The Evening Brief: May 2, 2013

New in The Texas Tribune

•    Railroad Commission Moves Closer to Getting New Name: "A bill that would make significant changes to the Texas Railroad Commission, including renaming the Texas Energy Resources Commission, passed the Senate on Thursday after 40 minutes of discussion. The House now must act."

•    STAAR Results May Hold Back 80,000 Fifth-Graders: "More than 80,000 fifth-graders and 60,000 eighth-graders in the state are at risk of being held back this year because of poor performance on state standardized tests under a Texas law banning social promotion."

•    House Committee Votes Out Transparency Bill: "Rep. Giovanni Capriglione's bill to require legislators to disclose government contracts with businesses in which they or their immediate family own at least a 50 percent stake has squeezed out of a House committee."

Culled

•    Obama Arrives in Mexican Capital to Meet With New Leader (The New York Times): "President Obama arrived here Thursday afternoon for talks with President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico, with both leaders seeking to shift attention from the security issues that have dominated in recent years to the vast economic relationship between the two nations."

•    What Ted Cruz knows (Politco): "Whether he’s currently mulling a 2016 run in May of 2013 may not be nearly as interesting as another question: With barely four months in the Senate under his belt, what the heck is Ted Cruz up to anyway?"

•    NY GOP Rep. Peter King: 'If Ted Cruz had prevailed, my constituents would be homeless' (Houston Chronicle): "Sen. Ted Cruz may be a special guest at a New York state GOP dinner later this month, but not everyone is pleased at his presence in the Empire State. 'I wouldn’t want to be involving New York with Ted Cruz,' New York Rep. Peter King recently told the New York Daily News."

•    NRA to meet in Texas after blocking gun control in Congress (Reuters): "Tens of thousands of National Rifle Association members gather in Houston this weekend for the first time since the Senate rejected a plan last month to expand background checks for gun buyers, but officials say attendees will not sit back to celebrate victory."

•    Officials: No breakthrough yet in Texas explosion (The Associated Press): "Investigators using high-tech equipment in an effort to figure out what caused a massive, deadly fertilizer plant explosion in Texas have talked to more than 370 people and received more than 200 tips, but still don't have a breakthrough."