The Evening Brief: Dec. 3, 2013

New in The Texas Tribune

•    Abbott Setting His Sights on Education Policy Debate: "Attorney General Greg Abbott will spend most of the next month talking about education, signaling that he won’t cede any ground on the issue to state Sen. Wendy Davis, who is making her support of public schools a calling card in the governor’s race."

•    TDI Proposes New Rules for Health Navigators: "To address privacy concerns raised by state leaders, the Texas Department of Insurance on Tuesday proposed additional rules for the so-called navigators directed to help Texans find health insurance under the federal Affordable Care Act."

•    Janek Questions Temporary Fix for Insurance Marketplace: "Texas Health and Human Services Commissioner Kyle Janek raised concerns on Tuesday about a temporary process set up by the Obama administration to help transfer applications for Medicaid from the federal health insurance marketplace over to the state."

•    Dewhurst Web Ad Urges Voters To "Keep Texas No. 1": "The David Dewhurst campaign offers a civics lesson on the Texas Legislature and the responsibilities of the lieutenant governor — while showcasing the incumbent's conservative record in office — in a new web ad released Tuesday."

•    Branch Focuses on Voter ID Fight in New Web Ad: "In a new web video, attorney general candidate Dan Branch focuses on protecting the state's elections laws, concluding with a pledge to 'stop Obama's Department of Justice from overturning our Texas voter ID law.'"

•    Hurd Releases New Ad in CD-23 Race: "Will Hurd, a San Antonio native and former CIA operations officer who's running in the GOP primary for CD-23, has released a new web video featuring the old SUV he calls 'Shirley Marie.'"

Culled

•    Wendy Davis: Greg Abbott is no teacher’s pet (The Dallas Morning News): "GOP candidate Greg Abbott’s listening tour of public schools, starting Tuesday in Plano, prompted outcry from Democrat Wendy Davis. Davis, who is making improvements in education a cornerstone of her campaign, accused Abbott of playing a key role in defunding and weakening schools."

•    ALEC facing funding crisis from donor exodus in wake of Trayvon Martin row (The Guardian): "The Guardian has learned that the American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec), which shapes and promotes legislation at state level across the US, has identified more than 40 lapsed corporate members it wants to attract back into the fold under a scheme referred to in its documents as the 'Prodigal Son Project'."

•    Rep. Ted Poe: Amazon drone project worrisome (The Dallas Morning News): "Who wouldn’t want unmanned drones speeding toward their house bearing the bounty of their Cyber Monday shopping binge? Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble, that’s who."

•    McCombs loses in Supreme Court (Houston Chronicle): "The IRS can impose severe financial penalties on San Antonio billionaire B.J. 'Red' McCombs and a business partner over what it called a sham tax shelter, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday. The Supreme Court unanimously upheld the IRS' 40 percent penalty against McCombs and partner Gary Woods."

•    Rick Perry helps Iowa governor raise money in Houston (The Dallas Morning News): "Gov. Rick Perry was in Houston yesterday to introduce some of his friends to Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad. ... With Iowa holding the first presidential contest every four years, Branstad finds quite a few friends among those considering runs for the top office."