The move caps a yearslong effort to extend coverage. Medicaid covers half of all births in Texas.
Karen Brooks Harper
Karen Brooks Harper reported on the state budget and health and human services from 2020 to 2024. An alumna of the Missouri School of Journalism, Karen arrived in Texas in 1995 to join the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, spent several years in Laredo and Mexico covering immigration and the drug war for Knight-Ridder newspapers, and has covered Texas politics for more than two decades for news organizations including the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Dallas Morning News and Reuters.
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Health care
Eddie Bernice Johnson’s family says medical neglect led to former congresswoman’s death
The family of the recently retired congresswoman says Johnson contracted an infection at Baylor Scott & White’s rehabilitation facility that led to her death.
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Foster Care in Texas
Judge considers holding state in contempt a third time over foster care conditions
U.S. District Judge Janis Jack on Monday considers whether state’s foster care agency has made progress caring for most vulnerable children or should be held in contempt for the third time in an ongoing 2011 lawsuit.
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Health care
Texas attorney general sues Pfizer, claiming vaccines didn’t end pandemic quickly enough
Experts argue other assertions made in the lawsuit filing are completely unsubstantiated, such as one claiming that vaccinated people were more likely to die from COVID-19, which Texas health data disputes.
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Politics
Texas voters gave retired teachers raises and approved new infrastructure funds as most constitutional amendments passed
Voters approved a massive property tax cut and several other measures, but refused to raise the mandatory retirement age for judges.
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Foster Care in Texas
Sex trafficking, drugs and assault: Texas foster kids and caseworkers face chaos in rental houses and hotels
A report from Department of Family and Protective Services watchdogs paints a picture of a roughshod safety-net system that is unprepared to protect its youthful charges from predators and unable to keep them from endangering themselves.
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Public Education
Texas GOP lawmakers’ border and education wishlist would expand state budget by $2.7 billion — and counting
If bills now being considered pass, lawmakers will be left with $3.3 billion to take care of unforeseen costs over the next two years. Some experts worry that Texas can’t sustain its massive spending on the border and public education.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Sweeping ban on COVID-19 vaccine mandates by private employers heads to governor
The legislation, which Republican lawmakers have been trying to pass since 2021, offers no exceptions for doctors’ offices, clinics or other health facilities.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Texas House approves ban on COVID-19 vaccine mandates by private employers
Violations could bring a $50,000 fine under an amendment adopted Wednesday. The bill’s sponsor said the ban would be the strongest in the nation.
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Texas Legislature 2023
House, Senate bills at odds over power to boost future funding for Texas school voucher program
The Senate’s Republican bill would let state leaders grow the program by taking money from other agencies without the Legislature’s approval. The House bill would bar the practice.