Public school budget cuts are coming, but for now, school districts still don't know by how much. As Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, a special session on education funding could push decisions past school district deadlines. Full Story
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U.S. Rep. Ron Paul has kicked off another presidential campaign, his second attempt at the GOP nomination. Erika Aguilar of KUT News reports on how the libertarian rabble-rouser, whose views often put him at odds with mainstream Republicans, may do in 2012. Full Story
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A new version of Rep. Scott Hochberg's school finance plan limits the total reductions in state funding for any individual district to 10 percent in 2012. Check our searchable database to see what the cuts will look for your district. Full Story
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A contentious measure that would allow Texas counties to consider the income of a legal immigrant’s sponsor when determining if the immigrant is eligible for indigent health care passed the state House today. Full Story
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Your afternoon reading: Senate approves bigger Rainy Day withdrawal; statewide smoking ban could live on; College Democrats warn Republicans Full Story
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Don't stub out the statewide smoking ban bill yet. The bill's House and Senate authors say they've got a vehicle for the measure to be passed, and they're still hopeful Texas will be the first southern state to outlaw the habit in restaurants, bars and most public places. Full Story
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The Texas Senate approved a $3.97 billion draw on the state's Rainy Day Fund to cover a deficit of the same size in the current budget, but not before rejecting efforts to add on a larger amount to help balance the 2012-13 budget. Full Story
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Candidates in next year’s U.S. House and Senate elections in Texas raised more than $5 million in the first quarter from individuals. Most live in Texas. But a significant portion came from outside the Lone Star State, according to the Federal Election Commission. California led the way, followed by Virginia, Washington, D.C. and New York. Full Story
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Republicans should beware of the backlash cuts to higher education could bring, members of the Texas College Democrats said at a press conference today. Full Story
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At last Thursday's TribLive conversation, I interviewed Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples about the impact of drug-fueled violence on border farmers and ranchers, what he thinks about the Senate's two-thirds rule, his run for lieutenant governor in 2014 and more. Full Story
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As a Christian and a lawmaker, biblical stories form something of a lens through which I try to find focus when making public policy decisions — particularly as anti-immigrant bills have gained a disturbing momentum in Austin over the last few weeks. Full Story
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For state lawmakers, amid the sniping and the stalling, the clock is ticking loudly. Full Story
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It’s easier to spike legislation than to pass it, and timing is important. Nothing is dead for certain until the session ends, but lots of important things are not done, and the regular session ends on Memorial Day. Full Story
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A team of University of Texas researchers is about to study the impacts of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, the drilling technique that has environmental groups worried. Mose Buchele of KUT News talked with the man leading the study of one of the most controversial methods of harvesting energy in the world. Full Story
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Texas could save money, and prisoners could get a better education, some lawmakers say, if inmate learning programs were provided online. But correctional education experts and teachers say lawmakers’ ideas — particularly about online programs — show a lack of understanding about prison life. Full Story
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For the latest installment of our unscientific survey of political and policy insiders, we asked about politics — whether Barack Obama will do as well in Texas in 2012 as in 2008, whether Republicans can lose a statewide election, whether any top officeholders are in danger, and which issues in the Legislature will become issues in the elections, for better and for worse. Full Story
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Kel Seliger decided to run the redistricting marathon by saving up his energy until the end and then running a sprint. The Amarillo Republican's Senate Redistricting Committee met less than three weeks before end of the session to consider Senate district maps that had at that point been public for less than 24 hours. He told members — this was on Thursday — that they had until 5 p.m. to get their amendments to him and to make sure they were legally vetted and so on. And he said he planned to vote on the plan, along with a House plan already approved on the other side of the rotunda, on Friday. That sets up a full Senate vote for as early as next week. Full Story
The House has blown its stack and made up again a couple of times since our last conversation, all within the rules, and all — if you take a long view of things —right on schedule. Senators, who had a group conniption fit last week, have remained clear to partly cloudy and calm. Full Story
The sanctuary cities bill filed by Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, was a victory for conservative lawmakers who called for state enforcement of immigration laws. But the bill, which would prohibit cities, counties and other governmental entities or special districts from adopting a policy that prevents law enforcement from asking persons lawfully detained or arrested if they are in the country legally, could be the only victory in that category as time winds down in the current session. Full Story
The ideas on what to do with the state budget are getting weirder and weirder. Full Story