When Bill White criticized Rick Perry in June for “working part time” after his schedule for the first six months of 2010 showed an average of seven hours of state business per week, Perry responded that he doesn’t write down much of his work for the state. By contrast, Perry’s counterparts in California, New York and Florida do write down what they do, and they make their schedules readily available to the public.
Public Information Act
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: IBM Fires Back
An IBM official has penned a strongly-worded reply to the state’s claims that the IT powerhouse has failed to meet its contractual obligations.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Seeking a “Smarter” Contract?
The Department of Information Resources appears to be giving up on IBM — once and for all.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: No “Terror Baby” Records
State Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Houston, says “former FBI officials” are the sources of her information about a terror baby plot. When the Tribune asked her office for records of any such conversations, her chief of staff said they don’t exist.
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Criminal Justice
Data App: Personal Finance
Politicians, candidates and other state officers are required to disclose their personal finances, to discourage conflicts of interest and, according to the law, “strengthen the faith and confidence of the people of this state in state government.” Yet getting these documents isn’t easy, so we’ve put all 3,070 available online.
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On the Records: How Public Servants Make Their Money
The Texas Ethics Commission recently released more than 3,000 personal financial statements — documents that detail state officials’ financial interests and liabilities. Read, download or embed them with our new application.
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Last Call
Tonight is the legally imposed reporting deadline for the next round of campaign finance reports, which is big deal for two reasons: Candidates want to show momentum and credibility at mid-year, and they love having an excuse to ask supporters to pony up before the clock strikes midnight. Hurry, hurry, hurry!
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Criminal Justice
Health Hacker?
The FBI is investigating whether a hacker broke into the state’s confidential cancer database, possibly accessing personal information and medical records. Health and Human Services Commissioner Tom Suehs says state health officials notified his office in early May that a hacker was holding the Texas Cancer Registry hostage and demanding a ransom. Suehs says preliminary investigation results from the FBI indicate the threat may be a hoax but that if private records were compromised, health officials will quickly notify the people listed in the registry.
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On the Records: Mapping U.S. Growth by County
See how Texas’ fastest-growing areas compare with the 3,000 other counties across the country.
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Criminal Justice
Data App: Texas Population Estimates
Texas now has about 24.8 million residents, an increase of 3.9 million, or almost 20 percent, since 2000, and trails only California in the proportion of its residents who identify themselves as Hispanic. We’re also the third-youngest state, with a median age of 33; only Utah and Alabama have younger populations. These and other fun facts can be discovered in a new database application that helps explain and visualize how the makeup of Texas counties has changed since the last U.S. Census.