Watson advances budget transparency, 'truth in taxation' measures

Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, tacked several parts of his "honesty agenda" onto three fiscal matters bills approved Friday by the Texas Senate. On the big "non-tax revenue" bill, Watson manuevered to win GOP leaders' acceptance of a provision that would pour more sunshine on key budget writers' use of "budget execution authority" to make cuts and move money around when the Legislature is not in session.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/lh9FsR

Texas Senate OKs bill raising nearly $4 billion — not from higher taxes

AUSTIN — A fractious Texas Senate, working on Friday for only the second time this session, approved a bill that would raise nearly $4 billion to help pay for its more costly version of the state budget.
Senators approved the “nontax revenue” bill, so named to emphasize ruling Republicans’ distaste for higher taxes, by a vote of 21-10. All 12 Democrats voted “aye.”

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/kQaZ7r

House votes to disband scandal-plagued Texas Youth Commission

AUSTIN — The agency at the center of a sex scandal involving youth lockups is a step closer to being disbanded.
The House and Senate have both passed a bill to merge the Texas Youth Commission and the Juvenile Probation Commission to focus on community-based supervision and treatment programs and reserve the lockups for the most violent offenders.

Mulvaney: http://dallasne.ws/mQcxDa

Bill would ban Planned Parenthood from receiving Texas funds

AUSTIN — The Women’s Health Program, a highly touted project that provides birth control and health screenings to uninsured women, could continue in Texas only if Planned Parenthood — the program’s largest provider — is banned from participating, under a Senate bill deemed likely to pass.

Hoppe: http://dallasne.ws/mECZcd

Senators flustered as they try to raise 'non-tax revenue'

After about 90 minutes of debating how to balance its budget with "non-tax revenue," the Texas Senate appears to be melting down.
Despite Sen. Steve Ogden's insistence Friday morning that "we've got to do [Senate Bill] 1811 today," the Senate became embroiled in discussions, first, of a speed-up of business tax collections, and then of two Democrats' efforts to piggyback their measures on budget transparency and criminal defense of indigents.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/jtcLxH

Zaffirini criticizes Senate budget, while Dewhurst blasts Ds for 'posturing'

Maybe it's a coincidence. A day after Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst accused several unnamed Democratic senators of "trying to embarrass me and the Republicans" on the budget, Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, unloaded.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/kf4qpR

Perry asks why Alabama getting fed help and not Texas

The war of words between Gov. Rick Perry and Washington -- no, make that more personal -- and President Barack Obama, escalated in San Antonio yesterday.
As reported in the San Antonio Express News , Perry criticized Obama for paying attention to Alabama, where horrific storms leveled a swath of the state and killed 204 people, but failing to address the Texas wildfires, which have charred hundreds of thousands of acres.
Hoppe: http://dallasne.ws/iLrSFN

Senate approves higher driver’s license fees

AUSTIN — Those long lines and waiting times to renew a driver’s license would be shortened considerably under legislation the Senate approved Thursday — but at a cost.
The measure, passed 26-5, would increase the cost of a license by a third — from $24 to $32 — with the additional revenue used to upgrade the state’s often-criticized driver’s license system and make renewals a less time-consuming process.

Stutz: http://dallasne.ws/k9rDKL

Nelson's social programs efficiency bill breezes through Senate

A bill that would squeeze nearly $500 million of savings out of social programs such as Medicaid over the next two years passed the Senate 31-0 Thursday.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/k3CiWB

Comptroller Susan Combs apologizes for data breach, offers credit monitoring to millions affected

AUSTIN -- Comptroller Susan Combs offered another apology Thursday for the information breach in her agency, saying she now is offering a year of free credit monitoring to the 3.5 million people at risk of identity theft after their data was exposed on a public computer server.
“I do take full responsibility for this, and that means responsibility to fix the problem,” Combs told The Dallas Morning News in her first interview since the breach.

Combs: http://dallasne.ws/ikSRVs

Senators balk at raising some fees, irking Ogden

 Senators defeated the first of Sen. Steve Ogden's "fiscal matters" bills Thursday, rejecting a proposed tripling of fees paid by foster-care contractors and child-care providers, as well as an increase of up to 12 percent in fees charged by state laboratories.
The vote was 20-11.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/kCMDAy

State Auditor’s Office calls for more transparency from Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s Emerging Technology Fund

AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry and state legislators should take several steps to “promote greater transparency and accountability” in how taxpayers’ dollars are spent through the Texas Emerging Technology Program, according to a state audit.

Drew and Garrett report: http://dallasne.ws/ijE8j5

Ogden's only hope: nudging more fellow Rs to bless a rainy-day dip

Sen. Steve Ogden's stuck. The Senate's chief budget writer can't whip all 19 Senate Republicans into line behind spending $3 billion of rainy-day money to avoid House-style cuts to schools and social programs.
Topping most lists of Republicans who are suspected to be the holdouts in the Senate GOP caucus are Sens. Dan Patrick of Houston and Brian Birdwell of Granbury.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/mIAqXT

UT and A&M presidents defend reactions to 7 solutions

The state's top two public universities have been shaken from Gov. Rick Perry's strong embrace of the so-called Seven Breakthrough Solutions, advanced by the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation.

Hoppe: http://dallasne.ws/mo694j

Ogden: 'No white smoke yet'

The entire 31-member Texas Senate met privately on the state budget for more than an hour Thursday morning before breaking.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/marJW7

House Dallas delegation battle to save district makeup in redistricting fight

Dallas representatives fought down amendments to change the proposed maps laid out in the House Wednesday, after fiery and telling arguments that revealed the importance of the redistricting debate to the lawmakers.

Mulvaney: http://dallasne.ws/imzHey

House kicks off debate over redistricting proposal

AUSTIN — The GOP-led Texas House kicked off debate Wednesday on a redistricting plan that would pit several Republican lawmakers against one another if they decide to seek re-election.
Some Republican members and activists want to make the map a bolder grab for conservative seats and limit the number of losses. But House leaders say they can do only so much given the constraints of federal anti-discrimination laws and shifts in population away from conservative rural areas and toward the suburbs that have seen explosive and diverse population growth.

(AP): http://dallasne.ws/lpsCTl

Texas higher education commissioner says idea of $10,000 college degree is ‘entirely feasible’

Texas’ higher education chief said Wednesday that Gov. Rick Perry’s idea of providing a bachelor’s degree that costs only $10,000 is “entirely feasible.”

Holly Hacker: http://dallasne.ws/mJTJN5

Texas state senators huddle, struggle to win broad support for budget

AUSTIN — Senate GOP leaders, trying to stitch together a needed supermajority for their version of the budget, said Wednesday that they’re fighting on two fronts, assuaging individual senators’ worries while fighting critics outside “the club.”

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/kAHccn

Dewhurst writes letter saying he's comfy with Senate panel's budget

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst abruptly left a closed-door Senate caucus about an hour ago and very soon thereafter issued a letter praising his Senate colleagues' budget and seeming to say that, while he had quibbles about its possible use of rainy-day money, he's certainly a good team player and beseeches them to vote for the budget.
What a guy.

Dewhurst: http://dallasne.ws/mmorxt

Texas House bill restricts all sugary drinks sold in public school lunchrooms

AUSTIN — Aspen Jackson, a seventh-grader at Walker Middle School in Dallas, usually avoids sugary drinks at school and consumes healthier beverages at home.

Still, she wouldn’t be able to find her favorite drinks — whole milk and sugar-free Kool-Aid — at the North Dallas school, under legislation the House...

