HillCo Partners dropped its lawsuit against Brandon Aghamalian and Snapper Carr this afternoon — the surprise result of a hearing scheduled today to address HillCo’s request for a temporary restraining order.
Austin
Posted in
State Government
Sunset Finishes Workers’ Comp Fixes
State lawmakers on the Sunset Advisory Commission make final remarks after the panel unanimously approves changes to the Division of Workers’ Compensation’s medical quality review process.
Posted in
State Government
After Sunset
Sunset Advisory Commissioners unanimously approved a series of changes to the troubled Division of Workers’ Compensation at the Texas Department of Insurance on Tuesday, but not before aggressively rewriting the Sunset staff’s original recommendations to improve the division’s medical quality review process.
Posted inState Government
TribBlog: Focused Advocacy Responds
The defendants in the HillCo lawsuit filed their answer in court today, denying all charges against them and calling them “meritless.”
Posted in
Energy
TribBlog: Uribe’s Glamour Shot
“I don’t know whether to be flattered or to be creeped out.”
Posted in
State Government
The Lobby Wars
HillCo’s lawsuit against two of its departing partners is threatening business as usual in the insular world of the Texas lobby, raising the specter of open combat in an industry that prefers to settle its fights behind closed doors. But as its allegations make plain, HillCo believes that two rogue employees are the ones who crossed the line, turning competition for clients into espionage and biting down hard on the hand that fed them.
Posted in
State Government
TribBlog: Capitol Reopened After Bomb Threat
The Texas Capitol has been evacuated because of an early morning bomb threat. A spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Public Safety says someone called 9-1-1 and said there is a bomb in the building. Everyone inside was ordered out and people showing up for work this morning are being turned away for now.
Posted inState Government
Perry: I Work 24/7
In the face of criticism from his opponent, Gov. Rick Perry said he works 24/7 — despite his official schedule showing he worked about seven hours a week in the first half of this year.
Posted in
Energy
Air Splitting
The battle over Texas’ environmental regulations came to a head as the Environmental Protection Agency shot down the state’s air-pollution permitting regime for large plants. It’s the latest episode in a larger cultural and political fracas pitting Texas against Washington — and business against government — that continues to take center stage in the race for governor.
Posted in
State Government
Sunset Grill
Physician fraud investigators inside the troubled Division of Workers’ Compensation say state examiners failed to uncover serious problems there — and then recommended changes that would take key decisions away from trained physicians and give them to bureaucrats.