From KUT:



When lawmakers ended this year’s legislative session, they had addressed their biggest goals: They tamped down property taxes, overhauled school finance laws and gave teachers a pay raise. By various measures, the session was a success.

To health care advocates in the state, however, it was a missed opportunity.

“We are deeply disappointed that health care coverage was not prioritized at all this legislative session,” said Laura Guerra-Cardus, deputy director of the Children’s Defense Fund of Texas.

The state’s uninsured rate has recently started climbing again, after some progress during the Obama administration. Guerra-Cardus said she and others tried to get lawmakers to take this seriously at the start of the legislative session, which ended last Monday.

In particular, groups said they thought lawmakers would be open to addressing the uninsured rate among children in the state.

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