Mulvaney: http://dallasne.ws/kCJVqd

Ogden says rainy-day-money critics are an obstacle as he faces sales test

 The Senate's chief budget writer says recent criticism of a rainy-day money "backstop" in the Senate budget is an impediment, but won't deter his effort to persuade colleagues to embrace his committee's two-year, $176.5 billion budget in a private huddle on Wednesday afternoon.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/m2vN16

Senator tries to revive handguns-on-campus bill

Stymied in his efforts to bring a handguns-on-campus bill before the full Senate, Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio , moved Wednesday to attach the proposal as an amendment to another higher education measure.

Stutz: http://dallasne.ws/jAZCLx

Texas skeptics and Obama's birth certificate

The president released his birth certificate this morning both to put to rest questions about whether he is a natural-born American, eligible to serve as president, and - perhaps more important, in terms of timing, at least -to paint Republicans as a bunch of whacko conspiracy theorists.

Gillman: http://dallasne.ws/lRrsMA

Perry skeptical of claims that House's cuts could close half of nursing homes

Gov. Rick Perry, sticking to his guns against further use of the state's rainy day fund, dismissed a question Tuesday about whether he's planning for dislocation of tens of thousands of elderly Texans if the House budget is passed and many nursing homes close.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/gzJL1I

Obama releases birth form, decries 'silliness'

The AP's Julie Pace: http://dallasne.ws/h6QQHO

President Obama's Long Form Birth Certificate

View more documents from White House

Comptroller enlists firms with political ties to her after information breach

AUSTIN — Comptroller Susan Combs, seeking private companies to help respond to a massive information breach, enlisted two firms whose principals or political committees gave more than $50,000 to her campaigns.

Shannon: http://dallasne.ws/eHdqck

House tentatively approves puppy mill bill

The so-called puppy mill bill that would regulate large-scale commercial dog breeding operations passed the House 95 to 44 Tuesday.
The measure by Rep. Senfronia Thompson , D-Houston, would require a commercial breeder -- with 11 or more adult female breeding animals -- to obtain a license, pay a fee set by the Department of Licensing and Regulation and allow initial and annual inspections to uphold basic U.S. Department of Agriculture rules.

Mulvaney: http://dallasne.ws/fgAuci

Surfer dude, leader of House GOP caucus, credited with laid-back demeanor

Rep. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, collected some kudoes from a hometown newspaper over the weekend. He also posed in swimtrunks and shirt and tie, with surfboard, to underscore his passion for surfing.
Taylor, chairman of the House Republican Caucus, may have more enemies among the tea party activists and the trial lawyers than this profile in The Galveston County Daily News suggested. But he is unquestionably affable and low key, as a judge who's one of his surfing buddies told the newspaper:

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/hFEM0T

Aggies take over the Senate

Hoppe: http://dallasne.ws/ijK3Li

Smoking ban advocates try to win over lawmakers

With time ticking away in the legislative session, advocates for a ban on smoking in the workplace are bringing in big names to make their case to lawmakers.
High-ranking representatives of major non-profit health associations visited the Capitol on Tuesday to urge legislators to support a House bill by Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Denton, and a Senate bill by Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston.

Shannon: http://dallasne.ws/eE5qyd

Eagles’ Don Henley works to preserve East Texas’ Caddo Lake

UNCERTAIN, Texas — Perched on a grimy bait-stand bench, beneath a sign that reads “fishing guides available,” a bearded man in an untucked denim shirt watches kids tumble off a dock into coffee-brown murk and boats cruise beneath the curtain of cypress.
At first glance, the sunburned man looks like any other Caddo Lake local.

Lee Hancock reports: http://dallasne.ws/e8ssHE

Balancing school budgets harder than just laying off administrators

It has almost become conventional wisdom: Keep teachers in the classroom, lay off administrators, and the school funding crisis is solved.
But that bit of wisdom may be more of a myth.
Karel Holloway: http://dallasne.ws/g1PYfq

Rick Perry throws GOP predecessors under the bus

One thing about Gov. Rick Perry : In hewing the tea party line, he has focused on his political success even if it means dissing the example of Republican predecessors who helped put him there.

Slater: http://dallasne.ws/eOiFqm

Conservative groups buy TV ads urging budget cuts, no rainy day money

A conservative, Austin-based think tank announced Monday that it and six other conservative and small business groups have begun airing TV spots in Austin to press lawmakers to pass a two-year budget that neither raises taxes and fees nor taps the state's rainy day fund.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/foS1TV

Firefighters use ground and air attacks against Texas wildfires

Ted Kim: http://dallasne.ws/grL5XQ

Would Bill Clements be welcome in today’s tea party?

AUSTIN — Would Bill Clements be considered a Republican today?
Clements, who turned 94 this month, was the first Texas Republican governor in a century when he was elected in 1978. He was tough-minded and conservative, and his election marked the beginning of the spectacular rise of the modern Republican Party in Texas.
But it’s hard to see him passing muster with today’s tea party.

Slater: http://dallasne.ws/gRkNoG

Texas may strip away transgender marriage rights

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Two years after Texas became one of the last states to allow transgendered people to use proof of their sex change to get a marriage license, Republican lawmakers are trying to roll back the clock.

Vertuno (AP) reports: http://dallasne.ws/ehejms

Texas teacher pension fund gave more in bonuses than all other state agencies combined, analysis shows

Investment managers for the state’s teacher retirement fund received more than $8.2 million in bonus payments this year, more than double what top employees in every other state agency combined have received since 2007, a Dallas Morning News analysis has found.

Tims, Hoppe: http://dallasne.ws/f2ZIID

Gov. Rick Perry asks for prayer to help end the drought

Gov. Rick Perry is calling upon Texans to join in three days of prayer to end the drought. In a proclamation signed today, the governor referred to the devastating wildfires and the loss of life and property they have caused.

Hoppe: http://dallasne.ws/ezN2rv

House bill to create an Innocence Commission fails on final reading

A House bill that would create a state panel to investigate the all the cases of those who were wrongfully imprisoned in the state failed on final reading in the House Thursday, although it already had received tentative approval.

Mulvaney: http://dallasne.ws/hO3ecQ

Rick Perry says Governor's Mansion will have solar energy panels

Perry said that when the Texas Governor's Mansion is finally renovated, there will be solar energy panels on the roof.
"The historical preservation folks went crazy," Perry said of his desire to outfit the mansion with the panels.

Jeffers: http://dallasne.ws/gRMY6A

House postpones action on class size, teacher furlough bill

House members on Thursday delayed action on a hotly disputed bill that would authorize school districts to increase elementary class sizes, cut salaries and order teacher furloughs to save money. The measure by Rep. Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, is aimed at helping districts cope with big funding reductions next year, but teacher groups have dubbed it the "death star" because of its adverse impact on the teaching profession. School districts say they would have to cut as many as 65,000 employees statewide under a House budget approved earlier this month.

Stutz: http://dallasne.ws/ie9YRn

Texas Senate committee OKs budget that would ease cuts to schools, social services

AUSTIN — A Senate panel approved a two-year budget Thursday that would sidestep the House’s deep cuts to schools and social services, while not raising taxes.
“This bill keeps Texas government functioning and essential services available to Texans without doing harm to the private sector,” said Sen. Steve Ogden , R-Bryan, head of the Senate Finance Committee.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/ehB120

Freshman member questions placement of puppy mill bill on Local and Consent

For the second time, the so-called puppy mill bill was placed on the House's calendar reserved for non-controversial legislation, and a freshman member once again raised questions to squash the popular measure.
The bill's author veteran Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, made it clear she would not be intimidated by his efforts to stall the bill.

Mulvaney: http://dallasne.ws/helHOD

Bill would force presidential candidates to show birth certificates to be on Texas ballot

AUSTIN — Presidential and vice presidential candidates would be required to prove to Texas election officials that they were born in the United States under a proposal that a House committee is considering.
Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, insists his legislation isn’t a swipe at President Barack Obama, though some activists known as “birthers” question whether Obama was born in the U.S., as the Constitution requires.

