Texas budget

The White House is expected to unveil a budget proposal that will, reportedly, aim to eliminate Head Start. The federally-funded program is designed to promote school readiness among young children from low-income families and serves more than 65,000 kids across Texas.

After hours of debate — and years of pushing from Gov. Greg Abbott — the Texas House gave initial approval to a bill to create an Education Savings Account plan. The school voucher program would allow parents to use public funds towards private school costs.

The measles outbreak in West Texas didn't happen just by chance. Health officials say the easily preventable disease has ripped through communities sprawling across more than 20 Texas counties in part because health departments were starved of the funding needed to run vaccine programs.

With cuts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Texas and other states will have to spend more on public health. The biggest expense of a measles outbreak is the public health response in shutting down the outbreak.

Some Texas legislators may be done questioning the merits of education savings accounts as it moves to a vote in the State House, but voters aren't. Model programs in other states are showing rural voters could stand to lose the most, and they're preparing to do the math on election day.

A Texas start-up says for districts still unable to put the legally mandated armed guard in every school, its drones could be an option.

Matthew McConaughey, who has spent more than three decades as an actor, told the Texas Senate Finance Committee on Monday that one of his only regrets is not making more films in Texas.

This legislative session, creating Education Savings Accounts — which would let parents use public funds towards private education costs — is a top priority for many Texas Republicans. But the voucher plan has also caused contentious clashes between some rural voters and the lawmakers who represent them.

Next step will be action in the state House, where budget writers have different plans for distributing property tax help.