Thursday, July 30, 2015

To Build Student Housing, A&M Looks to the Private Sector

To address a growing student body and a hot rental market, Texas A&M University is working to add enough apartments near its College Station campus to house more than 3,400 students.

But the housing won't be built by the school; A&M is instead looking to the private sector to manage the project on university land. A&M officials say that arrangement, one of many private-public partnerships pursued by the school in recent years, will reduce the university's risk and bring in as much as $600 million in revenue over the next 30 years. 

Making that work will require some financial wrangling, however. The buildings will be owned for the first 30 years by the nonprofit NCCD-College Station, a new entity formed by a group devoted to helping governments partner with private companies to build infrastructure. And the apartments, known as Park West, will be developed and managed by the Irving-based Servitas, LLC

The project will cost about $360 million to build and develop, school officials said, but as a nonprofit NCCD-College Station doesn't have access to capital markets. So bonds to pay for the construction will be issued by the New Hope Cultural Educational Facilities Finance Corporation, a government group associated with the Collin County town of New Hope, population 614. 

“At Texas A&M we continue to find innovative ways to provide 21st century tools in order to meet 21st century needs," said A&M President Michael K. Young. "This project will generate revenue that we can invest into high performing faculty, research and teaching that allow our students to receive an elite education at an affordable price."

NCCD-College Station will pay A&M $18.5 million at the start of the lease. In addition, it will pay the university a portion of its future revenue. University officials estimated A&M's share to average $20 million each year over the next 30 years.

At the end of the 30-year term, ownership of the buildings will be transferred to A&M. 

The development will be built on 48 acres of pasture across the street from the south side of campus. Future plans call for retail development on adjacent land owned by the school, though nothing has been finalized. The apartments are expected to open before the 2017-18 school year. 

Renderings for the project show three large, multi-story apartment buildings surrounding a short avenue. There are three swimming pools, a large parking lot in the back and over a dozen townhomes on each side of the development. 

"At more than 3,400 beds, the scale of this development is like nothing else in College Station, or anywhere else in the U.S., in terms of new student housing," said Michael Short, chief operating officers of Servitas. 

The project furthers A&M's recent effort to look toward the private sector to make money from school services. Park West is the fifth private-public building project pursued by the A&M System in College Station in recent years. Officials estimate that all of those deals combined could bring in more than $900 million in revenue over the next few decades. 

And under Chancellor John Sharp, the university system has inked deals to outsource on-campus dining, building maintenance and landscaping. Those efforts generated some opposition at the time. Faculty and staff worried that employees in affected jobs would have their wages and benefits reduced. And many students were outraged when the university unveiled a plan to require them to buy on-campus meal plans soon after the dining services were outsourced. That plan was later pared back significantly.

School officials have also publicly explored requiring incoming freshmen to live on campus, but they said Thursday that nothing is in the works. 

A&M officials said those outsourcing projects have also generated millions of dollars in revenue. That can be done while keeping affordability for students in mind, they said. For instance, rent at the apartments will be below market rate, they said.  

"Every extra dollar we can generate or save is one less dollar from the students, their parents or Texas taxpayers," Sharp said in a press release.  

Disclosure: The Texas A&M University System and Texas A&M University are corporate sponsors of The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/30/build-student-housing-m-looks-private-sector/.

Tribcast: Planned Parenthood, Ken Paxton, Ted Cruz

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On this week's TribCast, Evan talks with Ross, Patrick and Morgan about the politics of the Planned Parenthood videos and this week's Senate Health and Human Service Committee hearing, the latest on Attorney General Ken Paxton and that Collin County grand jury, and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz's beef with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

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This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/29/tribcast/.

"Once again Andrea Grimes has eviscerated the Texas Legislature using indisputable facts, evidence and remarkable wit." - commenter

Posted by RH Reality Check on Thursday, July 30, 2015

Henry Ford was born July 30, 1863 on a farm in Springwells Township, Michigan, located nine miles outside of Detroit.Our doc, "Henry Ford" is streaming free!

Posted by American Experience on Thursday, July 30, 2015

Sign The Petition: Don't Defund Planned Parenthood!

Sign The Petition: Don't Defund Planned Parenthood!

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Planned Parenthood maintains they donate fetal tissue and any fees discussed are reimbursements for the costs associated with tissue donation.

Posted by KEYE CBS News, Austin on Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Your tax dollars could be paying for legal work attorneys didn’t do. A @BrianCollister Investigation, at 10.