Shannon: http://dallasne.ws/eNwWDU

Texas sponsor of birther bill revises history at House committee hearing

Texas Representative Leo Berman says Republican John McCain was the sole target of questions about his legality as a presidential candidate in 2008 because he was born outside the United States. McCain was born in Panama . Berman says questions about Barack Obama didn't emerge until well after the election. Not exactly true.

Slater: http://dallasne.ws/fSt5Zs

Texas House to consider bill that would ease class size limits, allow teacher pay cuts, furloughs

AUSTIN — Teacher groups are calling it the “death star,” a piece of legislation they see as a direct assault on Texas teachers that will result in larger classes, severe pay cuts and layoffs.

Stutz: http://dallasne.ws/eHOkM0

Senate Finance approves $178.6 billion, two year state budget

The Senate's version would spend $15 billion more of state and federal funds than the House's $163.5 billion budget.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/gPRLT6

Texas Senate leader wants bigger rainy day dip, risking budget blow-up

AUSTIN — The Senate’s chief budget writer wants to use $3 billion more of the state’s savings, mainly for schools, in addition to a like sum the House has already voted to use to pay the state’s bills through August.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/eJ85fd

When party lines start to blur ... Patrick blurs them further?

As Senate budget writers debated school finance Wednesday afternoon, much of the talk was about fixing things in 2015 and 2016 -- when lawmakers hope they'll have money to undo some of the stuff they did in 2006. Things got silly, though, when Sen. Dan Patrick , R-Houston, weighed in on an amendment by fellow Republican Robert Duncan of Lubbock.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/dXvMh5

Video reveals abuse, possible animal cruelty at Texas cattle operation

AUSTIN — Undercover footage that an animal advocacy group says reveals abuse, neglect and torture of calves at a dairy operation in a small Panhandle town has sparked a sheriff’s office inquiry.
The Castro County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the dairy operation E6 Cattle Co. in Hart, Texas, after Mercy for Animals released the video documenting footage from an uncover investigation Tuesday, said Chief Deputy Thomas Taylor, the lead investigator on the case.

Mulvaney: http://dallasne.ws/hSHnsN

Tea Party, Green groups find common cause

The old saw "Politics makes for strange bedfellows" was in evidence today as apparently unlikely allies--environmental and consumer groups and the Tea Party, represented by former GOP gubernatorial candidate Debra Merdina--spoke out against legislation that would allow nuclear waste from all over the country to be shipped to a West Texas disposal site.

Senators, under pressure over budget cuts, have revealing moments

Sometimes, those crazy Senate budget writers are like siblings who've been locked into the family minivan for way, way too many hours. As in real life, they start gnawing on one another.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/elxwlB

House bills would stifle voter registration efforts

AUSTIN – Efforts to register voters – which often focus on poor, elderly, disabled and minority voters who typically back Democrats – could be made much more difficult by legislation picking up steam in the GOP-controlled Legislature.

Brooks: http://dallasne.ws/gMqt5z

Needy Texas college-bound students caught in financial limbo

Once she graduates from Sunset High School in Oak Cliff, senior Griselda Mendez wants to study astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin. But not if it means taking out $18,000 a year in loans.

Holly Hacker: http://dallasne.ws/i6QzCP

Texas Senate’s ‘easy’ money to help pay for budget generates some static

AUSTIN — Nearly $5 billion of “nontax revenue” is ripe for plucking, a leading GOP senator said Tuesday.
But as soon as he started to outline it, Sen. Robert Duncan had to start ducking.
Fellow senators hurled thinly barbed criticisms at Duncan, R-Lubbock, for proposing faster tax collections for everything from alcohol to businesses and daring to suggest a higher tax on “little cigars,” which some said could put a small in-state manufacturer out of business.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/eWltdx

Texas House rejects ‘human health’ mandate for state environmental agency

Texas House members decided Tuesday that the state’s environmental agency should explicitly protect “human and natural resources” but not “human health,” turning back a symbolic move that backers said would show that people come first.

Randy Lee Loftis reports: http://dallasne.ws/hmLGXs

Duncan's final take: Not sure how much gap remains but 'we're moving'

Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, spoke with reporters after Tuesday evening's hearing on non-tax revenue wound down.
Duncan, obviously very weary from endless negotiations with fellow senators and vested interests, said he doesn't think senators are way, way short of closing the gap between their desired budget's spending and available revenue. Asked if senators are $2 billion to $3 billion short of paying for their budget, even with the nealry $5 billion he offered earlier Tuesday, Duncan said, "I don't think we're that short."

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/eAb4AK

The 'long green mile' has its share of little cigar afficionadoes ...

"This next one is one you'll probably hear about when you walk down the long green mile which is the hall out there," Duncan, R-Lubbock, said as he opened a discussion of taxing "little cigars" the same as if they were cigarettes. It would raise $25 million or so over the next two years.
Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/fH2QRl

Recent hire leaves UT System after outcry

Special adviser Rick O'Donnell is no longer employed by University of Texas System, effectively immediately. He said it was not his choice.
UT System spokesman Anthony de Bruyn said Tuesday would be the last for Rick O'Donnell, whose hire sparked an outcry from top officials, university alumni and lawmakers about his ties to the Texas Public Policy Foundation and some of his academic papers critical of university research.

Mulvaney: http://dallasne.ws/gYgTUB



Rick O'Donnell's letter: http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/O%27Donnell%20Letter.pdf

T. Boone Pickens takes a shot at Donald Trump

Poor Donald Trump. Recently, the potential 2012 presidential candidate has been a popular target of criticism on the political playground. The Donald's latest critic is none other than legendary oilman T. Boone Pickens.

Huisman: http://dallasne.ws/dHwGXK

Perry: Universities can help create a Silicon Valley in Texas

The nod to Texas' major university systems follows months of contention that began when Perry pushed for $10,000 degree programs and began forcefully injecting his ideas for reshaping Texas' Tier I universities. Those ideas, promoted by one of Perry's top donors, include de-emphasizing research, rewarding instruction and evaluating professors on how much money they could bring to the university.

Perry: http://dallasne.ws/eTep7W

Strange bedfellows: The greens and the tea party

Maybe it's a green tea party.

Former GOP governor's candidate Debra Medina is joining environmentalists in conducting a series of press conferences around the state protesting Waste Control Specialists plan to import low-level radioactive waste from 36 states to their site in Texas.

Hoppe: http://dallasne.ws/f7b0mo

Texas attorney general says breach of state databases already resulted in a phishing scam

Remember the story last week where Texas Comptroller Susan Combs owned up to her agency's security flub with the personal information of 3.5 million Texans?

Well, now Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's office reports there's evidence of a telephone phishing scam involving information from the breached database.

Drago: http://dallasne.ws/goVTME

Attorney General's release: https://www.oag.state.tx.us/oagnews/release.php?id=3695

Driver's license renewal fee would go up $8 in Senate plan

Texans may have to pay $32, not $24, to renew their driver's licenses every six years, if the Senate has its way.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/ijzhLs

Texas official: Possum Kingdom wildfire may be twice as big as thought

A Texas official says a wildfire burning less than 100 miles from the Dallas-Fort Worth area could be twice as big as previous estimates.

AP: http://dallasne.ws/fuZ6Xz

Crews battling intense Texas wildfires see little hope of help from weather

Hundreds of firefighters battling a wave of wildfires that have been burning in West Texas in the past week are looking to the sky for a little relief.
Forecasters offered only a slight hope of rain later this week, however, leaving weary, begrimed firefighters around Possum Kingdom Reservoir, Coke County and the Trans-Pecos of West Texas to fight the flames the hard way.
AP: http://dallasne.ws/g7Qn4N

Texas prison system budget cuts stir up concerns

Prison experts are warning that only so much fat can be cut before a relatively peaceful prison system boils up into a dangerous stew of discontent.
State officials are carving as many dollars as possible from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice budget as they fight to close a $23 billion two-year state shortfall without raising taxes.

