The Evening Brief: Jan. 24, 2013
Your evening reading: state tax-break bill targets federal contraception rule; national Democrats launch Texas initiative; Texas Republicans rebuke Clinton over Benghazi testimony Full Story
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TribLive: Dewhurst on Takeaways from 2012
At this morning's TribLive conversation, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst talked about what he learned in his unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate. Full Story
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TribLive: Dewhurst on the Water Plan
At this morning's TribLive conversation, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst talked about how much it will take to jump-start the state's as-yet-unfunded water plan. Full Story
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TribLive: Dewhurst on Funding Public Education
At this morning's TribLive conversation, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst talked about whether public education funding in Texas is sufficient and where additional money might come from. Full Story
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Will Marijuana Laws in Other States Prompt Change in Texas?
Water, transportation and education are the dominant topics this legislative session, but pro-marijuana reform groups hope that recent laws passed in Colorado and Washington will sway Texas lawmakers to follow suit. Full Story
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Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman / Mateusz Atroszko -
TribLive: A Conversation About Family Planning
Full video of my January 22 TribLive conversation about family planning and women's health with state Reps. Donna Howard, D-Austin, and Sarah Davis, R-West University Place. Full Story
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Slow Start to Legislative Session Part of Texas Tradition
Texas lawmakers are back at work Wednesday after nearly a week off, and they’ve got about 125 days left in their 140-day session. And while it might seem like a lazy start to their biennial meeting, it is, in fact, all part of the plan. Full Story
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Lost in Translation: From Legislature to English
The Legislature has its own jargon, and it sometimes feels like members are speaking a different language. Blocker bills? WADA? Chubbing? LARS? Here's a guide — in the form of a multiple-choice quiz — to what they're saying. Full Story
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Spending Limit Could Make State's Rainy Day Fund Tougher to Tap
After years in which the state's spending limit was irrelevant, it may play a key role in budget negotiations this session, and it could make it tougher for lawmakers to tap billions of dollars in the Rainy Day Fund. Full Story
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TribLive: Howard and Davis on the Women's Health Program
At this morning's TribLive conversation, state Reps. Sarah Davis, R-West University Place, and Donna Howard, D-Austin, talked about whether the new state-run Texas Women's Health Program will have enough providers without Planned Parenthood. Full Story
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Bill Seeks Study on Effects of Cutting Federal Funds to State
State Rep. James White, R-Hillister, has filed legislation that would require the state to study the effects of cutting financial ties with the federal government. The bill is not intended as a call for secession, White said. Full Story
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Time to Take a Look at Cutting Ethical Corners
It's been a long time since the Legislature took a good, hard look at its ethics laws and its own practices. With the Texas Ethics Commission up for review, a restive electorate and a herd of new lawmakers, they have a golden opportunity. Full Story
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Video: Texans Rally on Gun Appreciation Day
Three days after President Obama called for stricter gun laws nationally, gun owners in Texas gathered in Austin to rally in defense of their Second Amendment rights. Full Story
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Newsreel: State Budgets and Campaign Money
In this edition of the Newsreel: The House and Senate have announced their starting budget proposals, and campaign funding numbers foreshadow the 2014 races for statewide offices. Full Story
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Dewhurst Appoints Senate Committees
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst filled out his committee assignments late Friday afternoon, supplementing the chairmanship shuffle he announced late last year. Full Story
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The Polling Center: Lawmakers Fret About Water, but the Public Doesn't
Water has emerged as the top infrastructure issue before the 83rd Legislature — an issue that appears to be more important to lawmakers than to most of the people they represent. Full Story
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Lawmakers to Again Take Aim at Predatory Lending
The Legislature will have another go at fighting the practices of some payday lenders and auto-title loan businesses, which critics say often prey on vulnerable Texans. Full Story
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Subdued Start for Those at the Head of the Table
The legislative session just started, but it seems clear that state leaders are running low on what a former president from Texas once called "the vision thing." Full Story
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For Dean of Senate, Public and Private Blur
Critics say the dean of the Texas Senate, John Whitmire, D-Houston, is a poster boy for a legislative culture in which real and perceived conflicts of interest are commonplace. Whitmire says he's proud of his four decades in office. Full Story
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Slideshow: Whitmire's 40 Years in the Lege
Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, served 10 years in the Texas House before becoming the longest-serving member of the Texas Senate. Here's a photographic look back at the dean of the Senate's 40 years in elected office in Texas. Full Story
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