Posted by KXAN Austin News on Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Paxton’s office declined to say what the video depicts, who shot it or when and how it acquired the footage, saying that information is part of an active investigation into Planned Parenthood’s practices.

Posted by Austin American-Statesman on Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Sunday, July 26, 2015

The startup, GivePulse, matches potential volunteers with non-profits and organizations across the city they live in.

Posted by The KVUE Insider on Sunday, July 26, 2015

The death of Sandra Bland and Donald Trump's Texas visit highlight this week's ITP with host Jason Whitley, Fort Worth...

Posted by Texas Tribune on Sunday, July 26, 2015

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

New in TribTalk: Don't let polluting industries and their allies in Austin and Washington undo the single greatest victory for clean water in over a decade, writes Sara E. Smith of Environment Texas.

Posted by Texas Tribune on Wednesday, July 22, 2015

(WATCH) Old People Dance to Watch Me Whip Watch Me Nae Nae | Nik The Web Chick on Q102

(WATCH) Old People Dance to Watch Me Whip Watch Me Nae Nae | Nik The Web Chick on Q102

Austinites could be moving faster and more often on the MetroRail system in the near future, thanks to money allocated in Capital Metro's preliminary budget for 2016.

Posted by The KVUE Insider on Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Girls in the Justice System Photos | Image #1 - ABC News http://t.co/bgqcV9bGQS

Posted by Dalea Lugo on Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Gun rights advocates scored major wins this year in the Texas Legislature, and some aren't stopping there. State Rep....

Posted by Texas Tribune on Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Guest post: I’m Wondering Why—The Rhetoric about Public Schools Doesn’t Add Up

Posted by ATPE on Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Today is more of the same from people who have spent a decade attacking abortion rights. Their agenda is to ban...

Posted by Cecile Richards on Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán's brazen escape last week from a maximum-security Mexican prison prompted anger from U.S....

Posted by Texas Tribune on Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Private Equity Firms Fishing in Texas Medical Waters

Doug Curran’s family medical practice in Athens, Texas — with a surrounding population of about 20,000 — employs 14 doctors who pride themselves on an intimate knowledge of their community. It’s the kind of practice where one doctor might treat three generations of a single family, and patients sometimes drop off a homemade pie at the office to say thanks. 

So it surprised Curran when he got a call earlier this year from a Florida-based company, United MSO of America, that wanted to explore an investment in the Lakeland Medical Associates practice — suggesting a “big numbers” price tag, Curran said.

The would-be investors said they could help the family medicine group save money by trying "new models of care" to pocket greater payments from insurers, said Curran, who declined to specify the dollar amounts discussed. “Our feeling was the only way you could get those numbers back out of our practice would be to do some things with our patients and to our patients that would not be appropriate,” he said.

Curran’s experience appears to be part of a trend in Texas. Sensing a new vein of potential profits to be mined in the multibillion-dollar health care industry, a small but growing number of private equity firms is seeking to buy into primary care practices, interviews with doctors and financial analysts suggest.

Policy shifts in the way public programs like Medicare pay for care, financial factors such as low interest rates and changing employment preferences among young doctors are aligning to intrigue investors, experts said.

Consolidation in health care is nothing new, and private equity firms have for years been buying up specialty practices in areas like anesthesiology and radiology. In 2014, the value of health care buyout deals in the United States increased to $15.6 billion, a 60 percent increase from the previous year, according to a recent report from consulting firm Bain and Company.

But the influx of private-equity firms chasing profits in Texas' primary care practices appears to be a recent phenomenon, and it’s unsettling some physicians in the fiercely independent Lone Star State — which has one of the highest rates of doctors practicing privately in the country, according to the Texas Medical Association. Representatives for several independent practices in Texas — who asked not to be identified for reasons of financial privacy — said investors have approached them aggressively, in some cases as often as twice per month.

Doctors like Curran worry that selling the family practice would cost them independence and could mean less personalized care or higher costs for their patients.

But investors say they aren't interested in micromanaging doctors' offices. Rather, they see an opportunity for cost-saving innovation as the health care economy changes from a fee-for-service payment system, which pays doctors for each service they provide, to a value-based care model, which rewards doctors for providing cost-effective treatments. The Obama administration has said it wants 50 percent of payments from Medicare, the federal health insurance program for the elderly, tied to value-based care by 2018.