Diane Jennings: http://dallasne.ws/fLk0NB

Texas Senate GOP leaders dig in for budget fight with House

AUSTIN — The fight’s on. Senate and House GOP leaders accused one another Monday of ignoring the fiscal catastrophe that looms.
They just disagreed over exactly how soon it will arrive.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Sen. Steve Ogden, the Senate’s chief budget writer, cast the budget fight as a struggle between senators who want to rescue schools and nursing homes and House members who want to wish away the state’s obligations.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/gW58p3

House passes Capitol fast pass bill

Anyone in the general public -- the press, lobbyists and activists -- could get a fast pass into the state Capitol to bypass metal detectors without a concealed handgun license, said Rep. Charlie Geren, author of a measure passed by the House Monday.Mulvaney: http://dallasne.ws/hH76aA

House budget writers OK higher lobbyist fees, suspending sales tax holiday

Lobbyists would have their registration fees doubled, to $1,000, and the August sales tax holiday would be suspended this summer and again next year under two of the seven "fiscal matters" and non-tax revenue bills approved by the House Appropriations Committee on Monday.
After 2012, there would be a review of whether the state is flush enough to reinstate the sales tax holiday, said Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, the committee's chairman.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/gFXAjW

No relief in sight as crews battle 22 fires across Texas, including behemoth west of Fort Worth

Twenty-two wildfires are burning across Texas today, including three west of Fort Worth, and the weather won’t provide relief anytime soon.
Three of the largest fires, about 80 miles west of Fort Worth and south of Possum Kingdom Reservoir, have burned more than 55,000 acres, according to the Texas Forest Service.

Staff writer Amber Bell reports: http://dallasne.ws/gBQk1E

Bid to honor Western swing music hits sour note in Texas Legislature

AUSTIN — An effort to make Western swing the official music of Texas could see miles and miles of opposition, as one Hill Country music lover finds herself in the opening stanzas of a debate over what defines “Texas music.”

Brooks: http://dallasne.ws/dSJaUH

Straus cautious on nine school board members' trust fund draw-down idea

Speaker Joe Straus has raised questions about what a $2 billion draw-down of money from an endowment would mean for public schools in the future, even if voters approve the idea.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/gv4JQA

Texas’ bad wildfire year might not indicate climate change, but it shows pattern, scientists say

Texas horizons have been red lately, but not from great sunsets.
Wildfires have burned nearly 1 million acres and destroyed 190 homes this year during one of the state’s worst droughts and through its driest March.

Randy Lee Loftis reports: http://dallasne.ws/i4N3r2

State representative says DPS should get creative in easing driver’s license woes

The lines outside of Department of Public Safety offices aren’t getting any shorter, and the state budget shortfall isn’t helping matters.
Teens trying to get driver’s licenses and their parents have to wake up before dawn, sometimes for days in a row, just to secure a spot in line for a road test.

Erinn Connor reports: http://dallasne.ws/ic0E2g

Texas Forensic Science Commission approves report calling for improvements in arson investigations

 AUSTIN — A state panel approved a report Friday recommending more than a dozen specific guidelines after its two-year review of the arson investigation that led to Cameron Todd Willingham’s execution.
The Texas Forensic Science Commission report does not assign blame or specifically address any misconduct of those who investigated the case because of a pending request for an opinion from the state attorney general. If recommendations are adopted by the agencies outlined in the report, however, they could change future arson investigations.
Mulvaney: http://dallasne.ws/dQQfIM.ece

Texas may put the brakes on stricter drunken-driving laws

AUSTIN — Efforts to enact tougher drunken driving laws face roadblocks in a state that has historically been reluctant to mess with its drivers.
Texas is consistently among the states with the highest rates of drunken driving-related fatalities and lacks laws that most other states have, such as allowing for sobriety checkpoints. Lawmakers and advocates agree that something needs to be done to reduce the fatality rates, but constitutional and ideological issues may bring such proposals to a halt in the Legislature this year
Mulvaney: http://dallasne.ws/dGwvCC

Texas Senate panel eased some of budget’s pain, though questions remain

AUSTIN — Senate Finance Committee members took some stingers out of the budget this week, almost eliminating cuts to college scholarships and nursing homes, just weeks after they rolled back about half of the House’s threatened hit to public schools.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/gmmgSA

Dewhurst applauds state school board members' effort; Perry unenthused

While Lt. Governor David Dewhurst is receptive to a proposal by nine members of the State Board of Education to let voters decide whether to avert school cuts with a one-time draw-down of $2 billion from a trust fund, the man downstairs at the Capitol -- Gov. Rick Perry -- isn't turning cartwheels.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/eK65Q6

Nine state school board members urge letting Texans vote on school bailout

Nine of the 15 members of the State Board of Education have urged lawmakers to pass a constitutional amendment letting voters decide whether to transfer $2 billion from the Permanent School Fund as a one-time rescue of the public schools from proposed budget cuts.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/esxzlF

Texas drivers: Get ready to crank it up to 75 mph on divided highways

Texas drivers will be given the green light to crank up their speeds to 75 mph on major divided highways as early as this fall under legislation tentatively approved by the House on Friday. The measure by Rep. Gary Elkins, R-Houston, would allow the Texas Transportation Commission to set a speed limit of 75 mph on sections of the state highway system where it is deemed safe and reasonable - generally outside of urban areas.

Stutz: http://dallasne.ws/gR3yIO

Bills to punish employers for hiring illegal immigrants hit snag

AUSTIN — Business interests, including small contractors and GOP stalwarts, have raised concerns that could derail proposals to fine or lock up employers who hire illegal immigrants, Rep. Byron Cook, chairman of a top House committee, said Thursday.

Hoppe: http://dallasne.ws/e7ukS7

Dallas law school funded, pharmacy school OK'd by Senate budget writers

As they finished mark-up of the state budget late Thursday, members of the Senate Finance Committee approved some last-minute goodies for higher education in the Dallas area.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/fKpzWM

Senate panel puts back money for Texas nursing homes

AUSTIN — Deep and possibly fatal cuts to nursing homes would be all but erased under the latest social services budget embraced by Senate budget writers late Thursday.
As nursing home lobbyists celebrated, the Senate Finance Committee took away all of a 33 percent cut proposed in GOP leaders’ initial budget — except for a 3 percent rate reduction imposed this year.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/dFrR5B

Texas commission’s report on Cameron Todd Willingham arson case avoids central questions

AUSTIN — A state panel’s draft report on the 1991 arson investigation that led to Cameron Todd Willingham’s execution, released Thursday, avoids central questions raised by fire experts and advocates.
The Texas Forensic Science Commission began a two-day meeting with discussion of the report, which was limited because of a pending request filed with the attorney general’s office that questions whether the commission has authority to investigate the case.

Mulvaney: http://dallasne.ws/gkPPRd

Senate panel approves bill for teacher pay cuts, furloughs, layoffs

AUSTIN - School districts would be able to reduce salaries and furlough teachers for up to six days - with layoffs used only as a last resort - under a compromise bill approved Thursday by a Senate committee to help districts deal with funding cuts.
The measure, drafted by Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Education Committee, would authorize school boards and superintendents to take certain steps to reduce expenditures as the state slashes funding over the next two school years.

Stutz: http://dallasne.ws/f7wNui

Redistricting: GOP Texans in Congress submit a map

Texas Republicans in Congress weighed into the redistricting fight directly today, quietly submitting a proposed map that offers their vision of the best way to carve the state into 36 congressional districts.
Details aren't out yet, and so far, lawmakers are keeping mum about how it would divvy up the four new U.S. House seats that Texas picked up in the 2010 Census.

