The Evening Brief: May 16, 2013
Your evening reading: budget negotiations back in limbo; Perry signs Michael Morton Act; senator says Kitzman unlikely to win confirmation Full Story
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![Appropriations Chairman State Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, l, listens as State Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, grills state auditors on CPRIT matters on Feb. 6, 2013]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Senator Says Innocence Commission Bill is in Trouble
Two days after an advocate for a bill establishing a commission to review wrongful convictions lashed out at a state senator who voiced opposition to the bill, the measure's Senate sponsor says he doesn't have the votes to move the legislation forward. Full Story
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
TribLive: Capriglione and Wood on Disclosing Donors
At Thursday's TribLive conversation, state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, and ethics and campaign finance lawyer Randall "Buck" Wood talked to the Tribune's Ross Ramsey about transparency in political giving. Full Story
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Irony Abounds in Debate Over Ethics Proposals
In this session's ethics battles, watchdogs say there’s more contradiction than conviction. Full Story
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New Regent Requirements Head to Governor's Desk
UPDATED: After the Senate concurred with amendments in the House, a bill adding restrictions and requirements for regents of the state's university systems is on its way to the governor's desk. Full Story
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The Brief: May 15, 2013
Days after a stalemate threatened to force lawmakers into legislative overtime, chances of a special session for the state budget have dwindled. Full Story
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Agenda Texas: Water Funding Gets New Life
On the latest Agenda Texas, from KUT News and the Tribune: A plan to fund future water infrastructure projects in Texas may be back from the dead. Full Story
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
House Sends Campaign Disclosure Bill to Perry
UPDATED: A divisive measure requiring the disclosure of certain unreported political donors passed the House on a 95-52 vote on Tuesday with little of Monday's debate. The measure now heads to Gov. Rick Perry. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
Inside Intelligence: About Those Special Sessions...
For this week's nonscientific survey of insiders in government and politics, we asked about the likelihood of special sessions, the issues that might force them and whether there will be multiple such sessions. Full Story
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Interactive: Tracking Franchise Tax Bills
Tax relief has become a key issue in the final weeks of the legislative session, and nearly all of the relief efforts are focused on the franchise tax paid by businesses. Use our interactive to track the status of those bills. Full Story
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Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman -
Budget Rider Could Lay Out Terms for Medicaid Reform
State Rep. John Zerwas, a budget conferee, said Monday he’s relatively confident that a rider stipulating the Legislature's preferred Medicaid reform terms for any deal with the federal government would stick to the 2014-15 budget. Full Story
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Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman -
Agenda Texas: The Final Fortnight
On the latest Agenda Texas, from KUT News and the Tribune: As another round of deadlines in the Capitol approaches, several legislative priorities are still unresolved. Full Story
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Credit: Rick Mach -
Leaders Find Agreement on Budget's Finer Points
State budget leaders adopted unified proposals for several areas of the budget on Monday morning but said they are still working on the two largest pieces: education and health and human services. Full Story
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![State Rep. Jim Pitts and state Sen. Tommy Williams.]()
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Newsreel: Deadlines, Tax Cuts, Special Session
In the latest Texas Weekly Newsreel: With less than three weeks left in the legislative session, the deadlines are coming fast and furious, raising the stakes and prompting whispers of a special session if things don't get finished. Full Story
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Agenda Texas: Bill Kill, Vol. 1
On the latest Agenda Texas, from KUT News and the Tribune: Deadlines in the Texas House have come and gone. Now lawmakers are left to pick up the pieces for next session, or to find another way to get their bills passed. Full Story
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![Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie speaks with Rep. Todd Hunter R-Corpus Christi and Rep. Abel Herrero D-Robstown on House floor before voting on HB 10 February 21st, 2013]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
A Well-Timed Budget Note From the Attorney General
Greg Abbott’s letter doesn’t have any new information in it, but the timing takes away what some — probably those further from the budget conversations than closer — saw as a possible solution for the Legislature’s financial logjam. Full Story
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Guest Column: An Early Look at Legislative Partisanship
A political scientist's analysis of Texas legislators' votes through April, and where those votes locate lawmakers on the partisan scale. Spoiler alert: The Republicans and the Democrats don't overlap much. Full Story
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Credit: Tommy LaVergne of Rice University -
TribLive: A Conversation About the Tea Party
Full video of my 5/9 TribLive conversation with first-term state Reps. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth, Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, and Steve Toth, R-The Woodlands. Full Story
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After West Explosion, Other Chemical Stockpiles Come Under Scrutiny
As state and federal regulators analyze the patchwork of policies governing the fertilizer plant that exploded in West, the incident has prompted a closer look at communities that lie near stockpiles of chemicals. Full Story
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![The Gavilon facility in Amarillo sits near residences. Officials say that the ammonium nitrate on site is stored safely, so that it cannot explode.]()
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Bill Would Curb Access to Photos of Murder Victims
UPDATED: The legislation authored by Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, that would require court approval for most requests to view or copy crime scene photos that show murder victims passed the Senate Monday without debate. Full Story
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![Victim Advocate for the City of Houston Andy Kahan, with crime scene photos printed off websites showing dead bodies, many unclothed, in his office at the Houston Police Department in Houston, Monday May 6, 2013.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato
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