"There’s been this enormous uptick in hedge funds and even bond funds as well as private equities not interested in acquiring physicians’ practices but having control over their patient base," said Derron DeRouin, chief operating officer at United MSO of America. "It's kind of an ideal model because it allows physicians to maintain their autonomy — keep their practice, essentially — but to be capitalized and grouped together to leverage these numbers and leverage these patients, primarily to the independent provider's advantage."

"There's been a lot of interest within the state of Texas," he said. "It's an obvious target."

But it's unclear whether the trend will prove profitable in the long term, experts said.

“It’s a mixed bag,” said Kim Ross, a health care consultant and former lobbyist for the Texas Medical Association. “If you go into a disciplined organization that’s got the right platforms and the right incentives and — most importantly — physician leadership, the savings are astronomical."

Private equity firms are “by definition less risk-averse, and it seems to me they’re placing a fairly substantial bet that all these cats can be herded,” Ross said.

There are benefits to consolidation, like improved efficiency and better data management, said state Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond, an anesthesiologist. His Greater Houston Anesthesiology practice merged in 2012 with U.S. Anesthesia Partners, backed by investment firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson and Stowe. The group now boasts more than 1,000 anesthesia providers and is better positioned to treat patients more cheaply and effectively, Zerwas said. (The Texas Medical Board estimates there are about 3,500 practicing anesthesiologists in the state.)

“Essentially, nothing changed in terms of how we deliver the anesthesia care,” he said. “We’ve needed a system that really values quality and efficiency, rather than what I call a productivity system, where people are getting paid regardless of outcome.”

Consolidation is occurring in virtually every area of the health care sector, experts said. Large hospital systems, such as Baylor and Scott and White, have merged, and others have purchased physician practices. Health insurance giant Aetna this month announced a $37 billion agreement to buy its smaller rival Humana.

That’s put pressure on doctors’ groups to merge as well. Providers must negotiate prices with the health plans and hospitals they contract with, and larger groups have more bargaining power, Zerwas said.

“They’re finding that they have to be bigger, stronger, integrated organizations in order to be viable in the marketplace,” he said.

Compared with previous waves of consolidation in the health care market, there are “different X factors” this time around, Ross said.

“There’s different technology, and a younger physician population that is arguably not only more tech savvy, but has different expectations about what they want to be as physicians as a business,” he said.

And those changing market forces could be attractive for venture capitalists and private equity firms, which are more likely to take on financial risk. New payment models, such as a recent move to “bundled payments” in Medicare to pay for knee and hip replacements, offer investment opportunities, said Dan Hosler of the private equity firm Sterling Partners. 

“I think there’s going to be some interesting business models where you can really invest against that,” he said.

Then there’s the fact that the health care economy has shown sustained growth compared with other sectors.

“From a venture capital standpoint, there are very few places to make money in the market right now,” said Tom Banning, chief executive of the Texas Academy of Family Physicians. Interest rates are low, and with falling oil prices and uncertainty in international financial markets like Greece hurting the market, “health care is really the growth opportunity,” he said.

Financial analysts also raised the possibility that Texas could expand its Medicaid program in coming years using federal money under the Affordable Care Act, potentially bringing another million Texans into the health insurance system — though the state’s Republican leadership has so far vehemently opposed any such move. Medicaid in Texas largely operates under a privatized managed care system, a value-based model in which primary care doctors serve a central role as gatekeepers for patients seeking specialty treatment. Investors looking to buy family practices may be hedging their bets that the politics of Medicaid expansion in Texas will change in the coming years, leading to new opportunities to contract with the state.

Meanwhile, many doctors find themselves wondering how long they can remain in independent practice. The Texas Medical Association recently announced a joint program with insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas meant to help doctors transition to new payment models and “offer physicians options to remain independent.”

“The forces are aligned to force consolidation, and frankly, how those independent doctors are able to compete against well-heeled, deep-pocketed systems or networks is going to be a problem,” Banning said. “To me the question becomes, if a for-profit, publicly traded or privately held venture capital fund owns these doctors, what’s their fiduciary duty to the patients? This is a market that’s going to force changes.”

Disclosure: The Texas Medical Association, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas and Baylor Scott and White are corporate sponsors of The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/18/private-equity-firms-turn-primary-care-docs-texas/.