Gillman: http://dallasne.ws/gS9Ca3

Perry touts higher education goals amid budget cuts

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry called higher education the basis for the state’s future Thursday, though he also defended deep budget cuts that could leave 60,000 students without financial aid next year.
Touting a new higher education almanac that shows the state’s goals and advances, Perry emphasized that college education is "an essential part of the future."
 http://dallasne.ws/f3pcFH

Trouble brewing for puppies and kittens

It's rare when the Local and Consent Calendar gets a lot of attention, but when it does - watch out. Thursday's calendar may see some fireworks, and some changes, if rumors are true about the first item on the list.

Brooks: http://dallasne.ws/dFkOCu

Puppy mill bill knocked off local calendar by Simpson

Freshman Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview, just knocked the puppy mill bill off the local calendar, saying he'd like to see a full floor debate on the general state calendar - which allows for a lot of debate, whereas the bill on the local calendar usually flies through and can't have amendments.

Brooks http://dallasne.ws/fn0QUc

Senate panel ditches subsidies for race cars, movies

It's not big money, in a two year state budget that would probably reach $180 billion, if Senate budget writers have their way. But $25 million for special auto-racing events and $22 million of incentives for film, TV and video game production in Texas just reek too much of "frill," apparently.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/f3408g

Former state Rep. Terri Hodge released from prison

Friends and supporters confirmed Thursday that former state Rep. Terri Hodge has been released from federal prison and is in route to Dallas.
Hodge is expected to land at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport this afternoon. She'll then be driven to a halfway house in Hutchins to satisfy the rest of her one-year sentence.

Gromer Jeffers: http://dallasne.ws/gHTNEg

Senate approves measures to alter sex offender laws

Teens would be punished - but less harshly - when sending nude sexual pictures to each other under a measure approved by the Senate Thursday.
Another bill passed by the Senate by Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, would exempt Romeo and Juliet cases to be registered as a sex offender in the state. The state would allow a defense to prosecution if no more than a three year difference exists between the minor and the defendant if the sex was consensual.

Mulvaney: http://dallasne.ws/gyEOPP

Senate budget writers consider proposed hospital tax to recover costs of illegal immigrants’ charity care

AUSTIN — Key Senate budget writers, eager for conservatives’ votes and desperate to fill a huge hole in Medicaid, have considered wrapping a proposed hospital tax around the issue of recovering the costs of illegal immigrants’ charity care.
Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/hGz4RN

Texas House urges balanced budget amendment

Raised voices, quotes from the Bible and plenty of finger-pointing at Texas for not getting its own financial house in order.
All that marked the edgy debate in the Texas House on Wednesday over a resolution urging Congress to send a balanced budget constitutional amendment to the states for ratification.

Shannon: http://dallasne.ws/hRAE8y

Lawmakers could carry handguns to most locations under bill

The Senate Criminal Justice Committee voted Wednesday to let legislators, statewide elected officials and U.S. attorneys carry concealed handguns to locations that are off limits to most concealed handgun licensees. A bill approved by the panel would let those government officials pack concealed weapons at sporting events, and in churches, hospitals and bars - even in businesses that have a policy prohibiting persons from carrying handguns onto their premises.

Stutz: http://dallasne.ws/dWI0iB

Democratic senators miss out on first lady's visit to prevent guns on campus debate

 Sen. Jeff Wentworth almost had his chance to bring up the guns on campus bill Wednesday because two of his bill's opponents planned to leave the floor to welcome first lady Michelle Obama to Texas.

Mulvaney: http://dallasne.ws/gXUknU

State workers, retired teachers get benefit help from senators

Senate budget writers have undone, for the most part, cuts to state employees' health benefits proposed in Senate GOP leaders' initial two-year budget.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/gUR8st

Addressing the noodling problem

In Texas, for reasons not exactly clear, it is illegal to stick your arm into an underwater hole in hopes that a large catfish will latch onto it. Neighboring states for years have allowed this sport, which requires absolutely no equipment except an abiding optimism that such holes are free of alligators, venomous snakes and snapping turtles.

Hoppe: http://dallasne.ws/f9iopr

Texas House considering bill to limit state’s eminent domain powers

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas House is taking up a bill that would limit the ability of governments to seize property using the power of eminent domain.

Staff: http://dallasne.ws/igmhIz

Inmates' health care budget cuts eased by Senate panel

The prison system's health care budget would be cut by less than 10 percent, not 24 percent, under a provision approved by the Senate Finance Committee late Tuesday. By a vote of 13-0, the panel added nearly $200 million to the Department of Criminal Justice's budget for inmate health care.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/erO7lo

Amazon hasn’t closed its Irving distribution center, as it threatened

After Texas slapped Amazon.com with a $269 million bill for uncollected sales tax in February, the online superstore said it would close its Irving distribution center this week, letting its 119 employees go.
Apparently the Seattle-based company wasn’t ready to carry out its vow to vacate the facility by Tuesday.

Maria Halkias: http://dallasne.ws/hdEPWn

Senate panel approves liquidating tobacco-settlement reserve for med schools

Senate budget writers voted Thursday afternoon to liquidate an endowment containing more than $400 million of Texas' tobacco-settlement money and give the money to 10 academic health science centers, including the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/gbNThG

Space flight bill wins House approval, heads to governor

The House gave unanimous final approval Tuesday to a proposal by Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, and Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, to allow private citizens launched into space from Texas to sign a special waiver of liability.

Shannon: http://dallasne.ws/gC9PN7

Callers overwhelm comptroller's phone line for data breach

Huge numbers of Texans who believe they may have had their personal information exposed by Comptroller Susan Combs' office are overwhelming the toll-free phone line she established to respond to incident.
Her web site www.txsafeguard.org warned Tuesday that many callers are phoning in and that the hotline can only accept 19,000 calls per day.

Shannon: http://dallasne.ws/dJUn3s

Senate budget writers favor student financial aid over research

The Senate Finance Committee voted 13-1 Tuesday to restore 90 percent of current funding of the TEXAS Grants program, the main financial aid program at state universities and colleges.
Senate GOP leaders' initial budget, like the House's, would have cut funding of TEXAS Grants by 41 percent. At that reduced level, 60,000 fewer students would receive financial help in 2013. This year, nearly 87,000 students receive a TEXAS Grant.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/herD1P

Budget deal could free $830 million for Texas schools

WASHINGTON — The 11th-hour deal struck Friday night to avert a government shutdown could end up pumping $830 million into the Texas budget.

At stake is a rule Texas Democrats in Congress inserted into a $10 billion emergency jobs package last summer. That rule, known as the Doggett Amendment, says

Gillman: http://dallasne.ws/hRJsKU

Sonogram bill getting unstuck

Last we left the bill that would require women seeking abortions to view a sonogram and listen to the fetal heartbeat, the House and Senate had passed their own versions. That was just over a month ago.

Hoppe: http://dallasne.ws/gRkAro

Cornyn to talk social media during live Facebook town hall

Sen. John Cornyn will take part in his first online town hall meeting Tuesday. The two-term Republican will be stopping by Facebook's Washington office to talk about how social media can be used by members of Congress to connect with constituents.

Matthew Huisman: http://dallasne.ws/fPNn91

View stream at 2PM here: http://dallasne.ws/eVBavE

Breach in Texas comptroller’s office exposes 3.5 million Social Security numbers, birth dates

AUSTIN — Social Security numbers and other personal information for 3.5 million people were inadvertently disclosed on a publicly accessible state computer server for a year or longer, Comptroller Susan Combs revealed Monday.
The information breach — believed to be the most extensive ever in Texas and one of the largest of its kind nationally — included names, addresses and Social Security numbers of all those on the list. In some cases, dates of birth and driver’s license numbers were also listed.

