Capital Highlights
by ED STERLING

Transnational gangs fueled by Mexican drug cartels are the biggest threat to security in Texas, said the state’s homeland security chief at a Feb. 1 hearing at the Capitol.

Steve McCraw, director of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security, told members of the House Transportation Committee and the Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee that his office and partner agencies are battling the gangs’ multi-billion dollar criminal enterprise through multi-jurisdictional “fusion centers.”

Work program incentives offered
“Texas Back to Work,” a two-year, $15 million employment program promoted by Lt. Gov. Dewhurst and funded by the state Legislature last session, will offer employers incentives such as subsidized-wage reimbursements or retention bonuses for hiring qualified out-of-work Texans.