Abbott Lets National Guard Carry Arms on Base

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Saturday authorized the Texas National Guard to be armed while on base following shootings at military facilities in Chattanooga, Tenn. that killed four U.S. Marines and a U.S. Naval officer. The gunman Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez, 24, was reportedly shot and killed by police.

Abdulazeez first opened fire at a military recruiting center in a Chattanooga strip mall. 

“After the recent shooting in Chattanooga, it has become clear that our military personnel must have the ability to defend themselves against these type of attacks on our own soil,” Abbott said in a statement. “Arming the National Guard at these bases will not only serve as a deterrent to anyone wishing to do harm to our service men and women, but will enable them to protect those living and working on the base.”

Abbott called for National Guard personnel to be armed at military facilities across the state.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/18/gov-greg-abbott-calls-national-guard-be-armed/.

Next year, the Tennessee school system will give out three free meals to every single student enrolled in the district.

Posted by Voto Latino on Saturday, July 18, 2015

Upgrade of AG's Child Support System Facing Problems

In his first year as the state’s attorney general, Republican Ken Paxton is finding that one of his predecessor’s biggest projects is turning into one of his biggest headaches.

Paxton’s office is in the midst of discussions with its lead contractor over a six-year-old project to upgrade the technology for the state’s antiquated child support enforcement system. The AG’s office hopes to restructure the project, which is years behind schedule and has seen its price tag grow by more than $70 million.

“Deadlines and milestones are worthless if the end product doesn’t do the job you need it to do,” First Assistant Attorney General Chip Roy said. “Our main focus is on getting a quality system for Texas families and taxpayers.”

More than half of the attorney general’s budget goes to child support enforcement. For years, the agency has prided itself on being the national leader in child support collections.

Millions of parents and thousands of state employees rely on the office’s computer system to handle the complicated and often delicate aspects of managing child support cases, including locating parents, collecting payments and distributing funds to custodial parents.

But the technology rests on a rickety framework that was developed 20 years ago and becomes more unwieldy with every passing year. Agency officials say the system is slow, convoluted and difficult when it comes to training new employees. Simple tasks like removing outdated information in a case file require multiple steps that, under the new computer system, would take place automatically.

In 2009, under Greg Abbott’s leadership, the AG’s office launched a $202 million project to upgrade the system, including a $70 million contract with Accenture to design, develop and implement the project. Child support is a shared responsibility of states and the federal government, so the federal government agreed to pay two-thirds of the project’s costs.

The first deadline for the upgrade came and went in 2012, as those working on the project found that the original plan was underfunded and that the new system could not be easily integrated with the current one. State officials also determined last year that they had underestimated the expected costs for servers to house the new system. 

The upgrade is one in a long line of state-run information technology projects that have had trouble meeting their initial timelines and budgets. The development 20 years ago of the current child support enforcement system — handled by Andersen Consulting, which later changed its name to Accenture — came in three years behind schedule and millions of dollars above the initial estimate.

Accenture has also seen high-profile difficulties with large state contracts to manage the Children's Health Insurance Program and run call centers enrolling Texans in food stamps and Medicaid.  

Accenture spokesman Joe Dickie said Wednesday that the company was proud of its work so far helping Texas modernize its child support enforcement system.

“Large-scale IT projects are complex in nature and sometimes require adjustments as they go forward,” Dickie said in a statement.

Representatives for Abbott, now governor, did not respond to a request for a comment on the problems with a contract signed under his tenure as attorney general.

During this year’s legislative session, Roy sent two letters to Abbott and several other state leaders warning that an initial review of the project under the office’s new leadership was raising alarm bells.

“In short, the project no longer appears to be ‘on time’ and it appears also to be increasing in budget,” Roy wrote in a letter in March. Despite the concerns, his office did not ask lawmakers for any additional funding for the project beyond the $43 million already included in earlier drafts of the budget, Roy said. 

The estimated budget for the system upgrade is now about $275 million, according to a state audit. Of that, $101 million represents Accenture's costs. Much of the rest of the budget goes toward paying for the servers to house the new system, and some goes to augmenting staff and training them on the new system.

Lawmakers added a rider to the 2016-17 budget directing the attorney general’s office to create a steering committee to oversee the project and to report any expected cost overruns or delays to the Legislative Budget Board. 

Texas has paid $53.4 million to Accenture related to the project so far, according to Janece Rolfe, communications manager for the agency's child support division. Agency officials said they are in the midst of discussions with the company about changes to the project’s timeline, including possibly rolling out the new system at once instead of in phases.