Shannon: http://dallasne.ws/eo7xA8

Tenet Healthcare claims Medicare fraud in lawsuit against hostile takeover bidder Community Health Systems

Tenet Healthcare Corp. has filed a Medicare fraud lawsuit in its ongoing effort to fight off Community Health Systems Inc.’s hostile takeover bid.
In its lawsuit, Dallas-based Tenet accuses Community Health of overbilling Medicare. Tenet estimates the damages at more than $1 billion.

Jason Roberson reports: http://dallasne.ws/fuy4eT

Guns on campus in Senate stalls a second time

The bill to allow guns on campus, once a surefire for passage in the GOP-dominated Texas Legislature, could be running out of ammunition.
The measure by Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, to allow concealed handgun license holders to carry their weapons on college campuses once again stalled in the Senate.

Mulvaney: http://dallasne.ws/hQmMKq

'Clunker' retirement program: urban dwellers help certify budget's balanced

A steep cut in spending on a program that encourages low-income motorists in North Texas and three other urban areas to sell or fix their fumes-belching "clunkers" didn't sit too well with Dallas-area Senate budget writers on Monday.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/eXZFod

Personal information of 3.5 million Texans made public in comptroller data breach

AUSTIN — Texas Comptroller Susan Combs revealed Monday that the personal information of 3.5 million people has been inadvertently disclosed by her agency, making Social Security numbers, dates of birth and other data accessible to the public.

Shannon: http://dallasne.ws/frr84w

Judge upholds order that State Farm Insurance issue $350 million in refunds

AUSTIN — A state judge on Monday rejected an appeal by State Farm Insurance and upheld an order by the state insurance commissioner that the company refund nearly $350 million to its policyholders for excessive premiums dating back to 2003.
http://dallasne.ws/ijydh5

Lawmakers consider mixture of bills to close off, open up government information

AUSTIN — Texas leaders have called for government to be transparent, but some lawmakers want to shut off the spigot for information flowing from police departments, chambers of commerce and the courts.

Shannon: http://dallasne.ws/fDjVUx

Texas Comptroller computer breach exposes private records of 3.5 million Texans

A security breach at the Texas Comptroller's office has resulted in the inadvertent disclosed of personal information about 3.5 million Texans. The data was mistakenly put on a state computer server available to the public.

Slater: http://dallasne.ws/gNwWMX

State Farm, Texas Dept. of Insurance back in court

State Farm and the Texas Department of Insurance resume their long-running legal battle in state district court in Austin Monday over alleged overcharges by the state's largest home insurer dating back to 2003.

Stutz: http://dallasne.ws/fyoP02

Hypocrisy in bid to undo birthright citizenship, says ex-Texas solicitor general James Ho

Interesting essay today from former Texas solicitor general James Ho, shredding the case for a push to outlaw "birthright citizenship" - a cause celebre among anti-immigrant forces on the right.

Gillman: http://dallasne.ws/gNMy20

In second letter to Gov. Rick Perry, Dallas mayor outlines city's problems with state budget

Reporter Rudolph Bush uploaded the letter. Read it here: http://dallasne.ws/eyFBdN

Traffickers fuel Mexico violence with guns bought legally in U.S.

Illegal traffickers are using a sophisticated system of “straw buyers” at North Texas gun shows and gun shops to fuel the escalating drug wars in Mexico.
Federal statistics show that about 90 percent of guns seized by Mexican authorities in recent years were initially purchased in the U.S. More than a third came from Texas.

Jason Trahan: http://dallasne.ws/gfuaa9

 More today in DMN's Crime Blog: http://bit.ly/hPFX1u

Texas Legislature still wrangling with host of political bills

With the Texas Legislature headed into its final seven weeks, Slater takes a look at the status of major bills dealing with political issues: http://dallasne.ws/h6yz4U

Texas congressmen keep close tabs on remapping fight

WASHINGTON — If there was one thing Texas congressmen kept a close eye on last week, it was a hearing in Austin about how to carve up the state into 36 new U.S. House districts.

Gillman: http://dallasne.ws/emKqVR

Guns on campus debate expected to resume Monday in Senate

AUSTIN — Senators expected to debate Monday whether to allow guns on college campuses will encounter emotional arguments on both sides.
But they also face a choice over whether to leave in place a status quo that few realize: College campuses have the power to allow guns now, if they choose.

Mulvaney: http://dallasne.ws/gmKqRU

President Obama coming to Texas in May

President Obama will travel to Texas next month for a fundraiser as part of the kickoff of his reelection campaign.
Slater: http://dallasne.ws/i0Hgni

House OKs racing panel sunset bill requiring idle track licenses be revoked

 The House tentatively approved a sunset bill Friday that would let the Texas Racing Commission revoke horse racing licenses if track operators don't hold meets - or at least show progress toward live racing.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/dTjj5S

First HOA bill sails through House

In the first homeowners association legislation to pass the House, members tentatively approved a bill today that would restrict HOAs from banning solar panels.

Meyers http://dallasne.ws/e247EH

'Non-tax revenue' to float Senate's more generous budget? Proving hard to get

An anti-tax group has published an internal document showing that Senate GOP budget writers are considering whether to take away two-thirds of the unspent money in Gov. Rick Perry's cherished economic development programs, the Texas Enterprise Fund and the Emerging Technology Fund.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/h7ANx6

Texting while driving outlawed under House bill

The House just tentatively, but overwhelmingly passed, a bill that would stop drivers in moving vehicles from texting or sending a text.

Hoppe: http://dallasne.ws/fRpX1I

Limits on payday lending get Senate panel approval

It's been debated in public and behind the scenes. Now, a proposal to place limits on payday and car title lenders has won approval in a Senate committee.
The Senate Business and Commerce Committee voted 5-1 on Thursday to send the bill by Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, to the full Senate. The legislation would close a loophole that allows payday lenders to operate outside of Texas regulations imposed on other financial institutions.

Shannon: http://dallasne.ws/hwCdYm

Texas lawmaker demonstrates tax loopholes at Capitol with a lemonade stand

Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio, set up a lemonade stand on the south lawn of the Capitol to help explain how tax loopholes have contributed to the current massive shortfall:

 


Audio: Villarreal explains one specific example:

  NaturalGasExemption by AustinBureauAudio

Ag Commish Todd Staples looks at lieutenant governor bid

Texas baseball legend Nolan Ryan is pitching Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples as the next lieutenant governor.
The Staples campaign announced today that Ryan will spearhead Staples' 2014 Lt. governor exploratory committee.

Meyers: http://dallasne.ws/erraPZ

Guns on campus Senate debate stalled

The Texas Senate was poised to begin debate on a measure that would allow guns on college campuses Thursday, but when the author of the bill realized two of his supporters changed their minds, he was forced to postpone until the beginning of next week.

Mulvaney: http://dallasne.ws/g31moV

Electricity discount money for poor, now unspent, might be used on Medicaid

Sen. Steve Ogden, the Bryan Republican who's the Senate's chief budget writer, said Thursday that money collected from a fee on electricity bills should possibly be used to draw down more federal matching money, perhaps in the state-federal Medicaid health insurance program for the poor, elderly and disabled.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/ertMzf

Odd alliance -- boy! -- supports more transparency on state finances

"Let the record note that Sherri Greenberg and Talmadge Heflin are on the same side," said Ogden, who served with both in the House in the early and mid 1990s.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/hUb8uj

House votes to ease up on new testing and graduation requirements

AUSTIN — The Texas House, responding to pleas from worried school districts, voted Wednesday to ease up on tough new testing and graduation requirements for high school students.
Although critics said the House bill was a major retreat from strengthening academic expectations, most members voted to pass the legislation, which would allow students to fail as many as eight of 12 new end-of-course exams and still earn a diploma. Tentative approval came on a voice vote, with final action scheduled for Thursday.

