The Evening Brief: Oct. 31, 2013

New in The Texas Tribune

•    Prop 6: Where Statewide Candidates Stand on Water Funds: "Some lawmakers oppose the measure and are urging Texans to vote against Proposition 6, arguing it would give too much power to the three-member Water Development Board, which would oversee how the funds are used. But Gov. Rick Perry and other state leaders have said that the measure is critical to meeting the state's water needs and that they support it because it is limited to a one-time draw from the Rainy Day Fund."

•    Proposed Rules Could Increase Use of Pepper Spray on Youths: "New rules under consideration at the Texas Juvenile Justice Department would expand the authority of county juvenile probation agencies to use pepper spray on aggressive youth offenders in secure facilities."

•    Tommy Williams Hired by Texas A&M University System: "Former state Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, has officially joined the Texas A&M University System as its new vice chancellor of federal and state relations. The system's board of regents approved his appointment on Thursday."

•    Texans Will Decide on Property Tax Breaks for Veterans: "Two of the nine constitutional amendments on the Nov. 5 ballot could benefit many of the 1.6 million veterans in Texas. Propositions 1 and 4 would offer property tax breaks to soldiers and their families."

Culled

•    Offense, defense line up over Katy ISD's stadium proposal (Houston Chronicle): "Friday night lights aren't what they used to be. Just ask the folks in Katy, who will vote Tuesday whether to approve a new football stadium that would be the most expensive high school venue ever built. At $69 million, the 14,000-seat stadium would surpass by almost $10 million one built specifically for the Allen Eagles two years ago."

•    Wendy Davis’s Secret Weapon to Win Texas (Newsweek): "Wendy Davis should send Rick Perry a muffin basket, because he may have handed her a winning issue in her longshot bid to succeed Perry as governor of Texas. It may be counter-intuitive that Davis, a Democratic state senator running for governor in a red state, would bring up the controversial health care reform law, but it might be a risk she needs to take."

•    What does the future hold for Energy Future Holdings? (Fort Worth Star-Telegram): "Energy Future Holdings, the Dallas-based electricity giant that serves most of North Texas, faces a scheduled $270 million debt payment Friday that it can either choose to make or forgo in favor of a bankruptcy filing. The company, the product of the 2007 buyout of TXU Corp., had nearly $1.6 billion in cash as of June 30 and could make the $270 million interest payment. The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported Thursday that the company plans to make the payment."

•    Harry Reid: Ted Cruz ‘16 would be end of GOP (Politico): "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says a part of him thinks it would be good for Sen. Ted Cruz to be the Republican nominee for president in 2016, because it would end the GOP."

•    Ted Cruz's Dad Calls U.S. a "Christian Nation," Says Obama Should Go "Back to Kenya" (Mother Jones): "Seven months earlier, Rafael Cruz, speaking to the North Texas Tea Party on behalf of his son, who was then running for Senate, called President Barack Obama an 'outright Marxist' who 'seeks to destroy all concept of God,' and he urged the crowd to send Obama 'back to Kenya.'"