The new system is needed in part to keep the cost of enforcement from growing dramatically over time as caseloads grow, according to agency officials. Over the last decade, the agency’s staff dedicated to child support enforcement has remained largely unchanged at about 2,700 employees. Yet over that period, child support cases have consistently grown about 5 percent annually, or 5,000 cases a month.

Despite the hiccups, Roy said he believed the project would be a worthwhile endeavor when the current system is finally replaced with something more flexible and user-friendly.

“Every dollar we’re spending, we believe we’re spending the right way to get the right system built,” Roy said. 

Disclosure: Accenture is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/16/upgrade-child-support-system-plagued-problems/.

Doctors with independent primary care practices in Texas are increasingly being courted by private equity firms looking...

Posted by Texas Tribune on Saturday, July 18, 2015

The Kitty Palooza continues Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. with more cats and kittens available for adoption.

Posted by The KVUE Insider on Saturday, July 18, 2015

Friday, July 17, 2015

"On Aug. 15, I will return for my fifth year in the classroom, but it may be my last." Revisit TribTalk's most-read piece yet:

Posted by Texas Tribune on Friday, July 17, 2015

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Too often bilingualism is pushed aside—in favor of English.

Posted by Teaching Tolerance on Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Mexico drug kingpin Joaquรญn Guzmรกn Loera El Chapo escape VIDEO

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Several same-sex couples in Texas who now by law can marry are pushing for birth certificates to be changed to allow the names of both parents, not just mother and father.

Posted by KEYE CBS News, Austin on Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Abbott Launches Investigation Into Fetal Organ Preservation

After an anti-abortion group on Tuesday released an undercover video showing an executive at Planned Parenthood discussing how to preserve an aborted fetus’s organs for medical research, Gov. Greg Abbott announced an investigation into the alleged practice.

“The video of a high-level Planned Parenthood executive discussing the details of internal abortion procedures — including harvesting of baby body parts — is unnerving and appalling,” Abbott said in a statement. “In light of the video, I have directed the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to conduct an immediate investigation of this alleged practice in addition to a separate investigation ordered by the Texas Office of the Attorney General.”

The video, filmed by a group called the Center for Medical Progress, portrays Deborah Nucatola, Planned Parenthood’s senior director of medical research, discussing how to “crush” a fetus in a way that keeps its internal organs intact.

“We’ve been very good at getting heart, lung, liver, because we know that, so I’m not gonna crush that part, I’m gonna basically crush below, I’m gonna crush above, and I’m gonna see if I can get it all intact,” she says in the recording.

Planned Parenthood clinics, with a patient’s permission, may sometimes donate fetal tissue for use in stem-cell research, a spokesman for the national group said in a statement Tuesday. Planned Parenthood has said the video misrepresents the organization’s work.

Planned Parenthood representatives in Texas did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the state investigation.

The organization, which performs abortions and provides other women’s health services, has long been a target of Texas Republicans. This year, state lawmakers approved a budget that will prevent Planned Parenthood from participating in the joint state-federal Breast and Cervical Cancer Services program, which provides cancer screening for poor, uninsured women in Texas.

Disclosure: Planned Parenthood was a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune in 2011. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/14/abbott-launches-investigation-fetal-organ-preserva/.

New Test Causing Fewer Texans to Get GEDs

For millions of Texans without high school diplomas, the test to earn a high school equivalency certificate has become harder and more expensive, the State Board of Education was told Tuesday, and thousands may be shut out of a chance to land better jobs or continue their educations. 

The state should recognize high school equivalency exams other than the General Education Development test, which unfairly discriminates against low-income residents who lack regular access to computers, most of the 30 speakers addressing the board also said.

The criticism comes after the GED test was revamped in 2014 following its acquisition by Pearson, a London-based for-profit testing company. The test price has increased from roughly $80 to $135 and now can be taken only on a computer. 

Since the change, the number of Texans taking the test has fallen seven percent — from 50,476 in 2012 to 46,876 in 2014. Only 30 percent of those taking the online test have passed, compared to a 60 percent pass rate for the older paper test, according to the Texas Education Agency.

“It discriminates against the economically disadvantaged and the minorities who don’t have access to technology,” said Alan Dodd, a Fort Worth GED instructor. “My heart breaks for my students who come seeking hope and a better future and instead find a test 50 percent more expensive, and a computer-based technology they are not proficient at.”