Stutz: http://dallasne.ws/ewsy2e

Thousands protest cuts, demand lawmakers find more revenue

AUSTIN — Thousands of state workers, community activists and union members rallied Wednesday outside the Capitol to protest budget cuts.
They called on lawmakers to use more of the state’s savings and find other revenue to reduce the $23 billion of cuts in the House’s two-year budget.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/fiA9BQ

Video of rally:

Some Texas speed limits could be bumped to 85, the fastest in nation

AUSTIN — Texans might enter life in the fastest lane under a bill the House approved Wednesday, authorizing an 85-mph speed limit on highways.

Hoppe and Stutz: http://dallasne.ws/g0BJwC

Senate approves new TEXAS grant requirements, House postpones debate

High-performing high school students would get a first shot at the state's main financial aid program for poor students under a bill approved by the Senate Wednesday.

The bill by Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, chairwoman of the Senate Higher Education committee, would create a priority funding model for the TEXAS grant program. The grants are currently given out on a first-come-first-serve basis but the bill would give those who meet certain criteria, such as high grade point averages, top class ranking and having taken advanced curricula, first access.

Mulvaney: http://dallasne.ws/f6FU8D

Senate bill makes DNA tests easier for inmates to obtain

Convicted offenders would have a clearer ability to seek testing of DNA material in their cases to prove their innocence under a bill passed by the full Senate on Wednesday.

Under current law, the courts can deny post-conviction testing if the offenders at the time of their trials had an opportunity to test DNA but chose not to. Sometimes defense attorneys are hesitant to seek DNA tests because they fear it could lead to more evidence against their clients.

Hoppe: http://dallasne.ws/eQ79Wl

Sales tax up for 12th consecutive month, Combs reports

The state collected 9.9 percent more sales tax in March -- or $1.6 billion -- than in the same month a year earlier, Comptroller Susan Combs reported Wednesday.
It was the 12th consecutive month of year over year increases, after 14 wicked months in a row of decreases.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/gSHKtW

Concealed weapons bill draws attention, confusion

Judging from the reaction -- emails, calls, comments -- there's plenty of confusion out there about where Texans can and cannot carry concealed handguns. And we didn't make things any clearer this week in reporting about a bill that would allow state politicians carry in places the public can't.

Slater: http://dallasne.ws/gv2X50

Catholic bishops get in on tense budget times

Catholic bishops and archbishops visited the Texas Capitol on Wednesday and found themselves in the middle of the tension over the difficult state budget, which is now in the Senate's hands.

Shannon: http://dallasne.ws/hA0p5T

How far apart are the House and Senate on the budget? Really?

While the Senate's budget is very tentative, and far from final, the difference as of April 6 between the two chambers' budgets, when we get out our yardstick and measure state revenue and state dedicated tax money, is just north of $6 billion.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/gOFOg4

Wayne Slater: Actress Holland Taylor knows something about the life of Ann Richards and the troubles of Charlie Sheen

AUSTIN — It took a while, but eventually the interview with actress Holland Taylor on her one-woman play about Ann Richards turned, like everything these days, to Charlie Sheen.
Taylor plays Sheen’s mother on the now-interrupted TV show Two and a Half Men.
Slater: http://dallasne.ws/fb81V4

Major bill to rein in homeowners associations passes Texas Senate

A comprehensive bill to rein in homeowners associations sailed through the Senate on Tuesday, with homeowner advocates calling it a barometer of possible action on the issue.
The bill, sponsored by Royce West, D-Dallas, includes a litany of regulations and would require associations to show greater transparency, broaden voting rights, ensure homeowners pay late dues before attorney fees and stop foreclosure without a court order. Currently, HOAs must send only a certified letter warning of impending foreclosure.

Jessica Meyers reports: http://dallasne.ws/g1t943

House could add up to $5 billion in spending, Pitts says

AUSTIN — The House’s chief budget writer said Tuesday that representatives may be open to adding $5 billion of spending to the budget they just passed.
Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, said Texans “are waking up” to the magnitude of proposed cuts to public schools, nursing homes and other programs.
He said unidentified freshman Republicans, who entered the session saying “we came here to cut,” have privately told him this week that they’d like to undo or ease certain spending reductions.

Garrett, Brooks report: http://dallasne.ws/hdYHkl

Straus on gambling - just to be clear

It's a given that any lawmaker who wants to pass a gambling bill through the Texas House wouldn't get any resistance from House Speaker Joe Straus. The San Antonio Republican's family has been in the horse-racing business for 80 years, a point he made clear to the students at the Texas Politics Project on the UT campus on Tuesday.
Asked about his position on a gambling bill, Straus was clear - to an extent.

Straus: http://dallasne.ws/h1F7Ri

Straus on $10b more in spending: Cue the laugh track

House Speaker Joe Straus sat down with Dr. James Henson, director of the UT Texas Politics Project, for about half an hour on Tuesday to talk about myriad subjects in a room full of grad students, interns, and a smattering of reporters.

Brooks: http://dallasne.ws/i4mkXX

Cockfighting bill seen as an attack on way of life

The hearing room was packed with buzzing, angry ranchers, concerned farm owners and even admitted cockfighters, waiting for their chance to step up to the ring to face the Senate Criminal Justice committee to defend their livelihoods and oppose a bill they believe is an attack on Texas culture.
Mulvaney: http://dallasne.ws/eusvjz

Ogden vents frustration at business over taxes; Allaway says remarks 'unfair'

Sen. Steve Ogden , R-Bryan, said Tuesday that Texas has a tax and school-finance system "that's fundamentally unstable." A day earlier, Ogden, the head of the tax- and budget-writing Senate Finance Committee, scolded business lobbyists before him for blocking every effort he's made this session to put the state's fiscal edifice on a firmer foundation.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/eVZiUZ

Perry wagers wine on women's basketball final

Gov. Rick Perry put a case of Texas wine on the line for the Lady Aggies, who are taking on the Notre Dame women in the women's Final Four tonight.

Hoppe: http://dallasne.ws/gABUJC

Major HOA reform bill passes Senate

The most comprehensive bill this session reining in homeowners associations just passed the Senate, an action homeowner advocates view as a barometer for change.

Meyers: http://dallasne.ws/fb7KUZ

Football helmets for high schoolers must be reconditioned

A bill designed to protect student athletes from concussions by mandating that older football helmets be kept in good condition tentatively passed the House on Tuesday.

Hoppe: http://dallasne.ws/hLYLMz

U.S. Supreme Court blocks Texas execution using new

This morning, the high court agreed to reconsider its January order denying the 47-year-old's appeal. That appeal raised claims of innocence and poor legal help during his trial and early stages of his appeals.

Tomaso: http://dallasne.ws/gfxrhg

To save houses from HOA foreclosure, bill would offer up what's inside

Lawmakers considered an usual solution Monday to homeowners association foreclosures -- lose the furniture but save the house.
Rep. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, proposed a bill to the House's Business and Industry committee that would help homeowners pay late dues by offering up some of their property.

Jessica Meyers: http://dallasne.ws/hffETh

Senate approves bill to penalize insurance companies that go to court to delay refund orders

AUSTIN — Insurance companies that go to court to fight refund orders for overcharges would face more severe financial penalties under a measure the Senate approved Monday.

The legislation provides that an insurer is subject to penalty interest of 18 percent annually for as long as they contest a refund order — unless the company prevails in court.

Stutz: http://dallasne.ws/e4DnpJ

Bill would attempt to enforce cleaner restrooms at Texas gas stations

AUSTIN — An unfortunate experience with dirty portable toilets behind a gas station was enough for Stanley Briers to push for the state to fix the problem.
The outdoor toilets at that establishment on the side of State Highway 71 were so bad, Briers said, they “would make you throw...

Mulvaney: http://dallasne.ws/dWj3ui

Texas House votes to let hunters go hog wild, shoot feral animals from helicopters

AUSTIN – Lawmakers would like to dispatch as many feral pigs as possible to hog heaven.
So the House tentatively decided Monday to allow ranchers to rent out seats on helicopters used to hunt feral hogs and coyotes by air on their property.

