Experts in the News

"Gambling legalization will remain an issue in Texas politics until such time that casino gambling is legalized,” predicted fellow Mark Jones. Republicans are split on the issue, but with the governor and lt. governor opposed, the Texas Senate is unlikely to even vote.

With recent cold fronts, natural gas supply in Texas has significantly dropped twice in the past month, but energy scholar Daniel Cohan said the data "looks like it would look in most previous years." Though no severe freeze has yet tested weatherization improvements, for now, the average Texan need not worry, he added.

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine and Houthi drone strikes in the United Arab Emirates have both impacted the oil market, said energy fellow Jim Krane. How will high oil prices affect Houston's economy?

On a recent Arab Digest podcast, Middle East fellow Kristian Coates Ulrichsen discussed what Saudi Arabia's and the UAE's response to the JCPOA talks in Vienna showed about each country's goals.

Texas left $100 billion on the table by failing to expand Medicaid, gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke has said. Health policy fellow Vivian Ho believes it could be more, citing the multiplier effect. "Federal dollars the state would not receive otherwise ... boost the economy in general," she said.