The state should allow residents to take other tests to earn the Texas High School Equivalency Certificate, advocates said. There are other, less expensive options that can be administered in a paper format.

Tennessee, for instance, offers the nonprofit Educational Testing Service’s HiSET exam as an alternative to the GED, and has had positive results, said Jason Beard, a representative of the Tennessee Labor Department.

“I traveled here today to…urge Texas to offer the ETS HiSET exam as an option for Texans,” he said.

Only Texas prisoners can take the old paper version of the test, which many who spoke at the meeting said is much easier.

“Passing the new test requires a profound understanding of math that is an unnecessary and virtually unachievable hurdle for this population looking for an entry level job requiring no more than a GED,” said Gabriel Barna, a retired fellow at Texas Instruments who now works as a GED math tutor.

The board on Wednesday will discuss how to proceed with a request for proposals for alternative testing options.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/14/education-advocates-say-new-computer-based-ged-too/.

Pro-Perry Groups Launch TV Ads for National Audience

A trio of super PACs supporting former Gov. Rick Perry is launching a national TV ad campaign in hopes of securing him a spot in his party's first presidential debate next month. 

The groups, which recently announced they had raised nearly $17 million, are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to go on the air on Fox News and other cable channels, according to spokesman Jordan Russell. He said the effort is meant to "help in the run up to the first debate," which is being held Aug. 6 in Ohio.

To qualify for the event, a candidate must be in the top 10 of an average of the five most recent national surveys. Perry has been straddling the threshold in recent weeks, and on Tuesday, the RealClearPolitics national polling average showed him tied for 10th place with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Airing ads on cable TV this early in the process is unusual for a presidential candidate, or any group backing one. But the effort by the super PACs is a reminder of how much the debate's eligibility requirements have changed the short-term dynamics of the GOP race, putting a premium on national exposure over grassroots support in the early-voting states.

It will not be the first time that super PACs, which started with a group called the Opportunity and Freedom PAC, have sought to tout Perry on TV. They have already spent more than $900,000 promoting Perry on the airwaves in Iowa, a campaign that began the day after Perry made his 2016 bid official last month.

For now, the super PACs do not appear strapped for cash to fund the TV time. They announced Friday they had raised $16.8 million, most of it from three wealthy backers. Perry's campaign, meanwhile, disclosed it had taken in $1.07 million, giving his supporters an overall haul of just under $18 million as of earlier this month. 

The New York Times first reported the super PACs were going on the air nationally.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/14/pro-perry-groups-launch-tv-ads-national-audience/.

Sadi the puppy wreaks havoc at Arlington animal shelter - MyFoxAustin | KTBC | Fox 7 Austin | News Weather Sports

Sadi the puppy wreaks havoc at Arlington animal shelter - MyFoxAustin | KTBC | Fox 7 Austin | News Weather Sports

Gov. Greg Abbott doesn't seem inclined to help pave the way for Tesla to sell its electric cars in Texas.Jim Malewitz reports:

Posted by Texas Tribune on Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Monday, July 13, 2015

Austin Energy's Customer Assistance Program, or CAP, is designed to help low-income residents pay their utility bills. The KVUE Defenders found some recipients living in multi-million dollar homes.

Posted by The KVUE Insider on Monday, July 13, 2015

#elchapo

A photo posted by Sogr One (@sogrone) on

๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ’€๐Ÿ’€ #elchapo #druglord

A video posted by ๐Ÿ”ฐMikey๐Ÿ”ฉ๐Ÿ”ง (@notorious.x) on

LMAO ๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚ the Mexican government is beyond ridiculous!! #notagain #elchapo #trumponhighalert

A photo posted by Juan Mayen (@el_monstro_760) on

LMAO ๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚ the Mexican government is beyond ridiculous!! #notagain #elchapo #trumponhighalert

A photo posted by Juan Mayen (@el_monstro_760) on

The struggle ๐Ÿƒ๐Ÿƒ #thegreatescape #que #elchapo

A photo posted by Juan Mayen (@el_monstro_760) on

How I imagine his escape #superchapo #tunnelgamestrong #elchapo

A photo posted by Juan Mayen (@el_monstro_760) on

Friday, July 10, 2015

The Texas Package Store Association, which represents liquor stores, is against the idea. The Texas Retailer's...

Posted by The KVUE Insider on Friday, July 10, 2015

"The summer’s been great, but in my world, it’s only half over, and you can pry that second half out of my cold, dead hands, Wal-Mart."

