The Midday Brief: Top Texas Headlines for March 10, 2011

Your afternoon reading:

• "House budget chief Jim Pitts is expected to upbraid Gov. Rick Perry — or the governor's staff — this afternoon for circulating a list of suggested cuts, as if to show lawmakers haven't scrubbed spending enough." — Pitts, Perry tiff on budget escalates, Trail Blazers

• "Some state workers could face unpaid furloughs during the next two-year budget under a bill filed Wednesday by House Appropriations Chairman Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie." — State worker furlough bill filed, Postcards

• "Contrary to claims by Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the Lone Star State isn't stealing California's jobs, workers or prosperity, according to a UCLA study." — Texas isn't stealing California jobs, workers or wealth, UCLA study finds, Los Angeles Times

• "Two Houston-area members of Congress sharply broke ranks along partisan lines today on the merits of a contentious House hearing delving into the threat posed to the United States by the radicalization of some American Muslims." — Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee and Republican Michael McCaul split on merits of House hearing on radicalization of Muslims in America, Texas on the Potomac

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "At today's TribLive conversation, Speaker Joe Straus stopped short of supporting the tapping of the Rainy Day Fund to cover the current biennium's $4.3 billion deficit, but he left the door open." — TribLive: Straus on the Rainy Day Fund

• "State Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, filed a bill today that would make it a state jail felony to 'lewdly violate' a person's privacy in a place like a public restroom." — Bill Would Make Restroom Peeping a Felony

• "The director of the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown Public Policy Institute on the factors Texas lawmakers should consider as they seek to make budget cuts while continuing the reforms they started in 2007." — Shay Bilchik: The TT Interview

And on the LiveBlog, Thanh Tan's covering the House Appropriations Committee hearing, where lawmakers are expected to consider whether to tap into the state's Rainy Day Fund.