1 billion by 2011 if left untapped. About $3 billion is constitutionally dedicated to pay for property tax cuts approved in 2007. More

TRCC Needs to Stay to Regulate Builders

There have been numerous stories in the newspapers and on television discussing the potential abolishment of the Texas Residential Con-struction Commission. There have been numerous editorial opinions for and against the TRCC. It would be a travesty to the consumers and homebuilders of Texas for the TRCC to be abolished. More

Republicans’ Move to Avoid Texas Senate Rule Upsets Chamber’s Dynamic

Senate GOP leaders may not have an answer to that question until the end of the legislative session, but it's clear their raw exercise of power this week to ensure passage of a new voter ID law – an issue close to the hearts of Republicans – has upset the dynamics in the usually staid chamber. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and other Republican leaders predicted that cooperation between the two parties would be quickly restored. But Democrats said their scars will probably stretch even into the 2011 session, when another politically charged issue comes into play: redrawing of House and Senate districts. More

Arlington-Based Wall Homes Files for Bankruptcy

Arlington-based Wall Homes Inc. recently hosted an episode of TV's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, featuring a house built in a week for a needy family. Now the homebuilder is getting ready to give itself a makeover after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Saturday. The company, which filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, said it will continue to build and sell houses as it negotiates with its lenders and other creditors. More

Hutchinson Not Planning to Vacate Senate Seat Soon

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, is unlikely to leave the Senate this spring after coming under tremendous pressure from Senate Republican leaders not to resign to pursue a bid for governor - and give Democrats an opening for a 60-vote majority. "If I step down, it would be in late 2009, if at all," Hutchison said in a quotation relayed by Todd Olsen, a spokesman for her gubernatorial exploratory committee. More

Top Texas Lawmakers Concerned About Prospect of Spending Cuts

The state’s top three leaders, meeting for the first time since the start of the 2009 Legislature, warned Tuesday that lawmakers may be facing spending cuts as they try to fund state services with $9.1 billion less than they had two years ago. Gov. Rick Perry said a somber financial report issued Monday by State Comptroller Susan Combs was a "wake-up call" for legislators to hold the line and possibly reduce spending as they shape a state budget to fund programs for the next two years. More

Damage from Ike Threatens Galveston Seawall

For a century, this vulnerable barrier island’s famed Seawall has protected, comforted, enabled and endured. But the hopelessly romantic notion that the Seawall could stand tall forever, holding back storm surges while preserving Galveston as a place apart, disappeared with Hurricane Ike. The September storm threatened the wall by exposing the wooden pilings that support its older sections, state and local officials said. Ike left so little sand to shield the Seawall’s base that the underpinnings could corrode or wash away, causing the 17-foot-high concrete structure to collapse. More

Green Construction Catching On in the Valley

Although it's taken time for so-called "green" construction and renewable-energy projects to catch on in the Rio Grande Valley, a few companies and organizations have raced ahead of the pack. Whether designing buildings that minimize energy usage, teaching residents of Valley colonias to build wind turbines, or testing the feasibility of powering a grocery store with renewable energy, some groups are learning to think in new ways, local organizers said. More

Bush Commutes Sentences of Former Border Guards

In his final acts of clemency, President George W. Bush on Monday commuted the prison sentences of two former U.S. Border Patrol agents whose convictions for shooting a Mexican drug dealer ignited fierce debate about illegal immigration. Bush's decision to commute the sentences of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who tried to cover up the shooting, was welcomed by both Republican and Democratic members of Congress. They had long argued that the agents were merely doing their jobs, defending the American border against criminals. They also maintained that the more than 10-year prison sentences the pair was given were too harsh. More

DPS Seeks New Tips In Gov’s Mansion Fire Case

As construction and fundraising to repair the fire-damaged Texas Governor's Mansion continue, an investigation into who started the blaze more than half a year ago drags on with no arrest despite $50,000 in reward money. So the Texas Department of Public Safety, whose Texas Rangers are leading the arson investigation, is making another plea for members of the public to come forward with any useful tips. "We are continuing to pursue leads but there's been nothing fruitful thus far," DPS spokeswoman Tela Mange said in an interview about the mansion arson case this week. "It just takes one good piece of information to turn it around, and the question is when we're going to get that." More