Posted by Melanie Dale - Unexpected on Friday, July 10, 2015

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Nate Ruess: Nothing Without Love [OFFICIAL VIDEO]

"I have witnessed many outrages by school districts, but this may be the worst yet."

Posted by Washington Post on Wednesday, July 8, 2015

In a statement, the GOP presidential candidate criticized San Francisco and other American cities "run by left-wing...

Posted by Texas Tribune on Thursday, July 9, 2015

Airborne asbestos fibers are easily inhaled. And with time, scarring, inflammation and breathing impairment can occur, as can lung cancer and mesothelioma — a rare cancer of the lining of the lungs and abdomen.

Posted by CBS News on Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Oklahoma City recruits bilingual teachers from Puerto Rico to work with the growing Latino student population.

Posted by Voto Latino on Wednesday, July 8, 2015

THE SIMPSONS | Trumptastic Voyage | ANIMATION on FOX

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Mostly because of faulty equipment and human error, the North Texas Barnett Shale fields are spewing far more methane into the atmosphere than previously estimated.Jim Malewitz reports:

Posted by Texas Tribune on Tuesday, July 7, 2015

In this week's edition of the Trib+Health newsletter: Texas' physician shortage is fueled in part by too few residency...

Posted by Texas Tribune on Tuesday, July 7, 2015

With same-sex marriage now legalized, conservative lawyers are beginning to prepare defenses for government employees...

Posted by Texas Tribune on Monday, July 6, 2015

SHARK WEEK: Woman's advice to avoid shark attacks goes viral - DC News FOX 5 DC WTTG

SHARK WEEK: Woman's advice to avoid shark attacks goes viral - DC News FOX 5 DC WTTG

State Democrats' "Texas Two-Step" method of allocating delegates to the presidential nominating convention is over after...

Posted by Texas Tribune on Tuesday, July 7, 2015

While some confusion remains on consent, 96% of students agreed that sexual activity involving a person who was...

Posted by RH Reality Check on Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Sunday, July 5, 2015

The chief deputy Travis County clerk said they remained open because they know "there are some people who wouldn't be able to make it down to our office during normal business hours."

Posted by The KVUE Insider on Saturday, July 4, 2015

The San Antonio Missions were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site this morning.

Posted by San Antonio Current on Sunday, July 5, 2015

Friday, July 3, 2015

"Chair JoAnn Fleming and I have mutually agreed to dissolve the grassroots advisory board and work together as we have...

Posted by Texas Tribune on Friday, July 3, 2015

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Here's the full video of our 6/29 conversation about Houston and the 84th legislative session with state Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, and state Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston. http://trib.it/1ekff1O

Posted by Texas Tribune on Thursday, July 2, 2015

Word should come early Sunday morning on whether the San Antonio Missions have been designated as a World Heritage site by the United Nations.Liz Crampton reports:

Posted by Texas Tribune on Thursday, July 2, 2015

The Tribune identified 28 schools in Texas named after Confederate leaders Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, Stonewall...

Posted by Texas Tribune on Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Fireworks that shoot up into the air are not legal within Austin city limits. But if you see your neighbors shooting fireworks don't call 911.

Posted by KEYE CBS News, Austin on Wednesday, July 1, 2015

The river will be flowing at an estimated 400 cubic feet per second when it opens at 9 a.m. Thursday.

Posted by The KVUE Insider on Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Last week, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said that the detention of immigrant families, who have legitimate asylum claims,...

Posted by Voto Latino on Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Diana - Princess of Wales Full Biography

As of Wednesday, public employers including Texas agencies and universities will allow current and retired gay and...

Posted by Texas Tribune on Wednesday, July 1, 2015

The overincarceration of people in American society has reached pathological levels, but for the same treatment to be meted out to children demands immediate intervention.

Posted by The Huffington Post on Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Texas primary voters are about to have a bigger say in the 2016 presidential race than their parties previously planned.Patrick Svitek has the story: http://trib.it/1NwN1xf

Posted by Texas Tribune on Wednesday, July 1, 2015

What we should learn from Jurassic Park when it comes to abortion restrictions (yes, really) from Andrea Grimes at RH Reality Check .

Posted by National Network of Abortion Funds on Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Cryptosporidium is chlorine-resistant, but people can protect themselves by using common sense.

Posted by The KVUE Insider on Wednesday, July 1, 2015

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