Hoppe: http://dallasne.ws/g7jDDS

Measure would let Texas legislators carry concealed weapons into bars, churches, schools

AUSTIN — After the shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Texas lawmakers want the right to carry concealed guns where the public can’t, including bars, churches, schools and sporting events.
State law allows residents to be licensed to carry a concealed handgun but restricts some locations. A bill under consideration in a House committee would exempt legislators and statewide officeholders from those restrictions.

Slater: http://dallasne.ws/f7r3BV

Senate votes to create new Texas Oil and Gas Commission

The Texas Railroad Commission would be abolished and replaced by a new Texas Oil and Gas Commission under legislation approved Monday by the Senate. The new oil and gas commission would take over the duties of the railroad commission to oversee the state's oil, gas and other energy resource industries. As for railroads, the railroad commission hasn't had any authority over that sector for several years.

Stutz: http://dallasne.ws/heXueT

Sobering up, the morning after

If you look at the three revenue estimates Comptroller Susan Combs has done at the start of the past three legislative sessions, there's a very daunting fact staring you in the face:
Texas' wallet ain't growing any fatter.
In fact, almost eerily, the number that best defines the state's income has been under something like house arrest.
Garrett offers analysis after House passes its budget: http://dallasne.ws/e4Pu7H

Survey shows Texas college leaders still rank among the nation’s highest paid

The heads of the University of Texas System and flagship Austin campus received some of the biggest paychecks among public university leaders last year, a national survey has found.

UT System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa received $750,000 in total compensation in 2009-10 and UT-Austin president Bill Powers received $746,738. Only Ohio...

Holly Hacker and Erin Mulvaney report: http://dallasne.ws/ejc3uu

House passes budget, almost along party lines

 AUSTIN — House Republicans, rebuffing Democrats’ pleas that deep cuts will tip Texas into a tailspin, passed a bare-bones state budget late Sunday that leaders called realistic, balanced — and a work in progress.

The vote, which broke nearly along party lines, was 98-49. Only two Republicans voted against the...

More from Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/fBeO5U

House passes budget, almost along party lines

House Republicans, rebuffing Democrats' pleas that deep cuts will tip Texas into a tailspin, passed a bare-bones, two-year, $164.5 billion state budget late Sunday.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/eD4hfm

A note for the record from the House's roads scholars ...

Texas would spend more on road debt than on road building -- for the first time in history -- under the budget that neared passage in the House late Sunday.
Rep. Joe Pickett, D-El Paso, who was Transportation Committee chairman last session, said it was important that Texans realize they're sort of in hock for asphalt and concrete.
Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/fo7U0g

Western civilization requirement was hottest flap of first half ...

The House has resumed debate of the state budget, after a 40-hour pause. At a presser before Sunday evening's session, Democratic leader Jessica Farrar of Houston lamented "wasted time." She mentioned amendments by Republicans that targeted family planning money (successfully) and (unsuccessfully) would have required at least 10 percent of spending on undergraduate education on state campuses be devoted to teaching Western civilization.

Garrett:  http://dallasne.ws/idlN7E

Animal euthanasia more regulated than human execution, ACLU of Texas says

 A report released Sunday by the ACLU of Texas says procedures for euthanizing animals in the state are more regulated than the protocol for executing inmates on death row.

Diane Jennings: http://dallasne.ws/hfIG6L

House Democrats try to force Republicans into tough budget votes

AUSTIN — House Democrats are powerless to stop big budget cuts, but they tried to start turning around their political fortunes this weekend by forcing votes that could haunt Republicans next year — and beyond.

Democrats called for easing steep reductions to schools for the blind and deaf, programs for...

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/gDjRRu

Austin Bureau Roundup -- week ending April 1st

Your weekly roundup of items of statewide interest from the reporters of The Dallas Morning News:

Texas insurers scored big profits in 2010

AUSTIN — Texas home insurers had a banner year in 2010, benefiting from the lack of any weather catastrophes and from premiums that rank as the highest in the country.

Stutz: http://dallasne.ws/hNLwTe

On the outside looking in: Protesters try to raise concern over budget cuts

 AUSTIN — About 60 protesters gathered near the steps of the Capitol on Friday, expressing their fears about the state budget with symbolic coffins and handmade signs.
Ministers, schoolteachers, wheelchair warriors, labor representatives, youth activists and environmentalists warned of the dangers of the extensive cuts that House members were inside debating.

Hoppe: http://dallasne.ws/i0Fbia

As House nears passage of budget, social conservatives take on longtime targets

AUSTIN — The House’s new GOP supermajority, venting years of frustration at Planned Parenthood and “frills” such as arts grants, was poised late Friday to pass a no-new-taxes budget cutting public schools for the first time in memory and opening a nearly $6 billion hole in the Medicaid program for the poor.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/fYJhO3

Traditional family values must have equal time on campus, House says

The Texas House approved a budget provision late Friday requiring state colleges and universities, if they use state funds to support "a gender and sexuality center," to spend an equal amount on a center promoting "family and traditional values."
Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/elSwLS

Culture warriors pass 6 amendments stripping family planning $

For those who are keeping score, the House has passed six amendments during Friday afternoon's budget debate that take away money for family planning services.
The six amendments, all by Republicans, would take about $54 million of the $100 million the two-year budget allotted for family planning. They'd give it to various social programs, hospital emergency rooms and pregnancy crisis centers, which try to urge pregnant girls and women to have their babies and give them up for adoption.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/hLEYVp

Fear of campaign attack ads drives sweep of arts agency's state money

 Veteran House members said they easily could visualize the hit piece: Incumbent X voted to give money to the symphony rather than to Grandma and disabled cousin Billy, who needed it for a little help so they could stay in their own homes.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/h1VRGz

Democrats say Rs are whistling past grave fiscal ills -- to 2012 collision

 Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/eCowHx

50 facts about the House budget

The Austin-American Statesman has put together a fact list about the proposed House budget, up for debate all day today, and possibly tomorrow, and even possibly Sunday.

Hoppe http://dallasne.ws/dNXXp7

More detail: http://www.texaslsg.org/82nd/fr04012011HB1

OK, so it's not going to be such a fun Friday after all ...

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/hPfMCS

More hints in House of raising $ for hospitals, nursing home: Bed tax?

Rep. Jim Pitts opened debate of the budget Friday morning, and within an hour, he was hinting of possible relief to come in filling a $6 billion hole in Medicaid. Many Republicans' biggest concern is that a lot of nursing homes and even some hospitals could close if the House's all-cuts approach to the Texas budget crisis prevails.
Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/hLVgC7

Teachable moments: Freshmen learn about life in the Texas House

AUSTIN — The largest class of freshmen in House history hits a rite of passage this week as the chamber debates a series of budget bills, but the members have already learned a series of lessons about life in the Capitol. Staff writer Karen Brooks provides a sampling: http://dallasne.ws/f7DbOg

Mesquite Republican Cindy Burkett tackles learning curve as freshman House member

AUSTIN — With a smile on her face and a mop in her hand, Republican Cindy Burkett told voters she understands hard work — even cleaning the floors in her Subway sandwich shops.

The conservative from Mesquite persuaded voters and tea party followers to let her apply that elbow grease...

Kelley Shannon follows a frosh: http://dallasne.ws/gheHba -great story.

Republicans say they aren't cruel, it's just tough love

House Republican Caucus Chairman Larry Taylor of Friendswood says Texans should understand that the House's GOP supermajority is simply being prudent -- not callous -- by cutting spending and avoiding higher taxes.
"It may be a form of tough love," Taylor said Friday morning, on the eve of floor debate of a two-year budget that cuts spending by nearly $23 billion.

Garrett: http://dallasne.ws/i2xPxs