The Brief: Feb. 10, 2014
News broke Sunday night of a big move at the UT System: Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa will be stepping down after a successor is named. Full Story
The latest Sid Miller news from The Texas Tribune.
News broke Sunday night of a big move at the UT System: Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa will be stepping down after a successor is named. Full Story
The rise of anti-immigrant rhetoric in the GOP lieutenant governor's race — and personified by state Sen. Dan Patrick — is angering several Hispanic party leaders to the point where one of them is considering voting for a Democrat in the general election. Full Story
Chris Christie is coming to Texas on Thursday and with a large target on his back placed there by Democrats. Full Story
Greg Abbott has reversed the campaign fundraising storyline of a month ago, raising more than three times the cash as the combined efforts of Wendy Davis and Battleground Texas. Full Story
Washington, D.C., is abuzz over the latest perceived thumb to the eye delivered by Ted Cruz to the House leadership. Full Story
Republican candidates in the crowded field for agriculture commissioner could benefit from talking about a lot more than agricultural issues, and some are relying on that strategy more than others. Full Story
Former state Rep. Sid Miller, R-Stephenville, a GOP candidate for agriculture commissioner, has released his first radio ad, touting touts his "Texas" values as a "true conservative." Full Story
Your evening reading: former CPRIT executive indicted; ag commissioner candidate warned on how he handles his horses; a glimpse into the Joe Jamail box at a UT home game Full Story
This week in the Texas Weekly Newsreel: U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz checks in with voters on a post-shutdown tour of Texas, surprising moves on the 2014 campaign trail and Gov. Rick Perry announces a Texas A&M campus in Israel. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry is not going down without a fight. He spent his last full day on the campaign trail in Iowa throwing furious punches at his rivals, rallying his Texas “posse” for support and pleading with voters to look past polls showing him in fifth place here. Full Story
U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, is still in the maybe column in the race to replace U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. But Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, says he won't run for that federal job; he might be looking instead at the lieutenant governor's post in 2014. Full Story
As expected, state Sen. Mike Jackson, R-La Porte, will run for Congress next year instead of for re-election to the Texas Senate. He's not alone: Candidates are popping up all over the state. Full Story
Michael Williams, who jumped from the U.S. Senate race to the congressional race in the new CD-33 in North Texas, says he'll jump again: He's running for congress in CD-25, a district that stretches from Tarrant County all the way south to Hays County. Full Story
The debate over whether to set up an animal cruelty registry continues. In a close vote, 63 to 78, the House sent HB 1103 to conference. Full Story
The Texas House gave a final OK today to the "pork chopper" bill and sent it off to the governor's office. The bill would allow licensed hunters to hire helicopters and contract with landowners to shoot feral hogs and coyotes on their property from the sky. Full Story
When state Rep. Sid Miller, R-Stephenville, introduced a bill last legislative session to allow licensed hunters to shoot feral hogs from helicopters, Texas lawmakers jokingly passed out “pork chopper” buttons. They're not laughing anymore. Full Story
House lawmakers have sent the controversial abortion sonogram bill to the governor's desk — after a last-ditch effort by disability rights advocates to change language they called highly offensive. Full Story
Rep. Sid Miller, R-Stephenville, and Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston joined forces this morning to ask the House to accept all of the Senate's amendments to the abortion sonogram bill, virtually ensuring it's headed to Gov. Rick Perry's desk. Full Story
With fewer than five weeks left in the regular session, none of Gov. Rick Perry's emergency items — voter ID, sanctuary cities, sonograms for women getting abortions, a federal balanced budget amendment, and eminent domain protection — have made it to his desk. Full Story
Holdup? What holdup? Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, says he's got the votes to send abortion sonogram legislation back to the House — but the timeline for doing it depends on how quickly the Senate passes the budget. Full Story