The latest 82nd Legislative Session news from The Texas Tribune.
Today, University of Texas System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa issued a letter to Gov. Rick Perry weighing in on the touchy issue of allowing concealed handguns in college campus buildings. In short: He's against it. Full Story
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Inmates looking to catch up on their Shakespeare are out of luck. They won't find Love Poems & Sonnets in any Texas lock-up. The Texas Civil Rights Project released a report today on the list of 11,850 books banned by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Full Story
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Colin Goddard survived the 2007 mass shooting on Virginia Tech's campus that left 32 dead and wounded 16 others. He thinks allowing concealed weapons to be carried on college campuses is a dangerous idea, and he came to Austin to explain why. Full Story
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Two agencies that Gov. Rick Perry has suggested suspending funding for — the Texas Historical Commission and the Texas Commission on the Arts — came before House Appropriations this morning. And lawmakers didn't seem particularly apt to shutter them. Full Story
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With major state funding cuts looming, for many school districts, it's not a question of if — but how and when — teacher layoffs will occur. A new bipartisan bill from education leaders in the state Senate could temporarily change how schools go about that. Full Story
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Republican Rep. John Zerwas' suggestion that he'd get a "spanking" in his district if he cut education and health care to the bone but didn't touch the Rainy Day Fund has drawn the ire of one conservative activist group: Michael Quinn Sullivan's Empower Texans. Full Story
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The bill would broaden the scope of employers subject to scrutiny — and extend penalties for violators to include possible jail time and big fines. Exempt? People who hire undocumented workers as domestic help. Full Story
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Texas voters are willing to end automatic citizenship for the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll. Full Story
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The 82nd legislative session will be about halfway over by the time lawmakers on a specially appointed committee decide whether Republican Dan Neil or incumbent state Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, won the disputed HD-48 seat. Full Story
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Dale Rudick, Sugar Land's director of intergovernmental affairs, on the history of the Central Prison Unit, why the city wants it shuttered, and whether the budget crunch is actually working to Sugar Land's advantage. Full Story
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The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling this week that vaccine manufacturers are protected from lawsuits by parents who believe that vaccines harmed their children is sure to energize anti-immunization advocates working to thwart attempts to expand meningococcal vaccine requirements for college students. Full Story
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At this morning's TribLive conversation about health care, state Rep. John Zerwas, R-Simonton, took a more aggressive position than most of his fellow Republicans on the subject of whether to tap the Rainy Day Fund and how much should be tapped. Full Story
For higher education issues, it appears that “productivity” is to this session what “tier one” was to 2009. House Higher Education Chairman Dan Branch, R-Dallas, has filed a trio of bills aimed at getting more bang for each buck invested in higher ed. Full Story
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We liveblogged this morning from the Austin Club, where the subject of today's TribLive was health care: the costs — and solutions — for Medicaid, payment reform in Texas vs. the federal health overhaul, and what kind of hit Texas' neediest patients will take. Full Story
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A majority of the state's voters say they're ready for full-blown casino gambling, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll. Full Story
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Gov. Scott Walker should come to Texas, where much of what he’s seeking already exists. The right to bargain collectively isn’t allowed among state employees, and no public employee in Texas may legally go on strike. Full Story
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Hundreds of Texans descended on the state Capitol on Tuesday to draw attention to dozens of bills they say would hinder economic development, stymie education and — above all — encourage racial profiling in the Lone Star State. Full Story
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After listening to nearly two hours of emotional testimony from exonerated prisoners, the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee today approved a bill meant to reform the way law enforcement officials in Texas gather and use eyewitness identification evidence. Full Story
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If a set of bills filed by Sens. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, and Royce West, D-Dallas, passes this session, consumers who take out short-term, high-interest loans could be protected from exorbitant interest rate charges. Full Story
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The House and Senate budgets propose a $95.6 million cut in total revenue from the Texas Youth Commission budget in 2012-2013, and lawmakers are eying reductions in parole services, which could lead to fewer staffers and fewer district parole offices. Full Story
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